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

[CLS63]

Destiny still in their hands, don't worry. I've always thought I prefer my team to fight it out tooth and nail in group stage, otherwise an easy coast seems to affect their judgment in the KOs. League phase is different, of course, and it seems a lot more worthwhile (prize money wise) to finish higher up on the table but I think Mou will enjoy this more.

I think a draw against Lyon would still put a playoff in your own hands -- good luck... in a month from now!

Thank you for your good wishes mate. We really love to make things more difficult for us. But we still have a great manager like Mourinho of course. He is the Special One for a reason and he has really good successes in European cups in history. I hope he can make it with us as well. But we really need to improve our defense. Otherwise even if we qualify for the playoffs we can still get eliminated easily by a team that know what they are doing.

[Dump3er]

Destiny still in their hands, don't worry. I've always thought I prefer my team to fight it out tooth and nail in group stage, otherwise an easy coast seems to affect their judgment in the KOs. League phase is different, of course, and it seems a lot more worthwhile (prize money wise) to finish higher up on the table but I think Mou will enjoy this more.

I think a draw against Lyon would still put a playoff in your own hands -- good luck... in a month from now!

Thank you for your good wishes mate. We really love to make things more difficult for us. But we still have a great manager like Mourinho of course. He is the Special One for a reason and he has really good successes in European cups in history. I hope he can make it with us as well. But we really need to improve our defense. Otherwise even if we qualify for the playoffs we can still get eliminated easily by a team that know what they are doing.

I thought this is an interesting post because you are pointing out Mourinho as a great coach, but is he still? I am not convinced very much. Sometimes I miss the old Mourinho who was an intelligent coach, sometimes with tactics I didn't like, but which worked. Do you remember the times when he made Real Madrid or more defensive rather than an offensive team? I think that is the time when his success declined dramatically. He shouldn't have done that. He could do it with Inter Milan during his best times because Italian teams are somehow different, but he wanted to apply the same things to a Spanish masterclass in offensive football.

These days I don't know what to think of him, but he is not the special one anymore. Do you think the same or do you think he is still a great manager?

[buwaytress]

I thought this is an interesting post because you are pointing out Mourinho as a great coach, but is he still? I am not convinced very much. Sometimes I miss the old Mourinho who was an intelligent coach, sometimes with tactics I didn't like, but which worked. Do you remember the times when he made Real Madrid or more defensive rather than an offensive team? I think that is the time when his success declined dramatically. He shouldn't have done that. He could do it with Inter Milan during his best times because Italian teams are somehow different, but he wanted to apply the same things to a Spanish masterclass in offensive football.

These days I don't know what to think of him, but he is not the special one anymore. Do you think the same or do you think he is still a great manager?

Not sure what you're talking about. Of course Mou's not the same now, but he's still capable of pretty good shit for semi-competitive teams. Old Mourinho was proven with strong, deep teams. Not so-long-ago Mourinho won with Roma and made them feel again (in contrast you should see where there are now and how their fans are feeling, how their players are broken). Won them Conference league, brought them to the Europa final the next season. Remember, they waited 60+ years for a European trophy. That's pretty special to me. Ask any Roma fan now, I almost guarantee they will say they miss him.

Mou does this with all clubs. He changes the culture, he drags the team up by their necks, he makes them believe the whole world is against them. He filled up Roma's stadium to capacity after years of empty seats. But after a while, that siege mentality becomes toxic. And the players wither. You get Mou for a trophy, two trophies. Then you say thank you and f off.

That's pretty f special, no?

P.S. I'm not in love with the guy, but I can't deny he's a very particular type of guy with a mentality and (eventually toxic) loyalty so many managers lack.

[CLS63]

I thought this is an interesting post because you are pointing out Mourinho as a great coach, but is he still? I am not convinced very much. Sometimes I miss the old Mourinho who was an intelligent coach, sometimes with tactics I didn't like, but which worked. Do you remember the times when he made Real Madrid or more defensive rather than an offensive team? I think that is the time when his success declined dramatically. He shouldn't have done that. He could do it with Inter Milan during his best times because Italian teams are somehow different, but he wanted to apply the same things to a Spanish masterclass in offensive football.

These days I don't know what to think of him, but he is not the special one anymore. Do you think the same or do you think he is still a great manager?

Every manager has their own ways to reach success. There are so many people who don't like Mourinho's game plan of course. Because they think that it is old for modern football. I must admit that sometimes I also criticized his choices. But I can't just overlook his great history with teams in various big tournaments. This is why I don't want to lose my faith in him. Besides Fenerbahçe fans are mostly criticizing the president rather than Mourinho recently because of not winning trophies for many years.

[nelson4lov]

~Snipped
[...]

Our remaining matches are against Lyon and Midtjylland. Lyon are really tough but I hope we can defeat them home. For the other match we should be able to win no matter what.

Fenerbahce only does well when it involves facing Galatasaray. There are plenty of mid teams they faced in this league phase like Twente and Manchester United. Those games would've been easy games to pick up maximum points but they couldn't.

Lyon is going to be a tough nut to crack but Midtjylland? I don't think so, not so much.  4 points from both games or a max of 6 will put Fenerbahce in a much better position.

[Amphenomenon]

~Snipped
[...]

Our remaining matches are against Lyon and Midtjylland. Lyon are really tough but I hope we can defeat them home. For the other match we should be able to win no matter what.

Fenerbahce only does well when it involves facing Galatasaray. There are plenty of mid teams they faced in this league phase like Twente and Manchester United. Those games would've been easy games to pick up maximum points but they couldn't.

Lyon is going to be a tough nut to crack but Midtjylland? I don't think so, not so much.  4 points from both games or a max of 6 will put Fenerbahce in a much better position.

Fenerbahce might not be able to get a win or a draw against Lyon in this tournament. I think they won't be able to get a win against them, they should rather but their focus on their game against Midtjylland, where they have nuch better chance of getting 3 points and thereby not making mistakes as before in other matches that left them sitting 21st at the table.

They will need to give their all for them to stand a chance of winning Lyon but all this to me don't really matter since I can't see them among the Europa League title favourites based on their performance, they should rather channel their focus more on any other domestic tournament they are in because I still see this squad needing more reinforcement before they can compete well in Europe.

[Dump3er]

I thought this is an interesting post because you are pointing out Mourinho as a great coach, but is he still? I am not convinced very much. Sometimes I miss the old Mourinho who was an intelligent coach, sometimes with tactics I didn't like, but which worked. Do you remember the times when he made Real Madrid or more defensive rather than an offensive team? I think that is the time when his success declined dramatically. He shouldn't have done that. He could do it with Inter Milan during his best times because Italian teams are somehow different, but he wanted to apply the same things to a Spanish masterclass in offensive football.

These days I don't know what to think of him, but he is not the special one anymore. Do you think the same or do you think he is still a great manager?

Every manager has their own ways to reach success. There are so many people who don't like Mourinho's game plan of course. Because they think that it is old for modern football. I must admit that sometimes I also criticized his choices. But I can't just overlook his great history with teams in various big tournaments. This is why I don't want to lose my faith in him. Besides Fenerbahçe fans are mostly criticizing the president rather than Mourinho recently because of not winning trophies for many years.

Of course and I admit I don't like him very much, but I respect him especially for what he has done with Porto and Inter back at the time when he won the Champions League with them. The one thing I really dislike about him is that he wants to turn almost any team he has into a defensive team regardless of the players he has available. Otherwise I am fine with what he is doing, he is a showman who understands how to infuse a ton of emotions into any football game. The most renowned games for that are probably the duels between Barcelona and Real Madrid. He rarely behaved like a gentleman, but that's ok because eventually it contributed to those games being a highlight.

I thought this is an interesting post because you are pointing out Mourinho as a great coach, but is he still? I am not convinced very much. Sometimes I miss the old Mourinho who was an intelligent coach, sometimes with tactics I didn't like, but which worked. Do you remember the times when he made Real Madrid or more defensive rather than an offensive team? I think that is the time when his success declined dramatically. He shouldn't have done that. He could do it with Inter Milan during his best times because Italian teams are somehow different, but he wanted to apply the same things to a Spanish masterclass in offensive football.

These days I don't know what to think of him, but he is not the special one anymore. Do you think the same or do you think he is still a great manager?

Not sure what you're talking about. Of course Mou's not the same now, but he's still capable of pretty good shit for semi-competitive teams. Old Mourinho was proven with strong, deep teams. Not so-long-ago Mourinho won with Roma and made them feel again (in contrast you should see where there are now and how their fans are feeling, how their players are broken). Won them Conference league, brought them to the Europa final the next season. Remember, they waited 60+ years for a European trophy. That's pretty special to me. Ask any Roma fan now, I almost guarantee they will say they miss him.

Mou does this with all clubs. He changes the culture, he drags the team up by their necks, he makes them believe the whole world is against them. He filled up Roma's stadium to capacity after years of empty seats. But after a while, that siege mentality becomes toxic. And the players wither. You get Mou for a trophy, two trophies. Then you say thank you and f off.

That's pretty f special, no?

P.S. I'm not in love with the guy, but I can't deny he's a very particular type of guy with a mentality and (eventually toxic) loyalty so many managers lack.

Oops I noticed I somehow deleted my entire post and then posted it, my bad. I said above that Mou was proven with Porto, which was not a strong, deep team and that was the impressive part about that achievement. Winning the CL with Porto is unbelievable and that played a big role in making him the special one. I am not contradicting you for the most part as I agree who could have left Roma and go to Saudi Arabia and probably make 5x the money, but he didn't. I value that. But what I noticed is that his tendency to blame everyone but himself when things go wrong has increased over time. He has been doing that forever, but it has become worse.

Yes he won the Conference-League with Roma and I don't wanna say it is worthless, but winning the Champions League with Porto and the Conference League against teams like Vitesse, Bodo/Glimt, Leicester and then Feyenoord is quite a difference. I think the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017 and the EPL with Chelsea in 2015 are the last two titles that are more meaningful, frankly this is my opinion. But feel free to differ, I am just trying describe that he had more inner fire a while ago. He is getting older, but I doubt he could do what Ancelotti does if he was in his shoes at Real Madrid. I can be wrong though, but the kind of coach Ancelotti represents in some respects has more impact on the performance of a team. Mourinho very quickly drives apart players from each other.

[buwaytress]

Ha all right, all right. We will let this go. I am far from being a Mourinho lover. Probably even hate his style. But gotta give credit where it is due and I still say it is unfair and grossly negligent to say he ain't special after what he achieved just two seasons ago.

It was nothing short of special.

But moving on, we wait three more weeks. Not complaining!

[CLS63]

Round 7 matches are upon us. It starts with the Galatasaray-Dynamo Kyiv match tomorrow. I think Galatasaray won't have big problems on winning this. Because Dynamo Kyiv are in terrible condition with 0 points. Turkish teams can get surprising results in unexpected matches as well but I don't think this would be one of those.

Fenerbahçe host Lyon on Thursday. We really need to win our remaining matches to not only fight for top 8 but also to consolidate our place in top 24. Lyon isn't an easy fixture for us. If we defend well I think we can win anyway.

[buwaytress]

^ Seems like you were right on the money, friend. Didn't even realise there would be such an early game, Gala seem to be on their way domestically anyway, nice cushion to start focusing their efforts in Europe. Fener on the other hand, really need to pull themselves up in both competitions.

[Silence Scream]

Destiny still in their hands, don't worry. I've always thought I prefer my team to fight it out tooth and nail in group stage, otherwise an easy coast seems to affect their judgment in the KOs. League phase is different, of course, and it seems a lot more worthwhile (prize money wise) to finish higher up on the table but I think Mou will enjoy this more.

I think a draw against Lyon would still put a playoff in your own hands -- good luck... in a month from now!

Thank you for your good wishes mate. We really love to make things more difficult for us. But we still have a great manager like Mourinho of course. He is the Special One for a reason and he has really good successes in European cups in history. I hope he can make it with us as well. But we really need to improve our defense. Otherwise even if we qualify for the playoffs we can still get eliminated easily by a team that know what they are doing.

Yes, I think Fenerbahçe's biggest problem is the problems they have in the defense area. They especially have problems in the stopper area. Also, Fenerbahçe's full-backs are very offensive. This causes deficiencies in the defense area. With a good counter-attack, the opposing team can easily score against Fenerbahçe. Because they leave too much space to their opponents. In many matches, goalkeeper Livakovic managed to keep Fenerbahçe in the game. I'm sure Jose Mourinho has noticed these deficiencies.

[CLS63]

^ Seems like you were right on the money, friend. Didn't even realise there would be such an early game, Gala seem to be on their way domestically anyway, nice cushion to start focusing their efforts in Europe. Fener on the other hand, really need to pull themselves up in both competitions.

Galatasaray don't have problems on scoring goals in this match. But they are still lacking in defending. They conceded 2 easy goals. Dynamo Kyiv haven't been effective in the Europa League so far. But now they are still keeping their hopes alive for a point. Let's see whether Galatasaray make an unexpected point loss.

Yes, I think Fenerbahçe's biggest problem is the problems they have in the defense area. They especially have problems in the stopper area. Also, Fenerbahçe's full-backs are very offensive. This causes deficiencies in the defense area. With a good counter-attack, the opposing team can easily score against Fenerbahçe. Because they leave too much space to their opponents. In many matches, goalkeeper Livakovic managed to keep Fenerbahçe in the game. I'm sure Jose Mourinho has noticed these deficiencies.

We are focused on bringing new defense players recently. Diego Carlos is our new signing for example. Strahinja Pavlović might also join us if Milan accepts our offer around 20 million euros + add-ons.

[RaltcoinsB]

Galatasaray drew 3-3 with Dynamo Kyiv in the match that just ended. This was a real disappointment for Galatasaray. Because the Ukrainian team did not have any points and had only scored one goal so far. The Ukrainian team Galatasaray, who had only scored one goal so far, scored three goals and that too away from home. Galatasaray jeopardized their chances of the top eight with this draw at home. Everyone expected them to win this match, and they had taken a 3-1 lead in the match. Later, the Ukrainian team managed to draw the match by scoring two goals.

[buwaytress]

^ Seems like you were right on the money, friend. Didn't even realise there would be such an early game, Gala seem to be on their way domestically anyway, nice cushion to start focusing their efforts in Europe. Fener on the other hand, really need to pull themselves up in both competitions.

Galatasaray don't have problems on scoring goals in this match. But they are still lacking in defending. They conceded 2 easy goals. Dynamo Kyiv haven't been effective in the Europa League so far. But now they are still keeping their hopes alive for a point. Let's see whether Galatasaray make an unexpected point loss.

Man, you are the prescience of Turkish football. I actually was dumb enough to fall for what I thought was amazing odds on Whale. It's 78th minute. Gala still leading 3-2. They can't be so dumb, can they? And yes they were holding on for dear life but 5/1 odds on them still on matchwinner. I thought to myself: what's going on? But couldln't help put some satoshi on them.

Boom equaliser. 3 shots on goal to 8 from Gala, but they converted everything. Wow. Give me your Fener hot tip man.

[CLS63]

Man, you are the prescience of Turkish football. I actually was dumb enough to fall for what I thought was amazing odds on Whale. It's 78th minute. Gala still leading 3-2. They can't be so dumb, can they? And yes they were holding on for dear life but 5/1 odds on them still on matchwinner. I thought to myself: what's going on? But couldln't help put some satoshi on them.

Boom equaliser. 3 shots on goal to 8 from Gala, but they converted everything. Wow. Give me your Fener hot tip man.

Thank you mate. It was a just a lucky prediction. Something deep down pushed me to think about this possibility. Because they were giving big chances to Dynamo Kyiv in defense. The goalkeeper Muslera is also not playing like in the old times. Combining all of these, they really got a draw against the worst performing team in the Europa League. Dynamo Kyiv also had a really lucky day yes.

For the Fenerbahçe-Lyon match I think we will manage to defeat Lyon. I wouldn't like to affect your betting and lose because of me. But we really need that win and 2.12 odds on Sportsbet look really good.

[slaman29]

OK guys, who's taking Manchester United and who's taking Tottenham Hotspur to lose in this week games? I know their opponents are probably even worse than Southampton, with all respect. But United and Tottenham are serial chokers in this period. If I have freebets they are going on these teams not to win

[morvillz7z]

OK guys, who's taking Manchester United and who's taking Tottenham Hotspur to lose in this week games? I know their opponents are probably even worse than Southampton, with all respect. But United and Tottenham are serial chokers in this period. If I have freebets they are going on these teams not to win

I will leave the Hoffenheim and Rangers moneylines to buwaytress. 

I'm on both teams to score for a quick two-game action. United has only kept one clean sheet in 15 games under Amorim across all competitions (while Rangers have scored in all three away games in Europe). Romero and VdV are close to returning for Spurs. I'm not sure how likely they are to play tonight, but i'd argue they will not.

Kramaric Anytime and o2.5 pays 2/1, which is kinda tempting...

[LTU_btc]

Damn, RFS Riga won against Ajax, that's probably biggest upset tonight. Ajax tonight looked disappointing, though, probably draw would be more fair result.
Olympiacos win vs Porto away is also something unexpected.

OK guys, who's taking Manchester United and who's taking Tottenham Hotspur to lose in this week games? I know their opponents are probably even worse than Southampton, with all respect. But United and Tottenham are serial chokers in this period. If I have freebets they are going on these teams not to win

When Spurs were leading 2:0, there were no feeling and confidence that they're going to win game. And they were really close from choking.
And MUis just being MU at it's finest. Rangers scores at 89 minute and makes score 1:1, but this time story has happy ending as Fernandes brings win for MU with very late goal.

[Smartvirus]

OK guys, who's taking Manchester United and who's taking Tottenham Hotspur to lose in this week games? I know their opponents are probably even worse than Southampton, with all respect. But United and Tottenham are serial chokers in this period. If I have freebets they are going on these teams not to win

I didn’t see either of these teams loosing in the Europa. Tottenham maybe, given that Solanke is out on injury, with the load of goal scoring been left in the hands of Som, Maddison and Johnson which haven’t been any bad frankly but, had some concerns for them.
Manchester United on the other hand, I had high hopes they could manage a win in their fixture. They are good for it and were playing from a home side so, their morale should be hyper. Unfortunately, Glasgow Rangers helped them to net the first goal and Fernandes ensured the win with yet another goal in the plus minutes. It was a close one to a draw really.

[Joca97]

Damn, RFS Riga won against Ajax, that's probably biggest upset tonight. Ajax tonight looked disappointing, though, probably draw would be more fair result.
Olympiacos win vs Porto away is also something unexpected.

OK guys, who's taking Manchester United and who's taking Tottenham Hotspur to lose in this week games? I know their opponents are probably even worse than Southampton, with all respect. But United and Tottenham are serial chokers in this period. If I have freebets they are going on these teams not to win

When Spurs were leading 2:0, there were no feeling and confidence that they're going to win game. And they were really close from choking.
And MUis just being MU at it's finest. Rangers scores at 89 minute and makes score 1:1, but this time story has happy ending as Fernandes brings win for MU with very late goal.

Im shocked that Ajax lost to RFS its like losing to a team thats a few leagues below you. This loss from Ajax ruined my bet i was thinking that Ajax was a sure win against such a bad team. Man Utd again playing hot and cold and got an important win,was expecting them again to slip up like they always do this season. Bruno saved Man Utd and sealed their playoff position