Surprises aplenty in the Europa League
Manchester United’s Champions League campaign ended with a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg onTuesday as PSV Eindhoven won 2-1 at home to CSKA Moscow to eliminate Louis van Gaal’s side in the final round of group stage games.
Anthony Martial opened the scoring early but Naldo promptly equalised and a glorious team goal, finished by Vieirinha, put Wolfsburg in front. An own goal from Joshua Guilavogui levelled for United in the last 10 minutes but Naldo restored the lead to earn Wolfsburg top spot in Group B.
PSV recovered from a goal down to defeat bottom club CSKA and claim second, sending United into the Europa League in third.
Manchester City topped Group D thanks to a comefrom-behind 4-2 win against Borussia Moenchengladbach, who finished bottom. Europa League holders Sevilla secured a return to that competition by beating Juventus 1-0.
Group A winners Real Madrid crushed bottom team Malmo 8-0 with four from Cristiano Ronaldo and Shakhtar Donetsk lost 2-0 at already-qualified Paris Saint-Germain. In Group C Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at second-placed Benfica to clinch first and Galatasaray drew 1-1 at home to Astana to reach the Europa League.
United went in front when Juan Mata was given too much time in midfield and his pass split the Wolfsburg defence to find Martial, who finished calmly in the 10th minute.
But Wolfsburg hit back immediately when Ricardo Rodriguez’s free-kick was volleyed home by fellow defender Naldo.
And the hosts went in front in 29 minutes when Vieirinha tapped in at the end of a dazzling team move. Schuerrle spread the play to Julian Draxler on the right flank and, after a one-two with Max Kruse, the young midfielder surged into the box to supply his colleague.
United grabbed a lifeline when Guilavogui nodded a header from Marouane Fellaini into his own net in the 82nd but Naldo powered home a corner to win the tie and end the three-time winners hopes of progressing.
“It is difficult for us,” Fellaini said. “We are disappointed … we should defend better.”
United’s loss meant that PSV simply had to avoid defeat against bottom club CSKA and they survived a nervous finale to do so.
Sergei Ignashevich scored for CSKA with a 76th minute penalty but Luuk de Jong levelled in 78 and Davy Proepper struck late to ensure PSV went through.
Wolfsburg topped the group 12 points with PSV on 10, jumping United who ended on eight.
“The team has done an excellent job,” Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said.
“I hope that we can take the consistancy from the Champions League into the Bundesliga.”
Manchester City trailed Borussia Moenchengladbach at half-time as Julian Korb and Raffael cancelled David Silva’s opener. However, a three-goal burst in the last 10 minutes – a double from Raheem Sterling, on his 21st birthday, and a strike from Wilfried Bony secured victory.
That was enough to earn top spot on 12 points from Juventus on 11, as the 2015 finalists lost 1-0 at Sevilla. Keeper Gianluigi Buffon made several saves but was eventually beaten by former Juve striker Fernando Llorente’s looping header from a corner.
“It’s brilliant (to top the group), we worked hard, we deserve it,” Sterling said. “We made it hard and difficult at times but we won today and showed character and hopefully now we can carry it on into the next stage.”
Sevilla, 2014 and 2015 Europa League champions, return to that tournament on six points with Gladbach left on five.
“We knew that for us it was a final and we came out onto the pitch in a fantastic way,” said Llorente. “We have showed the level of this side and we are happy to go into the Europa League.” THE likes of Qarabag, Slovan Liberec and Lech Poznan could be celebrating surprise berths in the Europa League last 32 today as the group stage comes to a close.
Many big names, such as Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Napoli and Villarreal are already through to the knockout stages but who finishes top is still up for grabs in some groups, while Fiorentina, Ajax and Augsburg still have lots to do to even qualify.
Most neutrals would love to see an underdog get through and Azerbaijan’s Qarabag have half a chance in what looked like an impossible Group J.
Qarabag are bottom on four points but if they pull off a win in Anderlecht and Monaco fail to beat Totten- ham Hotspur, progression is theirs. They defeated Anderlecht at home, so victory in Belgium is not impossible, even if their coach is far from hopeful.
“We have a chance of qualifying but, frankly, it is only a slim one,” Gurban Gurbanov said. “It will be very difficult – we don’t have enough experience at this level.”
Tottenham have already qualified for the knockout stages and need just a point to finish top and gain a better seeding in Monday’s draw for February’s last 32 when the eight Champions League third-placed sides join the party.
Group H is wide open with Besiktas, Sporting Lisbon and Lokomotiv Moscow all still in the running for qualification and first place.
Group B leaders Liverpool are through and travel to second-placed Sion requiring a point to end up first but will be without the injured Daniel Sturridge again.
Victory at Greece’s Asteras is a must for Schalke if they are to guarantee top spot in Group K having already progressed.
Dortmund have 10 points in Group C but even a win at home to PAOK might not be enough for top spot with fellow qualifiers Krasnodar above them on head-to-head and visiting bottom side Qabala.
Villarreal need to win at Viktoria Plzen to guarantee first place in Group E. However, their minds will also be on Sunday’s Liga clash against Real Madrid.
The are level on 12 points with Rapid Vienna – who will host Dinamo Minsk and have already also sealed progression – but are above them on head-to-head results.
Coach Marcelino Garcia might be tempted to rest several regulars with the Real clash in mind.
“They are both import- ant matches. I will try to pick the best team for both games, knowing that we have to win both,” he said.
He will be without injury victims Mario Gaspar, Jaume Costa and Jonathan dos Santos.
Athletic Bilbao will finish their successful Group L campaign at home to bottom team AZ Alkmaar, having already clinched top spot.
Bundesliga strugglers Augsburg can join them in going through but must better their 3-1 home defeat by Partizan Belgrade when they travel to Serbia, with the hosts looking favourites to progress instead. – dpa