Udinese vs. Celtic Glasgow UEFA Europa League preview
Udinese Calcio will look to avoid UEFA Europa League disaster when they take on Celtic FC, the only side that can deny them a top-two finish in Group I.
Udinese lead Celtic by three points but should the Italian outfit lose, the Bhoys would secure second place by virtue of a superior head-to-head record.
It was a tale of two penalties when the teams met on matchday two. Celtic got off to the perfect start as Ki Sung-Yong converted a third-minute spot kick, but Almen Abdi salvaged a draw for the Italian contenders by converting a similar effort on 88 minutes. It was Udinese’s first game against a Scottish club. Read more
Steaua Bucuresti vs. AEK Larnaca UEFA Europa League preview
Steaua Bucuresti and AEK Larnaca both need a win on matchday six to have any chance of finishing in the top two in UEFA Europa League Group J.
With both sides set to lose out in the event of finishing level on points with second-placed Maccabi Haifa FC, only a winner in Bucharest would have a chance of going through and even then they need Haifa to drop points against section winners FC Schalke 04.
Steaua earned a 1-1 draw when the sides met on matchday two. The Cypriot side struck first through Miljan Mrdakovic in the 59th minute before Mihai Costea responded six minutes later for Steaua, who had Pablo Brandán sent off with eight minutes to go. The result prompted the resignation of Steaua’s Israeli coach Roni Levy. Read more
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs. FC Zurich UEFA Europa League preview
Having secured their place in the round of 32, Sporting Clube de Portugal will look to clinch top spot in UEFA Europa League Group D when the section’s bottom side, FC Zurich, visit Lisbon.
Sporting won 2-0 when the teams met for the third time in UEFA competition on matchday one. Emiliano Insua headed the visitors into a fourth-minute lead before setting up Ricky van Wolfswinkel for a second (21). Zurich can take some consolation from having hit the woodwork three times.
Mario Lino’s Sporting beat Friedhelm Konietzka’s Zürich 4-1 on aggregate in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals in the sides’ only previous UEFA club competition meeting.
Their teams for the first leg of that tie – a 3-0 home win for Sporting at the old Estadio Jose Alvalade on 6 March 1974 – were:
Sporting: Damas, Manaca, Carlos Pereira, Vagner, Bastos, Alhinho, Marinho, Nelson, Yazalde, Baltasar, Chico Faria.
Zurich: Grob, Heer, Rutschmann (Marti 74), Zigerlig, Bionda, Kuhn, Martinelli, Katic, Jeandupeux, Stierli, Botteron.
The sides previously met in the third round of the 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the non-UEFA affiliated predecessor of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. Zurich prevailed, winning 3-0 at home and losing 1-0 in Lisbon.
Sporting‘s 11 matches against Swiss clubs ended W7 D2 L2 (W2 D1 L1 in Lisbon). They have won their last five games against Swiss opposition without conceding a goal.
Zurich’s record in five UEFA games against Portuguese teams reads W0 D2 L3. They have lost both of their previous games in Lisbon without scoring, conceding seven goals in the process (a 3-0 defeat against Sporting and a 4-0 loss to SL Benfica on 6 March 1974).
A 1-0 defeat at FC Vaslui on matchday four ended Sporting’s seven-game unbeaten run in Europe. However, they remain unbeaten in seven games at home (six wins and a draw) since a 2-0 loss to Brøndby IF in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-offs.
Zurich are without a win in their last six European fixtures (two draws and four defeats) since beating R. Standard de Liege 1-0 in this season’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. They have also recorded two draws and four defeats on the road since their last away win, 1-0 at AC Milan in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage.
NK Maribor vs. Club Brugge UEFA Europa League preview
Currently part of a three-way tie for top spot, Club Brugge KV travel Group H back markers NK Maribor, knowing that a win will guarantee their passage through to the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Club Brugge were comfortable 2-0 winners when the sides first met on matchday one. Vadis Odjidja put the hosts ahead on seven minutes with a fine near-post finish after skilfully turning his marker. Nabil Dirar then made it 2-0 on 24 minutes.
Maribor took on Belgian opponents in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, winning 5-1 against KRC Genk in Slovenia and progressing despite a 3-0 loss in Belgium.
Club Brugge won their only previous games against Slovenian opponents comfortably, beating ND Gorica 5-3 away and 3-0 at home in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup second qualifying round.
Maribor are now without a win in five European games since a 2-1 victory at home against Rangers FC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off. However, they have lost only one of their last eight continental fixtures at Ljudski vrt (2-1 against Birmingham City FC on matchday two), winning five of the other games in that run and drawing two.
Club Brugge have won only one of their last seven European away fixtures (2-1 at SC Braga on matchday two) but four of those games ended in draws. Moreover, they have scored seven times in their last three ties on the road.
Standard de Liege vs. Hannover 96 UEFA Europa League preview
Standard de Liege and Hannover 96 meet in UEFA Europa League Group B, with victory for either side enough to secure a round of 32 berth; both will progress, if FC Kobenhavn lose at FC Vorskla Poltava.
The sides cancelled each other out on matchday one, drawing 0-0 despite the best efforts of Hannover playmaker Sergio Pinto and Standard’s own No7 Franck Berrier. It was Hannover’s first game against a Belgian outfit.
Standard have played German sides in 26 previous UEFA competition ties, with the record W6 D7 L13 (W3 D3 L5 at home). They have not won in ten games against German sides (five draws and five defeats) since a 1-0 home win against Karlsruher SC in the first leg of one of the three 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals.
Standard are on a six-game unbeaten run in European competition (four wins and two draws) since a 1-0 defeat against FC Zurich (following a 1-1 first leg draw) saw them move from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round into the UEFA Europa League play-offs.
Standard were the last side in this year’s group stage to concede a goal, going behind early on in their 3-1 matchday four victory at FC Vorskla Poltava – having kept clean sheets in each of their opening three games.
Standard have not conceded in any of their last three continental home games since the aforementioned tie against Zurich.
Hannover are the only side in the competition never to have lost a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League game. This will be their seventh game.
Hannover are unbeaten in three European away games this season; a 1-1 draw in the play-offs, followed by 2-1 victories in both of their previous Group B games on the road.