Roma face Athletic Bilbao in their Europa League opener
Seeking a successful return to the continental stage, Roma meet Athletic Bilbao in their Europa League opener, as they get their campaign under way on Thursday evening.
The clash at Stadio Olimpico will be the teams’ first meeting in UEFA competition, coming as the hosts have switched managers and their Basque visitors have run into top form.
Roma won the inaugural Conference League trophy under Mourinho just over two years ago, and they also have a strong recent record in Europe’s second-tier tournament.
Roma have lost just three of their last 18 Europa League matches – winning half – and across seven home games in the competition last season they suffered only one setback.
However, the capital club will head into Thursday’s game having won just one of their last eight against Spanish sides, of which Athletic Club will become the 10th they have faced.
While Roma are regulars in UEFA competition, Athletic last featured on the European stage back in 2018, when they were knocked out in the Europa League’s last 16 by Marseille.
The Bilbao club lost their last three games of that campaign, and six years on they will be keen to avoid losing four consecutive European ties for the first time in their history.
Now that Ivan Juric has taken the reins at Roma, the home side should be harder to beat, so Athletic Club’s wait for a win on the Italian peninsula may go on.
Both teams would probably settle for a point from one of their tougher league-phase contests, with much friendlier fixtures awaiting either side next month.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Tottenham return to Europea as they host Qarabag
Tottenham Hotspur make their return to European competition when they welcome Azeri champions Qarabag FK to North London in the Europa League on Thursday.
Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou will have been delighted to see them drawn at home against their upcoming opponents, avoiding the long-haul trek across Europe and into the Asian border in Azerbaijan.
It has been something of an underwhelming start for Tottenham in both league and cup so far this season, as they sit in mid-table after five Premier League games. While the home faithful will be glad to have European football back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Champions League is what they desired, so losing out to Aston Villa was a huge disappointment.
Spurs have been woeful on the continent, failing to score in either leg of their last 16 defeat to AC Milan in the 2022-23 Champions League.
The season previous, Spurs were eliminated in the Conference League group stage, just months after being knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb.
On the other hand Qarabag had their best European campaign to date, and they were just minutes from a historic win to reach the quarter-finals of this competition. Qarabag have, however, lost all six of their previous meetings against English clubs, including two against Spurs back in 2015.
Qarabag rarely travel well, and their record against English clubs is damning, with six losses from six, and there is little to suggest they can arrest that run here.
Spurs should still have more than enough firepower to record a routine matchday one victory here.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Ajax welcome Turkish giants Besiktas
Aiming to add a 2024-25 triumph to their illustrious European history, Ajax will start their Europa League campaign with the visit of Turkish giants Besiktas to Johan Cruijff Arena on Thursday night.
De Godenzonen are coming into this clash following a lacklustre draw in the Eredivisie on the weekend, whilst the Black Eagles enjoyed a dramatic victory in the Turkish Super Lig.
Despite their lowest league finish since the turn of the century last campaign, a fifth-placed standing for Ajax in the Eredivisie was still good enough to earn a spot in the qualification rounds of the Europa League, with the Dutch powerhouses working overtime in the summer to book their place in the League Phase of the competition.
Since returning to action following the September international break, Ajax have collected a respectable total of four points from a pair of Eredivisie contests.
With influential attacker Steven Bergwijn and Carlos Forbs leaving the club over the summer, Ajax needed to acquire reinforcements on the flanks during the transfer window, with former Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore joining on a two-year deal.
Besiktas head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst is now looking to add continental silverware to his managerial CV, with the 49-year-old losing the Europa League final in 2022 as Rangers boss to Eintracht Frankfurt. Besiktas are also restricted at the back ahead of Thursday’s clash, with defender Necip Uysal sidelined until the middle of November because of a ligament injury.
Ajax have won back-to-back home matches by an aggregate scoreline of 8-0 recently, although the visit of Besiktas should pose a much sterner test for the Dutch giants on Thursday.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Rangers get campaign underway with a trip to face Malmo
Rangers get their Europa League campaign underway when they make the trip to Sweden to face Allsvenskan leaders Malmo on Thursday.
Philippe Clement‘s side have made an underwhelming start to the season, which they hope to rectify with a good showing on the continent.
Both clubs came up short in their attempts to reach the Champions League this season, losing in the qualifiers, but Malmo’s form since their playoff elimination has been excellent.
Henrik Rydstrom‘s side are cruising to the title in Sweden, and they have not conceded a goal in four league games since losing to Sparta Prague at the end of August.
After missing out on Europe entirely last season though, playing eight games throughout the autumn and the winter will be most welcome, but they will hope to improve on their group-stage exit in the 2022-23 Europa League.
Being drawn against Rangers and Slavia Prague, arguably the two weakest teams in pot one, will give them belief that they can at least finish in the top 24 to seal a knockout place, with it estimated that nine points from the eight games could be enough.
Rangers will have similar ambitions, especially having been seeded in pot one, but they must recover from a very disappointing start to the season.
Rangers have never beaten a Swedish side in Europe in six attempts, four of which came against Malmo, and with their woeful away form an issue, this could be a more difficult fixture than it initially appears.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
League Stage Fixtures
Fenerbahçe 17:45 Union Saint-Gilloise
Eintracht Frankfurt 20:00 Viktoria Plzeň
Olympique Lyonnais 20:00 Olympiakos Piraeus
