⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2025/26 | Group Phase

[Strongkored]

The result of the Fenerbahçe vs Man United match was in line with my prediction in one of the pools. Man United can score goals but it will be difficult to maintain the lead because they do not have a player who can be a leader on the field, everyone plays only according to their wishes and Ten Haag cannot fix that because by only getting three points from three matches shows how weak his team is, so don't trust Man United to win in your bet before they make changes in many lines.

[nelson4lov]

~Snipped

Honestly I also had low expectation but when Manchester United managed to score their first goal I thought that they will find a way to seal it, but it is unfortunate that we are unable to do it.
In the other hand, Fenerbahce is not just an average team because they had quality players in their team. In their midfield we had Manchester United Amrabat and Fred and also I saw English Premier League Saint-Maximan coupled with experienced Jose Mourinho as the coach.
It was an interesting match though, but I expected that Manchester United will do better than they did but it's unfortunate.

Yes, Fenerbahce is a great team actually so it was bound to be a tight game but the fact remains the same — Man Utd should be able to win opponents like Fenerbahce with ease but it just doesn't happen for them. Onana made a couple of great saves otherwise, we would be talking about a loss rather than a draw. I only saw the first half so there's very little I can report and based on the first half alone, both teams played well— just not excellent.

[shogun47]

~Snipped

Honestly I also had low expectation but when Manchester United managed to score their first goal I thought that they will find a way to seal it, but it is unfortunate that we are unable to do it.
In the other hand, Fenerbahce is not just an average team because they had quality players in their team. In their midfield we had Manchester United Amrabat and Fred and also I saw English Premier League Saint-Maximan coupled with experienced Jose Mourinho as the coach.
It was an interesting match though, but I expected that Manchester United will do better than they did but it's unfortunate.

Yes, Fenerbahce is a great team actually so it was bound to be a tight game but the fact remains the same — Man Utd should be able to win opponents like Fenerbahce with ease but it just doesn't happen for them. Onana made a couple of great saves otherwise, we would be talking about a loss rather than a draw. I only saw the first half so there's very little I can report and based on the first half alone, both teams played well— just not excellent.

I would not say with ease because Turkish teams in their home stadiums can be tough to beat. It's the audience and the whole setup that makes it special in some way. But in general I agree that Manchester United should win far more games than they are currently winning. That is not what they are supposed to be doing at the moment and yes, Fenerbahce should be beatable for them and if not, then they should at least be more determined and dominate the game.

I am not a fan of Zirkzee at all. I think he doesn't qualify for a Premier League top club. 12 games 1 goal 1 assist and he is still allowed to be a starter. That doesn't make sense to me and it's embarrassing to see a club like Manchester United play with a center forward like him when the club is known for having had some of the best strikers in the world in the past.

[Juse14]

The result of the Fenerbahçe vs Man United match was in line with my prediction in one of the pools. Man United can score goals but it will be difficult to maintain the lead because they do not have a player who can be a leader on the field, everyone plays only according to their wishes and Ten Haag cannot fix that because by only getting three points from three matches shows how weak his team is, so don't trust Man United to win in your bet before they make changes in many lines.

Manchester United have failed again to grabbed a winning in the europa league game and this is really dissapointing for an elite English team like the Red Devils. Erik Ten Hag should have good thing going on there because there are more pressing motions and we know exactly how these clubs works. However Fenerbahçe is no average club, they're in good shape and Jose Mourinho happens to be incharge of the Turkish side, he wouldn't allow any room for relenting results, a draw points was all they need to step up to the top phase.

Someone should tell Erik Ten Hag that his best is not good enough for the current condition of the team, no time for more humiliating results if you ask me. There's definitely huge difference and we know how that do play down for the club. The Red Devils boss, Erik Ten Hag just have to worked entirely on another new formation and strategy, because the club needs instant fixing and that's probably weigh too much for the pressing atmosphere for them. Well, they hoped to bounce back to impressive form in next games, we should simply keep all hope alive for the Manchester United.

In my opinion, currently the Red Devils are no longer an elite club, because looking at some of their matches, the results are clearly very disappointing. The reason is, let alone in European competitions, in domestic competitions alone, the Red Devils cannot prove that they are an elite club. Even in several matches the Red Devils had to end in defeat or a draw in a match that they should have won.

As for the draw against Fenerbahce, I think MU should be satisfied with the results of the match, this is a good result... because usually the Red Devils are always beyond expectations.

And speaking of Erik Ten Hag, I think it's time for Ten Hag to leave the Manchester United coaching chair, because during his coaching period, MU did not experience significant development or improvement, with Erik Ten Hag in a period of approximately 2 years, MU was only able to win one FA Cup trophy, and this is a less than good result. Because for a club as big as MU, they should be competing in the Champions League, not in the Europa League. That is if the Red Devils are indeed an elite English club

[joniboini]

The Special One Jose Mourinho is well known for his verbal and non-verbal attacks on match officials. And he couldn't escape this one as he was shown a red card.

It was quite funny honestly. I think his reaction to Onana's save is also meme material. Hopefully, he can bring his team to the knockout stage since it's a shame if we don't get another meme from him.

As for the match, I'm quite surprised by Onana's performance. He made many crucial saves although he conceded a rather easy goal IMO. I can't blame him for that if the defenders don't defend well. I believe both MU and Fenerbache players made terrible decisions in this match. It's not hard to see with a better decision they can counter faster for example. Well, let's see if they can fix that in the future. CMIIW.

[slaman29]

Yes, Fenerbahce is a great team actually so it was bound to be a tight game but the fact remains the same — Man Utd should be able to win opponents like Fenerbahce with ease but it just doesn't happen for them. Onana made a couple of great saves otherwise, we would be talking about a loss rather than a draw. I only saw the first half so there's very little I can report and based on the first half alone, both teams played well— just not excellent.

Ya I know the numbers don't like but the first half numbers told the truth about the whole game. 9 shots to 2 shots, this is not a United team worthy of anything but the worst records in their club history. 3 games, 3 draws. Only Porto was the point worth saving.

Mourinho said before the match he could win the EPL with this current United team and while I think he's wrong, he's right to say they're talented enough to not be in the bottom half where they are now.

[Oluwa-btc]

Ya I know the numbers don't like but the first half numbers told the truth about the whole game. 9 shots to 2 shots, this is not a United team worthy of anything but the worst records in their club history. 3 games, 3 draws. Only Porto was the point worth saving.

Mourinho said before the match he could win the EPL with this current United team and while I think he's wrong, he's right to say they're talented enough to not be in the bottom half where they are now.

Done with all these Erik ten Hag defending because its high time Manchester United starts winning games. Manchester United could have won that game only if Victor Lindelof had done good defending job when that cross came in honestly. That was poor defending from him otherwise,  Manchester United did well they attacked like they should and also should have scored coupled goals.  My only disappointment was with Joshua Zirkzee. Too sluggish and has refused to use his energy to contest for duels in the air. Jose Mourinho could do that with thus squad for real. Most of Manchester United players are low in morale and I'm not sure Erik ten Hag is improving that RN.

[Sexylizzy2813]

When I saw the picture above I couldn't help but bring it here, Erik ten Heg is really confusing me, is he a coach of Manchester United or the mouth piece of Manchester United? Does he even have the team at heart for saying all he said? I think Manchester United board are responsible for what giving ETH the mind to be saying all these even after a very poor performance both in the EPL and the Europa league, lack of consistency, playing a draw and as a managee you should be very angry at the team but he's proud of all that's happening at the club, is a shame to have ETH as a manager, Ole is even better. Losing 2pt at Porto and losing 2pt last night and you feel your team is hard to beat, if so why not plan to win those teams? Erik is telling us that in football Manchester United are the only team other clubs need to beat and they (UTD) are not suppose to win the other clubs, this man has completely lost it.

[MArsland]

Honestly I also had low expectation but when Manchester United managed to score their first goal I thought that they will find a way to seal it, but it is unfortunate that we are unable to do it.
In the other hand, Fenerbahce is not just an average team because they had quality players in their team. In their midfield we had Manchester United Amrabat and Fred and also I saw English Premier League Saint-Maximan coupled with experienced Jose Mourinho as the coach.
It was an interesting match though, but I expected that Manchester United will do better than they did but it's unfortunate.

Yes, Fenerbahce is a great team actually so it was bound to be a tight game but the fact remains the same — Man Utd should be able to win opponents like Fenerbahce with ease but it just doesn't happen for them. Onana made a couple of great saves otherwise, we would be talking about a loss rather than a draw. I only saw the first half so there's very little I can report and based on the first half alone, both teams played well— just not excellent.

In the first half Manchester United was still able to control the game even though Fenerbahce players continued to try to penetrate United's defense, unfortunately Onana was good enough and was able to make a save. While in the second half Mourinho team was more aggressive and was able to equalize so that what Manchester United's back line did was defend. Changes can be seen from Fenerbahçe tactics in the second half. Sharing points is very appropriate because the strengths of both teams are not much different.

[buwaytress]

Feels a bit unfair that some of the teams here are getting a shredding by a lot of people, Fenerbahce's not a crap team and United's been without  win there (never mind Fenerbahce, Turkey is a hoodoo city for them) so this was a result that was very much expected. Get it in our heads that United was never going to win there without something special.

Hammers are going to enjoy taking this team apart, I hope.

P.S. I've started deleting posts I feel are a bit too "commentary without bringing anything new to the table". Feel free to PM me if you think it's unfair. But I like to insist, every now and then, that the gambling sub should have gamblers discussing football and you can always tell sometimes when it's just posts for the sake of.

[gabbie2010]

It is already so disappointing that Manchester United can't defeat fenerbache. This was always going to be a heated contest especially with Mourinho and we saw that as he got a red card in the contest. I think it's more than enough and Manchester United needs to cut ties with ETH he always talks too much in the press but has nothing to offer when the kickoff whistle is blown. There is still time for one team to win but I don't think that would happen.

You're forgetting that Fenerbahce isn't just any regular Turkish team. Let's not forget that it's this same Man Utd team that couldn't defeat Twente FC. My expectations for that Man Utd game vs Fenerbahce were quite low and I'm not bothered that they couldn't do better than my expectations. ETH had been given an ample amount of time and I do think that it's time we start facing the facts rather than continue clinging onto hope.

ETH might just not be the guy.

Fenerbache is not a weak opponent coincidentally Mourinho who was former Man Utd manager must have known the in and out of the club thus would have a full determination of winning that match and also two former Man Utd players Fred and Amrabat played in the match to add quality into the home team, while Allan Saint-Maximin former Newcastle attacker was also  in the lineup, I knew it is going to be a tough match not an easy ride for Man Utd, Fenerbahce would have won the tie thanks to Onana for his brilliant saves that could swing the tie in favour of the home team,

[Docnaster]

When I saw the picture above I couldn't help but bring it here, Erik ten Heg is really confusing me, is he a coach of Manchester United or the mouth piece of Manchester United? Does he even have the team at heart for saying all he said? I think Manchester United board are responsible for what giving ETH the mind to be saying all these even after a very poor performance both in the EPL and the Europa league, lack of consistency, playing a draw and as a managee you should be very angry at the team but he's proud of all that's happening at the club, is a shame to have ETH as a manager, Ole is even better. Losing 2pt at Porto and losing 2pt last night and you feel your team is hard to beat, if so why not plan to win those teams? Erik is telling us that in football Manchester United are the only team other clubs need to beat and they (UTD) are not suppose to win the other clubs, this man has completely lost it.

At this moment, I think it's safe to say that Erik ten Hag is responsible for taking vital decisions at Manchester United especially the ones that are supposed to be exclusive to the management of the club because tell me why manager of big club like Manchester United will be bold enough to make such statement after failing to win any of his first three games in the UEFA Europa League this season which includes a home game against Dutch club Twente. If a man that's okay with getting three points in three European games continues to manage Manchester United, then I think it'll be almost impossible for them to win anything under him.

[Sexylizzy2813]

When I saw the picture above I couldn't help but bring it here, Erik ten Heg is really confusing me, is he a coach of Manchester United or the mouth piece of Manchester United? Does he even have the team at heart for saying all he said? I think Manchester United board are responsible for what giving ETH the mind to be saying all these even after a very poor performance both in the EPL and the Europa league, lack of consistency, playing a draw and as a managee you should be very angry at the team but he's proud of all that's happening at the club, is a shame to have ETH as a manager, Ole is even better. Losing 2pt at Porto and losing 2pt last night and you feel your team is hard to beat, if so why not plan to win those teams? Erik is telling us that in football Manchester United are the only team other clubs need to beat and they (UTD) are not suppose to win the other clubs, this man has completely lost it.

At this moment, I think it's safe to say that Erik ten Hag is responsible for taking vital decisions at Manchester United especially the ones that are supposed to be exclusive to the management of the club because tell me why manager of big club like Manchester United will be bold enough to make such statement after failing to win any of his first three games in the UEFA Europa League this season which includes a home game against Dutch club Twente. If a man that's okay with getting three points in three European games continues to manage Manchester United, then I think it'll be almost impossible for them to win anything under him.

Erik ten Heg is the chairman to me because all he has been doing is not in any way improving the team or for ones has his decision made the teams performance to change in any game and no one is complaining which means the management are fine with what they're seeing. I believe all ten Heg has been doing like how he manages UTD the world are seeing him and I don't feel that any big club will like to hire ETH at this stage of his coach career, he has damaged his CV to me. All the games he has played in the Europa League non has he return with complete 3pt, what a disappointing performance 3 out of 3 games he came with 3pt and tell me if Manchester United are not struggling this season? Things are becoming hard for the players and they too are trying to manage the condition they're facing but nothing positive is coming out from their performance.

[nelson4lov]

Feels a bit unfair that some of the teams here are getting a shredding by a lot of people, Fenerbahce's not a crap team and United's been without  win there (never mind Fenerbahce, Turkey is a hoodoo city for them) so this was a result that was very much expected. Get it in our heads that United was never going to win there without something special.

Hammers are going to enjoy taking this team apart, I hope.

~Snipped

I agree 100%. Fenerbahce is a top team even though they're not nearly half as good as they were a few years ago. Man Utd team and manager seem to be content with sharing the points yesterday in Turkey. I believe their thesis is that winning in Turkey would be difficult but they can win at Old Trafford.

Also, if you're expecting Hammers to surprise Man Utd, I would suggest keeping expectations low on that one. Even though both teams are trashy and the win would be up in the end, I expect Man Utd to win regardless. Hammers are just super poor in the PL thus far.

[adultcrypto]

The result of the Fenerbahçe vs Man United match was in line with my prediction in one of the pools. Man United can score goals but it will be difficult to maintain the lead because they do not have a player who can be a leader on the field, everyone plays only according to their wishes and Ten Haag cannot fix that because by only getting three points from three matches shows how weak his team is, so don't trust Man United to win in your bet before they make changes in many lines.

I agree with you that the draw was a fair result for both sides, although many people thought that Manchester United would win the match. I knew the match would be a draw with Manchester United having a little advantage base on their big name and not necessarily because they are playing exceptionally this season. It is however, becoming frustrating that Manchester United is unable to win a single match in the European League when they were supposed to be shining in the Champions League. Three matches, three draws is a very bad result for Manchester United. 

[ILuckyGuyI]

I am surprised to see that Beşiktaş's Europa League match is today. I guess UEFA doesn't want two different matches to be played in the same city on the same evening.(Galatasaray vs Tottenham 7 Nov) Beşiktaş started the season pretty well but despite having star players like Gedson, Immobile, and Rafa Silva,  they have not been able to achieve the results they wanted in recent weeks and are currently 4th placed in their domestic league. Though, I think that with the support of the fans, they will win this game and hold onto their chances in the Europa League.

[buwaytress]

^ UEFA and FIFA will be coming to disagreement very soon after this season, if not at the tail end. Both are inserting more games, different formats for clubs means more matches, I think it's been calculated some teams may not have more than a week's break in between seasons at the end of the FIFA CWC.

These funny Europa/UCL/Conference game timings are only the tip of the iceberg.

[Slow death]

I am surprised to see that Beşiktaş's Europa League match is today. I guess UEFA doesn't want two different matches to be played in the same city on the same evening.(Galatasaray vs Tottenham 7 Nov) Beşiktaş started the season pretty well but despite having star players like Gedson, Immobile, and Rafa Silva,  they have not been able to achieve the results they wanted in recent weeks and are currently 4th placed in their domestic league. Though, I think that with the support of the fans, they will win this game and hold onto their chances in the Europa League.

The game will end in a few minutes, the first half, and there is still no goal in the game. I must say that Immobile is not playing and is not sitting on the bench, so Besiktas are limited in this game and the risk of them losing this game is very high in my opinion. It is true that both teams in the 3 games they played in this competition lost in 2 games and only managed to win in 1 game, which is why I see both teams as being on the same level. But with Besiktas lacking a good player on the field, they may lose the game. I searched to find out why Ciro Immobile isn't playing today, and I found this:

Beşiktaş Injury Update: Ciro Immobile

In the MRI scanning of Beşiktaş player Ciro Immobile, who was injured in the first half of Black Eagles’ Trendyol Super League the match against Kasımpaşa last night, strain and bleeding were detected in his thigh muscle.  Ciro Immobile's rehabilitation has already been started by the Beşiktaş medical team.

source: https://bjk.com.tr/en/haber/90167/besiktas-injury-update-ciro-immobile.html

Besiktas is playing at home, so I think they should play more defensively to at least get out of this game with a draw.

^ UEFA and FIFA will be coming to disagreement very soon after this season, if not at the tail end. Both are inserting more games, different formats for clubs means more matches, I think it's been calculated some teams may not have more than a week's break in between seasons at the end of the FIFA CWC.

These funny Europa/UCL/Conference game timings are only the tip of the iceberg.

to add that in 8 days there is the Nations League, the annoying competition. I wonder how much time the players have to rest

[buwaytress]

Yeah Nations League. What a bad word.

Besiktas took this tie, trading plenty of shots with Malmo but putting theirs away for a much needed win to kick start the Turkish dominance. As expected, right? Mou's got to follow this up too, right?

Hammers are going to enjoy taking this team apart, I hope.

Also, if you're expecting Hammers to surprise Man Utd, I would suggest keeping expectations low on that one. Even though both teams are trashy and the win would be up in the end, I expect Man Utd to win regardless. Hammers are just super poor in the PL thus far.

Also, belated reply to this post that did not age well, eh? Even cost the bald boss his job. Super poor team vs super rich team and somehow they found a way to lose. Anyway, RVN will have a taste of Europe, lucky him. Amorim announced his arrival with some style yesterday, so Pep will get the chance to see him again this season (but to be fair United have had their share of upsets vs their blue neighbours even in this downturn).

[morvillz7z]

Give me Eintracht and Slavia Prague both teams to score.

Eintracht have already played a 3-3 draw with another Czech team, Plzen. Slavia Prague is arguably a much stronger side than Plzen, leading their domestic league by nearly ten points this early in the season.

Both teams have scored more than 30 goals in all competitions. I can only picture an open game with goals in both directions.