quentinMatchday 1: UEFA Europa League
September 22nd 2010 12:09
Last week the Europa League kicked off and there were some astonishing results. Sport Talk brings you these results and a view of what they all mean in terms of qualification for the knockout rounds. It may be early days but some conclusions can be drawn
Group A
Salzburg 0 - 2 Manchester City
Juventus 3 - 3 Lech
A great win for Man City over in Austria and they've hit the group stage running. An astonishing scoreline in Turin though as Juventus are still taking their time adjusting to the coaching of Luigi Del Neri. You'd still favour both Man City and Juventus to qualify but really, Juve would want to defend a lot better than they did here
Group B
Leverkusen 4 - 0 Rosenborg
Aris 1 - 0 Atletico Madrid
Massive upset in this group with the defending champions (Atletico Madrid) toppled by Greek side Aris. Leverkusen expose Rosenborg for being a mediocre team in a 4-0 walloping. I'd still be confident that Atletico Madrid will qualify for the knockout rounds but suddenly the next matchday becomes really important for them.
Group C
Levski Sofia 3 - 2 Gent
Lille 1 - 2 Sporting Lisbon
This opening matchday probably went according to script in this group. It could be considered a group of death of sorts because really, Lille, Gent and Levski Sofia are all very evenly matched and fighting it out for 2nd behind Sporting Lisbon in my eyes.
Group D
Dinamo Zagreb 2 - 0 Villarreal
Club Brugge 1 - 1 PAOK
Massive upset in Zagreb as Villarreal get toppled by a very impressive Dinamo. As was said about Atletico Madrid, matchday 2 suddenly becomes vital for them. Meanwhile Club Brugge and PAOK are inseperable but I just can't pick it at this early stage
Group E
AZ 2 - 1 Sheriff
Dynamo Kiev 2 - 2 BATE
Great start for AZ Alkmaar in this group with an important win over Sheriff and they've already got the advantage after Kiev and BATE played out a very entertaining draw. Still a long way to go but you suspect that 2nd spot will come down to Dynamo Kiev or BATE with AZ qualifying as top team
Group F
Lausanne 0 - 3 CSKA Moscow
Sparta Prague 3 - 2 Palermo
Lausanne are definately the weakest team in this group by far but for Prague to score 3 goals against an Italian defense, that is a huge result for them. Too close to call at this early stage.
Group G
AEK 3 - 1 Hajduk Split
Anderlecht 1 - 3 Zenit
This group is probably the hardest one to call in that you have 4 teams which could all make the second round. Both games may have been 3-1 but I'm not totally sold on any team in this group as yet
Group H
Getafe 2 - 1 OB
Stuttgart 3 - 0 Young Boys
One of the very few groups where the results went according to expectation and the 2 group favourites did the job at home. I do favour bot Getafe and Stuttgart getting through with the order depending on how the matches go between the 2 teams
Group I
Debrecen 0 - 5 Metalist
PSV 1 - 1 Sampdoria
I dunno what to say about this group, I really don't. It was absolutely bewildering to see Debrecen lose 5-0 and with the other match being a draw, Metalist have the early advantage. I can see Metalist surprising with one of PSV and Sampdoria potentially missing out
Group J
Sevilla 0 - 1 PSG
Karpaty 3 - 4 Borussia Dortmund
Sevilla are clearly struggling this year and I don't think anyone expected the home loss to PSG. As for Dortmund, some flaky defence was the order of the day against Karpaty but they did enough to win.
Group K
Liverpool 4 - 1 Steaua Bucharest
Napoli 0 - 0 FC Utrecht
Liverpool put aside their domestic woes with a very impressive performance against Steaua. This is a competition that Roy Hodgson enjoys and Liverpool seemed to enjoy it as well. Meanwhile a dour 0-0 in the other game leaves me very unsure about both those teams
Group L
Beşiktaş 1-0 CSKA Sofia
Porto 3-0 Rapid Wien
Another group where the results went according to expectation and the 2 favourites getting up shows me that they will be pretty hard to topple in this group. Having said that though, the outsiders are capable of the odd upset so really it's a bit rough writing them off already.
So ends the review of Matchday 1, a matchday which saw the following
Goals Scored: 78
Average goals per game: 3.25
The next matchday takes place on the 30th September (AEST)
Group A
Salzburg 0 - 2 Manchester City
Juventus 3 - 3 Lech
A great win for Man City over in Austria and they've hit the group stage running. An astonishing scoreline in Turin though as Juventus are still taking their time adjusting to the coaching of Luigi Del Neri. You'd still favour both Man City and Juventus to qualify but really, Juve would want to defend a lot better than they did here
Group B
Leverkusen 4 - 0 Rosenborg
Aris 1 - 0 Atletico Madrid
Massive upset in this group with the defending champions (Atletico Madrid) toppled by Greek side Aris. Leverkusen expose Rosenborg for being a mediocre team in a 4-0 walloping. I'd still be confident that Atletico Madrid will qualify for the knockout rounds but suddenly the next matchday becomes really important for them.
Group C
Levski Sofia 3 - 2 Gent
Lille 1 - 2 Sporting Lisbon
This opening matchday probably went according to script in this group. It could be considered a group of death of sorts because really, Lille, Gent and Levski Sofia are all very evenly matched and fighting it out for 2nd behind Sporting Lisbon in my eyes.
Group D
Dinamo Zagreb 2 - 0 Villarreal
Club Brugge 1 - 1 PAOK
Massive upset in Zagreb as Villarreal get toppled by a very impressive Dinamo. As was said about Atletico Madrid, matchday 2 suddenly becomes vital for them. Meanwhile Club Brugge and PAOK are inseperable but I just can't pick it at this early stage
Group E
AZ 2 - 1 Sheriff
Dynamo Kiev 2 - 2 BATE
Great start for AZ Alkmaar in this group with an important win over Sheriff and they've already got the advantage after Kiev and BATE played out a very entertaining draw. Still a long way to go but you suspect that 2nd spot will come down to Dynamo Kiev or BATE with AZ qualifying as top team
Group F
Lausanne 0 - 3 CSKA Moscow
Sparta Prague 3 - 2 Palermo
Lausanne are definately the weakest team in this group by far but for Prague to score 3 goals against an Italian defense, that is a huge result for them. Too close to call at this early stage.
Group G
AEK 3 - 1 Hajduk Split
Anderlecht 1 - 3 Zenit
This group is probably the hardest one to call in that you have 4 teams which could all make the second round. Both games may have been 3-1 but I'm not totally sold on any team in this group as yet
Group H
Getafe 2 - 1 OB
Stuttgart 3 - 0 Young Boys
One of the very few groups where the results went according to expectation and the 2 group favourites did the job at home. I do favour bot Getafe and Stuttgart getting through with the order depending on how the matches go between the 2 teams
Group I
Debrecen 0 - 5 Metalist
PSV 1 - 1 Sampdoria
I dunno what to say about this group, I really don't. It was absolutely bewildering to see Debrecen lose 5-0 and with the other match being a draw, Metalist have the early advantage. I can see Metalist surprising with one of PSV and Sampdoria potentially missing out
Group J
Sevilla 0 - 1 PSG
Karpaty 3 - 4 Borussia Dortmund
Sevilla are clearly struggling this year and I don't think anyone expected the home loss to PSG. As for Dortmund, some flaky defence was the order of the day against Karpaty but they did enough to win.
Group K
Liverpool 4 - 1 Steaua Bucharest
Napoli 0 - 0 FC Utrecht
Liverpool put aside their domestic woes with a very impressive performance against Steaua. This is a competition that Roy Hodgson enjoys and Liverpool seemed to enjoy it as well. Meanwhile a dour 0-0 in the other game leaves me very unsure about both those teams
Group L
Beşiktaş 1-0 CSKA Sofia
Porto 3-0 Rapid Wien
Another group where the results went according to expectation and the 2 favourites getting up shows me that they will be pretty hard to topple in this group. Having said that though, the outsiders are capable of the odd upset so really it's a bit rough writing them off already.
So ends the review of Matchday 1, a matchday which saw the following
Goals Scored: 78
Average goals per game: 3.25
The next matchday takes place on the 30th September (AEST)
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