A whopping 194 teams take part in Europa League from all over Europe. After three qualifying rounds, it is now down to 48 clubs in 12 groups. Europa League includes some former European champions like Liverpool, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.
The tie of the night will certainly be Manchester City against Juventus. Both clubs are sharply contrasting to each other. The Turin based club has European pedigree, but has slumped to bad times in recent seasons. They have a mediocre squad this season and haven’t been convincing till now. City, on the other hand represent the new world order. While they don’t have a sparkling history, they do have a star studded squad. City has done well in the English Premier League so far, having beaten both Liverpool and Chelsea. Juve’s league form has been patchy, having won just two games till now. Manchester City will be eager to make a big announcement of their arrival on the big stage. With Tevez in blistering form, it will be a tough task for an unconvincing Juventus defence. Juve’s first game ended in an embarrassing 3-3 draw with minnows Lech Poznan, while City won 2-0 against Red Bull Salzburg. Juve’s recent run of poor form against English clubs will give more confidence to City.
Can Juventus stop Tevez?
Another crunch tie on match-day 2 sees Sevilla travel to Dormund to take on a Borussia side brimming with confidence. Former European Champions Borussia have won their last four European encounters, and have enjoyed a rich vein of form in the Bundesliga. Sevilla, on the other hand are winless in their last five matches in Europe. They sacked coach Antonio Alvarez, while replacing him with Gregorio Manzano. This match will saw the clash of two prolific strikers – Lucas Barrios and Luis Fabiano. Keep an eye out for the Japanese sensation, Shinji Kagawa.
The Spain – Germany tussle will continue, when defending champions Atletico welcome Bayer Leverkusen. Atletico will be without the services of Diego Godin. Leverkusen has made a bright start to their domestic season, scoring 12 goals in 6 matches so far. Liverpool, playing their 300th European match will look to continue their traditional form against Dutch clubs when they take on FC Utrecht. The Merseysiders have lost just once in 12 encounters to clubs from Holland. A stuttering start in the domestic campaign has seen the Reds languishing in the bottom half of the table, and a win in this match will act as confidence booster.
Steaua Bucharesti and Napoli dominated European football in the late 80’s. The Romanian club became the first Eastern European club to win the European Cup in 1986. Diego Maradona inspired Napoli to a UEFA Cup title in 1989. Both clubs have more modest ambitions these days, and their main target will be to reach next round. With Liverpool in the same group, a win for either team will be a big boost.
Luciano Spaletti has turned Zenit St Petersburg into an unstoppable force in Russia. Zenit, UEFA Cup winners three seasons ago, are unbeaten in the league after 20 games. They have already won the Russian Cup. After a disappointing exit from Champions’ League, Zenit started the Europa League journey with a 3-1 win over Anderlecht. Aleksander Kerkhazov scored a hat-trick in that game, and followed it up with another three in last weekend’s 6-1 win over Saturn Moscow. Zenit travel to Athens to take on AEK.
Kerkhazov, a man in form
Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv convincingly beat Debrecen in the first game; the final score was 5-0. They play host to Dutch powerhouse PSV. Sampdoria take on Debrecen in the other game of that group.
After a shaky start to the Serie A season, Palermo seem to be coming back to form slowly. They slumped to a 3-2 loss against Sparta Prague in first Group match. The Rosonero will need to bounce back against Lausanne Sport in matchday-2.
Like last season, VFB Stuttgart has started the Bundesliga on a disastrous note. Having lost 5 games out of 6, they are rock bottom in the table. They started off on a positive note in Europa League with a 3-0 win over Young Boys, and travel to Denmark to take on Odense.
Dynamo Kiyv, two time winners of Cup Winners’ Cup, is trailing Shalhtar Donestsk in Ukranian League. They will focus on UEFA Cup this season. Dynamo travel to Moldova to take on FC Sheriff.
For complete set of fixtures check here.