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, as the third-placed teams from the Europa League group stage drop down to test their mettle against the Conference League groups’ runners-up. Seasoned European competitors like Marseille, PSV and Celtic go toe-to-toe against third-tier upstarts like Bodø/Glimt, with the winners facing the Conference League’s group stage winners in a second round of 16 next month. Let the games begin!
Early (17:45 GMT) Kickoffs
PSV – Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Tel-Aviv were handed a relatively gentle group in the Conference League (Alashkert of Armenia, Finnish stalwarts HJK and Austrians LASK) and took advantage, finishing a comfortable second behind the Austrians despite drawing against Alashkert and giving the Armenians their only point of the group stage in the process. The same cannot be said of PSV, whose comprehensive defeat to Real Sociedad in their last Europa League group game left them trailing behind the Basque outfit and group winners Monaco. PSV are one of four teams in the Conference League knockouts to have won the Champions League – for all Maccabi’s achievements in reaching this stage, if PSV can overcome their disappointment at dropping down to this level are surely one of the favourites to add another piece of European silverware to the cabinet.
Fenerbahçe – Slavia Praha
One of the round’s more intriguing matchups sees Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, struggling domestically, up against a Slavia Praha team who are locked in a very tight contest for the Czech title. Fener are at this level courtesy largely of two Europa League group-stage defeats to Olympiakos, while Slavia managed to eke out a draw against Union Berlin on the final Conference League matchday to finish a distant second behind Feyenoord. Fenerbahçe’s captain and talisman Mesut Özil has struggled with injury of late and may not be fit for this leg, increasing the onus on Slavia to strike while the iron is hot. My barber is a Fenerbahçe fan; I suspect he will be disappointed at the outcome of this tie.
Rapid Wien – Vitesse
Vitesse are only at this stage at all courtesy of an enormously controversial UEFA decision against Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur (and, to give them their due, an earlier narrow victory in the Netherlands over Nuno Espirito Santo’s Tottenham Hotspur’s B-team). Austrians Rapid, by contrast, were simply outmatched in a Europa League group which also featured West Ham and Dinamo Zagreb, and did well to finish third ahead of Genk. Another victory for the Conference League natives seems likely here.
Midtjylland – PAOK
Greek side PAOK rather limped to this stage of the competition, only qualifying from a Conference League group featuring Slovan Bratislava and debutant Gibraltarian side Lincoln Red Imps on the final day. Midtjylland will likewise rue their failure to perform at crunch time; a victory over the Bulgarians of Ludogorets, bottom of their group, would have seen them qualify for the Europa League knockouts, but instead they drew (only Ludogorets’ second point of the group stage) and were cast down. This is a hard tie to call – the Danes are likely favourites despite their final day disappointment, although there is a chance that PAOK’s superior match-fitness after a much shorter winter break could work in their favour.
Late (20:00 GMT) Kickoffs
Leicester City – Randers
Upon his side’s elimination from the Europa League after a final-day defeat to Napoli, Leicester supremo Brendan Rodgers claimed not to know what the Europa Conference League even was. Given that it now represents their only hope of silverware in what has become an increasingly disappointing and disjointed season, one hopes that Rodgers has used the intervening months to brush up on the competition. Danish side Randers are decidedly not the favourites in this tie, but are in rather better domestic shape than the Foxes. They drew four times in the group stage, beating only Romanians Cluj; they will need to be a little more clinical to give the Premier League side a bloody nose on their introduction to this competition.
Marseille – Qarabağ FK
Probably the most uneven matchup in this round, French giants Marseille (another Conference League side, like PSV, who have won the Champions League in the past) will be looking to make amends for a mightily disappointing Europa League campaign. Finishing third behind a stuttering Lazio and a domestically imploding Galatasaray, the French side are nevertheless in second place at home and one of the clear favourites for this competition. Standing in their way are Azeri side Qarabağ, who made light work of Cypriot minnows Omonia Nicosia and the Kazakhs of Kairat Almaty but were comprehensively beaten by group winners Basel on the final day. Despite Qarabağ’s imperious domestic form there is only one likely winner here.
Sparta Praha – FK Partizan
I was, frankly, a little underwhelmed by Partizan in the Conference League group stage. They scraped through a group containing such giants of European football as Anorthosis Famagusta and European group stage debutants Flora Tallinn, almost being eliminated by Anorthosis on the final day, and offered little challenge to runaway group leaders Gent. Sparta Praha, smarting at elimination from the Europa League courtesy of a defeat at Ibrox to Rangers in the final group game, have been gifted a relatively gentle introduction to this level, but Partizan are coming off the back of six straight league wins and may yet fancy their chances.
Celtic – Bodø/Glimt
After a rough start, Australian manager Ange Postecoglou had endeared himself to Celtic fans even before their recent 3-0 thrashing of Rangers. Poised to regain the Scottish title that they comprehensively lost last season, Celtic strengthened in January with a raft of transfers from Postecoglou’s former home in Japan’s J-League. Bodø/Glimt, by contrast, sold key players including striker Erik Botheim over the winter, and are also coming into this fixture without much recent match experience courtesy of Norway’s long winter break. The Norwegians have blessed the Conference League with its first truly iconic result – their 6-1 humiliation of José Mourinho’s Roma – but their story probably ends in this tie.
Games to Watch
Fenerbahçe – Slavia Praha, Celtic – Bodø/Glimt, Leicester – Randers
