It’s crunch time around Europe, and both the UEFA Europa League and Conference League kicked off their semifinal rounds on Thursday. There were goals all around as Luis Sinisterra’s brace saw Feyenoord secure a one-goal victory over Olympique Marseille in the Conference League. Jose Mourinho will also be happy with Roma’s draw over Leicester City despite being outshot during the entire match.
In Europa League play, West Ham came agonizingly close to grabbing a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt as Jarrod Bowen’s bicycle-kick effort clattered off the post late into stoppage time. Angelino also got a late winner for RB Leipzig over Rangers before the away leg in Scotland next week.
Thursday’s scoreboard
- Europa League: West Ham 1, Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (FT)
- Europa League: RB Leipzig 1, Rangers 0 (FT)
- Conference League: Leicester City 1, Roma 1 (FT)
- Conference League: Feyenoord 3, Marseille 2 (FT)
Is the English sweep of European competitions at risk?
While Liverpool and Manchester City are alive and well in Champions League play, Eintracht Frankfurt stunned West Ham a minute into the match via an excellent header from Angsar Knauff. Daichi Kamada scored a goal and hit the post when he had a chance for another, but Frankfurt will be happy with their victory. While West Ham had chances, only two of their 15 shots hit the target as Frankfurt’s defense bent but it didn’t break.
Manager David Moyes has put everything into the competition as winning Europa is the only shot at a Champions League spot for the team, and now a victory in the away leg is necessary.
Leicester City will be familiar with how their match went as Roma rolled into town, pulled a Jose Mourinho special and will now go home in a good place in the tie. Lorenzo Pellegrini scored an opener in the 15th minute and Roma held on for dear life. James Maddison had an excellent day but ended it with nothing to show for it. Brenden Rodger’s shift late paid off as substitute Harvey Barnes assisted Ademola Lookman’s equalizer following an excellent dribble.
As it has been a disappointing season for Leicester, all of their eggs are in the Conference League basket but they’ll likely be underdogs heading to Italy for the second leg.
Mourinho inches closer to his first trophy with Roma
Speaking of having all of your eggs in one basket, Jose Mourinho is trying to break a trophy drought that stretches back to winning the Europa League in the 2016-17 season with Manchester United. He can end that drought with Roma this season in the Conference League and he’ll feel well placed to do just that after getting to return home with a draw. While Roma didn’t create much vs. Leicester City, that was by design as they looked to frustrate the Foxes. It worked well enough because even though Leicester City won the xG battle 1.71 to .32, things were level on the scoresheet.
Potential danger for Rangers
As Celtic are ahead by six points in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers are another team that will need to win Europa League for a place in Champions League. But their showing against RB Leipzig in the first leg wasn’t good enough. They went for a defense-first gameplan allowing Leipzig to control possession with almost 70 percent of the ball, and for much of the match, it seemed like they would get away with it before Angelino put Leipzig ahead in the 85th minute.
Rangers only put one shot on target in the entire match and even with an expected uptick at home, their squad doesn’t seem to have the quality to hang with the big boys of Germany.
Marseille defenders look away
While Duje Caleta-Car and William Saliba have enjoyed strong seasons, they weren’t up for stopping Feyenoord’s pace in attack. The two center backs combined for one tackle and zero interceptions with Caleta-Car having an error leading to Feyenoord’s eventual winner.
While the erratic nature of both teams does lead to excellent viewing, Marseille’s defense will need to be better in France or this tie is all but over.
You can watch the Europa League and Conference League semifinal second legs next week on Paramount+.
