The defeat of Cherchesov in Leverkusen, the goal of Rakitsky in Warsaw and the defeat in Manchester: how the 1/8 finals of the Europa League started

Offensive misfire "Ferencváros"

This season, domestic fans are deprived of the opportunity to support their teams due to sanctions imposed by UEFA on the country.

Under the current conditions, they pay special attention to Ferencvaros.

The wards of the former coach of the Russian national team Stanislav Cherchesov had a great time in the group stage of the Europa League and, having won their quartet, made it to the 1/8 finals.

There they were faced with a confrontation with Bayer, whose colors are defended by Andrey Lunev.

Unfortunately, the goalkeeper was injured and was excluded from the application.

The reigning champion of Hungary did not do without losses either.

The main central defender Sami Mmae was injured in the spring, and the defensive midfielder Aissa Laiduni moved to Union.

Perhaps it was their absence that caused the unsuccessful start.

Leverkuseners, with the support of their native stands, immediately turned on high pressure and forced the opponents to make mistakes.

As a result, already in the tenth minute they opened the scoring.

Denesh Dibus made a bad pass straight to Kerem Demirbay.

His opponent took his first shot, but the attack continued, and the German from the penalty line sent the ball into the near corner on the second attempt.

Subsequently, the hosts eased the pressure, and Fradi set up counterplay and began to create chances.

The most dangerous shortly before the whistle for the break missed Christoffer Zakariassen.

The Norwegian tried to throw the goalkeeper, but landed on the crossbar.

Bayer didn't have many chances to excel.

The former Zenit striker Serdar Azmun, who was replaced after an hour of the meeting, turned out to be completely invisible.

All the more offensive is the most important goal of the Leverkusen team in the very ending after a set piece.

Adam Gloszek struck a great free kick, but hit the post.

However, Edmond Tapsoba turned out to be the first to finish off.

Now Ferencváros faces an extremely difficult task in the return match - to win back the two-goal gap.

Sensational draw for Arsenal

The game day of the LE was not without a sensation.

Arsenal, confidently striding towards winning the first title in the Premier League in 19 years, on the road broke the world with Sporting - 2: 2.

The result was probably affected by the serious rotation carried out by Mikel Arteta compared to the weekend match against Bournemouth.

The coach made six changes in the starting lineup, leaving only William Salib, Alexander Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka at the start.

As a result, the teams gave an equal game with approximately the same number of chances.

Lisbon was in no way inferior to the venerable rival and boldly went forward.

Even Saliba's goal in the 22nd minute after the corner was not knocked down their mood.

At the same time, Zinchenko dumped the opponent on the lawn in the penalty area, which provoked a mass brawl.

But referee Tobias Stieler, along with assistants at VAR, did not record a foul.

Soon, Sporting equalized also thanks to a corner kick.

The transfer of Marcus Edwards closed Goncalo Inacio.

And at the beginning of the second half, Ruben Amorim's wards took the lead at all.

Paulinho finished off the ball into the net from close range.

But Hidemas Morita prevented them from winning.

The Japanese unsuccessfully set himself up under the shot of Granit Xhaka, and the ball, ricocheting from him, flew into the target.

Antonio Adan jumped to another corner and was unable to rescue his partners.

And again, there were questions to the judges, because at the beginning of the attack, Saka, having made a selection in the opponent's half, pushed the opponent.

Sporting missed the opportunity to beat Arsenal for the first time in history.

In the previous four confrontations, the teams parted ways twice.

The Londoners have won the same number of times.

Convincing defeat from Manchester United

Another team from Foggy Albion, Manchester United, was faced with the task of taking revenge for a humiliating defeat from Liverpool in the Premier League with a score of 0:7.

After that, many expected a personnel revolution from Eric ten Hag with the punishment of the perpetrators, but he shocked the fans by not making a single replacement in the squad.

And this move paid off.

The Manquanians, who knocked Barcelona out of the fight in the 1/16 finals of the LE, left no chance at home for another Spanish team, Betis - 4:1.

The advantage of the hosts turned out to be colossal.

In particular, they delivered 26 shots, half of which were on target.

The guests answered the family (two - on target).

If not for Claudio Bravo, who made nine saves, they could have lost even more.

An early goal by Marcus Rashford, scored already in the sixth minute, went into the hands of Manchester United.

By the way, for him, he became fifth in the LE and 25th this season in all competitions.

Subsequently, Ten Hag's wards could repeatedly double the advantage, but they were not lucky.

One Wout Wegorst missed a couple of great moments.

For this, they were punished after half an hour of the meeting, when the Sevillas unexpectedly equalized during the counterattack.

Ayose Perez after throwing a beautiful billiard shot partner sent the ball into the far corner.

At the same time, the opponents had questions for the referee, because on the replay there was an impression that Juanmi, who made a productive pass, played along with his hand.

But at the very beginning of the second half, the Mancunians removed all questions about the outcome of the confrontation.

First, Antoni spun the projectile into the net from the penalty area with a beautiful blow and scored in the second match of the LE in a row.

And then short Bruno Fernandes closed the pitch with Luke Shaw's head from the standard.

The point in the end was put by Vegorst, who nevertheless realized one of the many chances.

It is not surprising that the Dutchman, after scoring, gave vent to emotions and even almost cried.

Decent performance by Shakhtar

Of the teams from the post-Soviet space, only Shakhtar continues to play in the tournament.

And the Pitmen almost defeated Feyenoord in their first nominally home game.

The team from the Netherlands held the initiative throughout the meeting and delivered almost four times as many shots - 21:5.

But an excellent game was played by Anatoly Trubin, who was upset only once.

For example, at the beginning of the second half, he rescued partners in several episodes, and twice after Danilo's blows.

The more unexpected was the curious goal of Yaroslav Rakitskiy with his first shot on target in the 78th minute.

The former defender of "Zenith" tried to head in the fall to close the pitch from the corner, but the ball in an arc after an unsuccessful touch, in an arc, planned into the far corner.

By the way, the football player clearly manifests himself after returning to his homeland.

In the last UPL match against Metalist 1925, he scored two points, and now he scored against Feyenoord.

But the defeat of the Rotterdam team with an abundance of chances would be injustice.

That is why the exact blow in the end turned out to be completely logical.

Moreover, a deep reservist saved the team from defeat.

Ezequiel Bulliaude has only played 15 minutes against Sturm in the group stage this season, but managed to make an effective pass.

In Warsaw, the Argentine got even less time and, two minutes after entering the field, closed the pitch from the flank.

Synchronized wins for Roma and Juventus

Teams from Italy had the most successful game day.

Both Roma and Juventus won victories.

And both matches developed according to a similar scenario.

The Romans opened the scoring already in the 13th minute thanks to an accurate strike by Stefan El Shaarawy and subsequently allowed the opponent to do almost nothing.

I remember except that Takefusa Kubo's shot at the post before the break.

And in the end, Marash Kumbula closed the pitch from the corner and doubled the advantage of Jose Mourinho's wards.

Turintsy hit the gates of Freiburg only once, but they had an overwhelming advantage.

Surprisingly, the guests scored only one inaccurate blow for the entire meeting.

In the 63rd minute, Lukas Höhler scored after a set piece, but the referees did not count the goal, because the partner assisting him played up his hand.

But Massimiliano Allegri's team could have scored much more.

One Adrien Rabiot missed several advantageous moments, and his debut goal was canceled due to a violation.

But once again, Angel Di Maria managed to excel.

At the beginning of the second half, he headed the cross from the left side.

An experienced Argentine after the World Cup seems to be experiencing a second youth.

He scored six points in Serie A (3 + 3) and scored four goals in the playoffs of the UEL.

It was his hat-trick that helped pass Nantes at the previous stage.

And even the absence of Paul Pogba did not prevent Juve from defeating Freiburg.

The Frenchman unexpectedly did not get into the application.

Allegri, after the final whistle, explained this by being late for the pre-match team meeting.

Thus he decided to punish the ward.