181 teams have participated in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. Now only 16 remain. European Cup winners Celtic were crushed on their journey to the Arctic by budding hipsters’ favourites Bodø/Glimt, while Turkish giants Fenerbahçe were felled 6-4 on aggregate in a nailbiting tie with Slavia Praha. In a frankly unprecedented turn of events,… Continue reading Europa Conference League: Second Knockout Round Preview
Category: UEFA Europa Conference League
Europa Conference League: First Knockout Round First Preview
70 days without Europa Conference League football. In theory this is as nothing compared to the previous 8400+ days of my life without Conference League football, but for all that ’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, the losing still hurts. Happily, there is now more Conference League,… Continue reading Europa Conference League: First Knockout Round First Preview
Europa Conference League: Gameweek 6 Preview
“τετέλεσται”, Jesus cries on the cross in the Gospel of John. “It is finished.” That great cosmic drama, the endpoint of a divine plan an eternity in the making, ended on a Judean hillside almost 2,000 years ago, and tonight marks the culmination of the similarly divine inaugural Europa Conference League group stage. Thirty-two teams… Continue reading Europa Conference League: Gameweek 6 Preview
Europa Conference League: Gameweek 4 Preview
We’re heading towards crunch time in the Europa Conference League, as the groups begin to take their final shapes and a range of teams big and small stare down the barrel of elimination. With three different bands of kickoffs, the afternoon and evening are chock-full of action from Europe’s most thrilling continental competition. Early Kickoffs… Continue reading Europa Conference League: Gameweek 4 Preview
Europa Conference League: Gameweek 3 Review
Gameweek 3 of the Europa Conference League saw twists and turns aplenty, setting up a range of intriguing possibilities as the group stage hit the halfway mark. Group AGroup A is now sadly a settled affair. Only four points separate HJK in third place from LASK in second, but the ten-goal gap in goal difference… Continue reading Europa Conference League: Gameweek 3 Review
Europa Conference League: Gameweek 3 Preview
Gameweek 3 sees many of the Conference League’s heavyweights go head-to-head for the first time. Split between early and late kickoffs, the fixture-list promises lots of excitement – here’s my assessment of what the week has to offer. (I will be sparing in my coverage of teams from the “big five” leagues, since they are… Continue reading Europa Conference League: Gameweek 3 Preview