UEFA Europa League 2020/21 Reviews

October 17, 2021, by Toby Banks

UEFA Europa League 2020/21

The group phase in the UEFA Europa League is over. After several turbulent weeks, 32 teams managed to qualify for the knockout phase. There were no major surprises, and mostly all the favorites passed.

UEFA Europa League Groups

In group A, Roma, without any trouble, finished in 1st place. Meanwhile, Young Boys finished in 2nd place, and Cluj and CSKA Sofia were knockout of the competition. Interestingly, Roma didn’t win in both matches against last-placed CSKA Sofia. Group B was more interesting. Arsenal took 1st place while Molde and Rapid Vienna fought till the last round for 2nd place. The Norwegian club was better. Dundalk didn’t get points, but they became famous because they didn't make any foul against Arsenal in London in 90 minutes. Bayer Leverkusen finished in 1st place in group C above 2nd placed Slavia Prag. H. Beer Sheva and maybe surprisingly Nice were knocked out. The rangers are in excellent form this season as in domestic competitions, in UEFA Europa League. They finished 1st, and Benfica was 2nd. For their part, St. Liege and Lech were knockout. PSV and Granada, without much trouble, finished in the 1st and 2nd place in group E. PAOK and Omonia couldn’t do much then just take place in a competition as UEFA Europa League. In group F, three teams were fighting to try to qualify for the knockout phase. Finally, Napoli and Real Sociedad reached 1st and 2nd place. Alkmaar was close but finished in 3rd place, and Rijeka was last. Leicester and Braga were without competition in group G. Zorya, and AEK didn’t have enough quality to fight with big clubs from England and Portugal. Likewise, Celtic disappointed everyone in group H, and with bad games and results finished in the last place. AC Milan was 1st, Lille 2nd, and Sparta Prag in 3rd place.

One of the best teams in the competition, Villarreal finished in 1st place and M. Tel Aviv was 2nd. On the contrary, Sivasspor and Qarabaq were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League. In group J, Antwerp and LASK had a tight race for 2nd place, and the Belgian team was more successful. Tottenham was 1st and Bulgarian team Ludogorets was 4th without any point. Surprisingly, in group K, in the first place finished Dinamo Zagreb with four wins and two draws. Dinamo conceded only one goal in all six matches. Besides, Austrian club Wolfsberger AC was 2nd while Feyenoord and CSKA Moscow didn’t qualify for the next phase. Group L was perhaps the most equal amongst other teams. German team Hoffenheim finished 1st, and Crvena Zvezda Belgrade finished in 2nd place. Liberec was 3rd and Gent last in the group without any point.

Dynamo Kyiv, Manchester United, Salzburg, Krasnodar, Ajax, Shakhtar, and Club Brugge are coming to the UEFA Europa League as the third-placed in the Champions League. In the first knockout round, there will be some interesting matches. Among these encounters, we can mention Manchester United against Real Sociedad, Benfica vs. Arsenal, Salzburg vs. Villarreal, and Lille vs. Ajax. The first matches will be played on 18.02.2021.

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