Europa League roundup: Di María hits Juve hat-trick as Sevilla keeper attacked
Sevilla goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic was attacked by a fan after his team’s 2-0 defeat at PSV Eindhoven, with the Spanish team progressing 3-2 on aggregate owning to their first-leg victory.
“He came and pushed me from behind,” the apparently unharmed goalkeeper told reporters. “He was probably angry about the result and a bit crazy already. He tried to hit me and I managed to grab him and wait for him to security will arrive. It’s never nice to see this in football, it shouldn’t happen and from now on I hope these things are well punished.”
Luuk de Jong and Fábio Silva had snatched late goals for PSV as they beat Sevilla 2-0 in the second leg of their Europa League knockout stage playoff, but it was not enough as the Spanish club advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Ángel Di María scored a hat-trick as Juventus eased to a 3-0 win at 10man Nantes on Thursday to reach the Europa League round of 16 4-1 on aggregate.
Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as they eyed a long run in the European competition to boost a miserable league campaign in which they have been deducted 15 Serie A points for financial irregularities.
Argentine Di María put Juventus ahead after five minutes with a delightful curling strike from the edge of the box into the top corner.
The evening got worse for Nantes after 18 minutes when defender Nicolas Pallois was sent off when he used his arm to stop another goal from Di María. The 35-year-old had no problem converting the resulting penalty.
Di María completed his treble 12 minutes from time when he sent in a glancing header and the ball just crossed the line before being pushed away.
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on Friday.
Sporting knocked Midtjylland out after thrashing their hosts 4-0 in Denmark to advance to the last 16 5-1 on aggregate.
After fighting back to draw 1-1 at home in the first leg of the playoff tie, Sporting dominated proceedings at Midtjylland and took the lead in the 21st minute with a close-range header by defender Sebastián Coates from a rebound off the crossbar.
Sporting’s job got a lot easier after Midtjylland full-back Paulinho was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in two minutes for rough fouls, leaving the Danish side with 10 men.
Pedro Gonçalves extended Sporting’s lead in the 50th minute with a volley from a rebound and scored his second in the 77th when his long-range strike deflected in off a defender.
Stefan Gartenmann scored a comical own-goal five minutes from time when he tried to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Monaco 5-3 on penalties after winning a frantic second leg of their Europa League playoff 3-2 to send the game into extra time with the teams locked at 5-5 on aggregate.
Monaco midfielder Eliot Matazo hit the bar in the second round of spotkicks and winger Moussa Diaby sealed victory for the German side and sent them through to the last 16.
Leverkusen, who lost 3-2 in the home leg last week, levelled the tie in the 13th minute through midfielder Florian Wirtz before Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder equalised six minutes later from the spot following Edmond Tapsoba’s foul on Eliesse Ben Seghir.
Leverkusen took the lead again in the 21st minute, when midfielder Exequiel Palacios struck from the edge of the box following a corner and Amine Adli made it 3-1 before the hour mark with a fine header. Monaco, however, levelled the tie once more through Breel Embolo’s header to send them into extra time.
Union Berlin cruised past Ajax 3-1 on Thursday to book a spot in the Europa League round of 16 with the club’s biggest European victory to date.
The Berliners, in the Bundesliga only since 2019, advanced 3-1 on aggregate after a goalless playoff first leg in Amsterdam, amid wild celebrations from their fans at the Alte Foersterei stadium. Unbeaten in 2023, Union are joint top of the Bundesliga alongside leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and they struck twice in an efficient first half. A Robin Knoche penalty put them in front before defender Josip Juranovic’s shot from outside the box slipped through the fingers of Geronimo Rulli.
The former European champions pulled a goal back in the 47th minute with Mohammed Kudus turning in a Steven Bergwijn cross but Union, who have conceded just three goals in the Europa League this season, restored their two-goal lead with Danilho Doekhi’s darting header three minutes later.
Ajax’s miserable night was compete when Edson Álvarez was sent off following a second booking in stoppage time.
Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin saved three times in the penalty shootout to send the Ukrainian side into the round of 16 with a 5-4 victory over Rennes after the teams had been locked at 3-3 on aggregate.
Goals by Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala earned Roma a 2-0 victory at home to FC Salzburg in their Europa League playoff second leg as the Italians clinched a spot in the last 16 with a 2-1 aggregate score.