September 30, (THEWILL) – As football hostilities in Europe wrapped up a second slew of midweek UEFA Champions League matches with a thrilling day of excitement on Wednesday, the UEFA Europa League resumes with 16 matches.
It will be matchday two in Europe’s second-tier competition and there are several sure-fire headline-makers. .
Unfortunately, both Leicester City Super Eagles’ stars will be conspicuously absent as midfield enforcer Wilfred Ndidi remains suspended due to the late red card he picked up in the opening day draw against Victor Osimhen’s Napoli and Kelechi Iheanacho was prevented from entering Poland due to travel documents discrepancy.
THEWILL previews what to look forward to.
Fenerbahçe vs Olympiacos (5.45 pm)
Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe will clash for the first time in a UEFA competition when Olympiacos visits Fenerbahçe. In their first Group D match, the Istanbul giants drew 1-1 with Eintracht, while Pedro Martins’ Greek champions upset ten-man Royal Antwerp 2-1 in Piraeus.
The Turkish teams have won 11 of the 28 UEFA club competition meetings between the national teams. However, Fenerbahçe have yet to lose at home to Greek opponents, with one win and two draws, while Olympiacos have a two-win and three-loss record in Turkey, including a 1-0 victory at Istanbul Başakşehir in the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
Sparta Prague vs Rangers (5.45 pm)
After Rangers lost 2-0 at home to Lyon and Celtic lost 4-3 at Real Betis on Matchday 1, there was little to cheer in Glasgow. Rangers travel to Prague to face Sparta, a team Celtic know all too well from the 2020/21 group stage. Ange Postecoglu’s Hoops face Leverkusen at home, while Celtic travel to Prague to face Sparta.
“We beat Celtic 4-1 twice last season,” Sparta midfielder David Pavelka recalled happily. Sparta manager Pavel Vrba feels his team has a chance to beat Steven Gerrard’s side in the Czech Republic. “If we beat them we will have four points and they will have none. So, we have the chance to really put them in a lot of trouble.”
Nigeria Super Eagles’ stars Leon Balogun, in the Rangers’ defense, and Joe Aribo, who was on the scoresheet last weekend for Rangers’ only goal in the away win at Dundee FC, in midfield, will try to get Gerrard’s side their first win.
Legia Warszawa vs Leicester (5.45 pm)
Legia Warszawa waited until the final seconds to win at Spartak Moskva on Matchday 1, and their success in Russia has left the Polish champions with plenty to play for as they face the Group C heavyweights Leicester and Napoli in consecutive games.
Czesaw Michniewicz, Legia’s manager, was ecstatic to face both of those teams after the draw. He said: “We will face my favourite coach, Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers,” he said, adding: “[Last year] I was at Napoli-Barcelona – I was sitting in the stadium dreaming about ‘playing’ there one day as coach. And the dream came true!”
With Iheanacho’s absence, Rodgers may have to contend with Jamie Vardy alone in front and get Youri Tielemans to slot into the midfield in the absence of the suspended Super Eagles’ Wilfred Ndidi, to combine with Ayoze Perez and Boubakary Soumare.
Napoli vs Spartak Moscow (5.45 pm)
It will be one “Victor” against another as Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen files out against Spartak Moscow’s Victor Moses.
The Azzurri, who hold a pristine record in the Italian top flight, will look to add to the single point earned on the opening night, while their opponents are at the bottom of Group C. Napoli stayed atop the Italian table with a 2-0 win over Cagliari at Stadio Maradona over the weekend, making it six wins in a row. Star striker Victor Osimhen scored both goals for the home side.
Osimhen’s growing reputation as a forward to be feared across the continent has seen him fetch six goals in as many competitive matches.
Already considered as outsiders in the group, Spartak Moscow were beaten by Legia Warszawa at home in the opening fixture, the Russian side going down to a stoppage-time strike from Legia’s Lirim Kastrati, as the Polish champions escaped the Otkritie Arena with a 1-0 win. Moses played 82 minutes of the game and will be on hand again.
Genk vs Dinamo Zagreb (8 pm)
When Genk hosts Dinamo Zagreb at Cegeka Arena for their second Group H match, they will be looking to make it two wins from two in the UEFA Europa League. The Belgians have been excellent moving forward, led by the prolific Paul Onuachu, and should be able to defeat Dinamo.
In their first Europa League match, Genk required a late goal from Onuachu to win 1-0 away at Rapid Vienna. The game appeared to be heading for a draw until the Nigerian attacker stole all three points with a 92nd-minute shot.
Dinamo were not at their best in their first match, losing 2-0 at home to West Ham United. They posed little of an attacking threat and failed to make a single shot on target during the match.
Damir Krznar’s side reached the Europa League knockout stage last season and will be hoping to do it again this season. In the Croatian HNK, they came back from their defeat to West Ham with back-to-back 4-1 triumphs against Orijent and Slaven Koprovnica.
The rest of the fixtures for Thursday 30 September:
Group A: Sparta Praha vs Rangers, Lyon vs Brøndby
Group B: Real Sociedad vs Monaco, Sturm Graz vs PSV Eindhoven
Group C: Legia Warszawa vs Leicester, Napoli vs Spartak Moskva
Group D: Royal Antwerp vs Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe vs Olympiacos
Group E: Lazio vs Lokomotiv Moskva, Marseille vs Galatasaray
Group F: Ludogorets vs Crvena zvezda, Braga vs Midtjylland
Group G: Celtic vs Leverkusen, Ferencváros vs Real Betis
Group H: Genk vs Dinamo Zagreb, West Ham vs Rapid Wien
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
