What to Look Out for in the Europa League?
by Steve Ashfield | by Steve Ashfield
Battle to Reach the Europa League Last 16
We're at a fascinating stage in the Europa League as the Knockout Play-off Round begins. The eight sides that finished third in their Champions League group have now been moved to the Europa League. To progress into the last 16, they need to get past the eight teams that finished second in their Europa League group. There are some great teams in this round that sees the first legs take place on February 15 with the return matches seven days later. What ties should we be looking at most? Remember you can read all our Europa League betting tips written by our team of experts.
Milan Out to Reach Next Round
It's not the biggest surprise of the season that Milan find themselves in the Europa League. They started the season in the Champions League but in the toughest possible group with PSG, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United. Third place was their finishing position, edging out Newcastle who they won at in their final fixture. That took them into the Europa League and this play-off match.
The Serie A side beat PSG at home and earned a draw at Borussia Dortmund but still failed to make it into the top two. They have been drawn against Rennes from Ligue 1 in this play-off round and are at home in the first leg. Milan reached the last four of the Champions League last season and will hope to go deep in the Europa League this season. Current form is good for Milan who are third in Serie A and with only a Coppa Italia home loss to Atalanta in their last 12 games.
Rennes finished second behind Villarreal in their Europa League group. They are seventh in Ligue 1 and unbeaten in their last nine games. They did lose at Villarreal in the group stages and will find this a difficult tie against Milan.
Feyenoord Bid for Revenge on Roma
One of the best ties in the last 16 sees Feyenoord take on Roma. This is a repeat of the 2021/22 Europa Conference League final that was won 1-0 by Roma. Can the reigning Dutch champions get revenge for that defeat.
It's not been a great season so far for Feyenoord in European football. They only won two of their Champions League group games, losing the other four and finishing third behind Lazio and Atletico Madrid but above Celtic. Two of their three home games in that group were run but they failed to earn a point on the road.
In the Dutch Eredivisie, they are second but ten points behind leaders PSV. Last season saw them reach the quarter finals of the Europa League. They lost that tie and again it was Roma who knocked them out. The first leg is in the Netherlands on Thursday February 15. Feyenoord beat Roma 1-0 at home last season but lost the return leg 4-1 after extra time. They need a good home result because of their struggles on the road
Roma were losing finalists to Sevilla in last season's Europa League. They finished second behind Slavia Prague in their Europa League group. They too are far better at home and won all three group games to nil. Only one point was earned from their three away matches. They are currently sixth in Serie A and lost 4-2 at home to Inter last weekend. That ended a run of four consecutive wins since the departure of Jose Mourinho. A fascinating tie looks ahead of us here. Follow all the results on our Europa League livescore.
Sporting Success on the Way?
Sporting Lisbon take on Young Boys in this Europa League Knockout Play-off Round. The Portuguese side were runners-up to Atalanta in the Europa League group stages. They were quarter finalists in the Europa League last season and famously knocked Arsenal out of the competition. At present, they are second in the Portuguese Primeira League, level on points with leaders Benfica but with a game in hand.
Only two of their last 12 home games in the Europa League have been lost with one defeat in the last six on the road. The first leg of this game is being played in Switzerland. A good result from that February 15 fixture will leave them confident of progressing.
Young Boys began the season in the Champions League and finished third behind Manchester City and RB Leipzig. They managed to finish above Red Star Belgrade and are currently top of the Swiss Super League. They are the underdogs in this tie against Sporting. All the Europa League betting odds are on our site.
Latest Odds to win the Europa League
- Liverpool - odds of 3.00
- Bayer Leverkusen - odds of 5.50
- Milan - odds of 11.00
- West Ham - odds of 17.00
- AS Roma - odds of 17.00
- Brighton and Hove Albion - odds of 17.00
- Benfica - odds of 21.00
- Sporting Lisbon - odds of 26.00
- Atalanta - odds of 26.00
Odds from bet365
