UEFA Europa League Matchday 2 Preview
The prestigious Europa League resumes this week, with Matchday Two set to take place on Thursday evening across the continent of Europe.
European football for this week is set to continue on Thursday evening when the second round of matches in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League League Phase get underway. All of the 18 fixtures will be taking place in one day, in what is a very prestigious competition in club football.
Some of the biggest clubs in Europe are taking part in this season’s competition, including Spurs, Manchester United, FC Porto, Ajax, Galatasaray, Athletic Club, and AS Roma.
All but one of the British Clubs –Tottenham and Rangers – were victorious on the first matchday of the 2024/25 competition. They will all be looking for a second successive win in the League Phase to strengthen their chances of reaching the Round of 16 stage of the Europa League.
United’s first game ended in a stalemate at the Theatre Of Dreams against Dutch outfit FC Twente, but these points could nonetheless prove vital come the conclusion of this season’s League Phase.
It is still the very early stages of the Europa League competition this season, but it is positive to see United, Spurs, and Rangers all joint top of the League Phase table alongside the other clubs that claimed a victory on Matchday One. These clubs are as follows: Ajax, FCSB, Lazio, Galatasaray, Rangers, Slavia Praha, Lyon, AZ Alkmaar, Bodo/Glimt, Anderlecht, Braga, and Fenerbahce.
Here, we will be focusing on the matches involving all three of the British Clubs on the second matchday of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League’s League Phase.
Ferencvaros (Hungary) vs. Spurs (England) – Groupama Arena, Thursday 3rd October, 17:45 KO:
The first fixture that we are going to be taking a look at is the match between Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros and Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur at the Groupama Arena on Thursday evening.
Spurs were emphatic 3 – 0 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their first game in this season’s Europa League against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag, with the Lilywhites finding the back of the net through goals coming from Brennan Johnson (12’), Pape Matar Sarr (52’), and from Dominic Solanke (68’).
This will be the first time that Tottenham have ever faced their Hungarian counterparts in any competitive fixture in all competitions. This historic occasion sees Spurs having a strong chance of collecting a maximum of 6 points from their first two games in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League.
Postecoglou and his team do come into this game off the back of an emphatic and well-deserved 3 – 0 Premier League win at Old Trafford against Manchester United, scoring through Brennan Johnson (3’), Dejan Kulusevski (47’), and Dominic Solanke (77’). This was a fourth win in succession for the North London Club in all competitions.
FC Porto (Portugal) vs. Manchester United (England) – Estádio do Dragão, Thursday 3rd October, 20:00 KO
We now move on to Manchester United’s latest match in this season’s UEFA Europa League, which will see them travel to Portugal to take on FC Porto on Thursday at the Estadio do Dragao, the home of the Portuguese heavyweights.
United drew 1 – 1 with Eredivisie side FC Twente in their opening League Phase contest in the Europa League fixture at Old Trafford. Christian Eriksen gave the hosts the lead just before half time (35’) before the Red Devils conceded an equalising goal from Sam Lammers, who drew the visitors level midway through the second half (68’).
Overall, Manchester United and FC Porto have gone head to head in all competitions on a total of 8 occasions, and it is United who has the superior record of 3 wins compared to the 2 that their Portuguese counterparts have accumulated over the years. To date, there have been 3 draws.
The most recent competitive fixture in all competitions between these two European Giants took place back on 15th April 2009 in the second leg of the Quarter Final of that season’s UEFA Champions League. The winning goal in this game was scored through Cristiano Ronaldo (6’) to secure a 1 – 0 triumph. United reached the Semi-Final after drawing the first leg 2 – 2 at Old Trafford.
Rangers (Scotland) vs. Lyon (France) – Ibrox Stadium, Thursday 3rd October, 20:00 KO:
As for Rangers, they are going to welcome French Giants Lyon to the iconic Ibrox for what is set to be an incredible night of football with a tremendous atmosphere at the home of the Glaswegian club.
Philippe Clement’s side got their Europa League campaign off to the best possible start on Matchday One when they were able to come away with a deserved 2 – 0 victory away from home against Swedish outfit Malmo. The Gers scored their goals through Nedim Bajrami (1’) and Ross McCausland (76’) in each half.
Overall, Rangers and Lyon have gone head to head 4 times in European Competitions. They faced each other in the Group Stages (Group E) of the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League, where Rangers were 3 – 0 winners in France before losing by the same scoreline at Ibrox in their second game that year.
The Gers’ 3 – 0 away win is the most recent victory for the Glasgow Giants so far in all competitions against Lyon.
They have also met just twice in the Europa League, and this was in the Group Stages of the 2021/22 edition of the competition. This included the most recent fixture between these two clubs ended in a 1 – 1 draw at the Groupama Stadium. Scott Wright opened the scoring at the end of the first half (42’) before an own goal from Calvin Bassey scored an own goal to restore parity early on in the second half (49’).
Other UEFA Europa League Matchday 2 Fixtures:
You can take a look at the other matches taking place this week on the second matchday of the UEFA Champions League’s League Phase:
- Lazio (Italy) vs. Nice (France) – Stadio Olimpico, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Slavia Praha (Czech Republic) vs. Ajax (Netherlands) – Eden Arena, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Real Sociedad (Spain) vs. Anderlecht (Belgium) – Anoeta Stadium, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Olympiacos (Greece) vs. Braga (Portugal) – Karaiskakis Stadium, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) vs. Midtjylland (Denmark) – Partizan Stadium, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Qarabag (Azerbaijan) vs. Malmo (Sweden) – Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- Hoffenheim (Germany) vs. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) – Rhein-Neckar Arena, Thursday 3rd October – 17:45 KO.
- RFS (Latvia) vs. Galatasaray (Turkey) – LNK Sporta Parks, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- PAOK (Greece) vs. FCSB (Romania) – Toumba Stadium, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) vs. Ludogorets (Bulgaria) – Doosan Arena, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Union SG (Belgium) vs. Bodo/Glimt (Norway) – Lotto Park, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Athletic Club (Spain) vs. AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) – Estadio San Mames, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Twente (Netherlands) vs. Fenerbahce (Turkey) – De Grolsch Veste, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Besiktas (Turkey) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) – Tupras Stadyumu, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
- Elfsborg (Sweden) vs. AS Roma (Italy) – Boras Arena, Thursday 3rd October – 20:00 KO.
Excitement and anticipation is rapidly building ahead of the resumption of action in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League’s League Phase on Thursday evening. There is sure to be plenty of enthralling action with incredible atmospheres in stadiums across the continent of Europe.
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