It’s labyrinthine. It’s interminable. It’s...the UEFA Europa League. Monsieur Platini’s brainchild reached its group stage climax this week to a decidedly raptureless reception from Malvern to Moldova.
And it’s a crying shame, because even the weakened line-ups, the semi-meaningless treks to far-flung Eastern Europe and the media vacuum in which it operates cannot undermine some of the entertainment the competition has offered up in this, its inaugural season. Allowing in the eight Champions League failures discredits somewhat the efforts of those teams who have been working their way through tie after tie since mid-July, and it might well take the equivalent of half a league season to get there, but from the evidence so far there’s still much to look forward to for a competition in its infancy.
Take, for example, Fulham’s group (E), which culminated in a hard-fought spectacle at St Jakob Park on Tuesday night, between the West London side and hosts Basle. Following a pair of absorbing ties with Champions League regulars Roma, which brought only a single point despite the occasional superiority of Roy Hodgson’s side, this game would decide the European destiny of both sides. Fulham had to snatch a win in an arena which has been a near-impenetrable fortress in recent years to be sure of progress, while Basle (and Roma – 3-0 victors in Sofia) needed only a point to make it to the last 32.
Hodgson’s return to Switzerland – where he enjoyed significant success with the Nati at USA ’94 and laid the foundations for the country’s more recent under-17 successes – brought two first-half goals from Bobby Zamora, giving the Cottagers a healthy lead going into the break. However, as against Roma, high drama was to follow at the game’s conclusion; Basle twice pulling themselves within a goal as rampant Ghanaian full-back Samuel Inkoom stormed forward at will and experienced strike duo Marco Streller and Alex Frei presented a physical threat to Fulham’s mix-and-match back-line.
It is to the immense credit of Hodgson – surely the right choice for the England job, post-Capello – that his squad rotation in continental competition has not backfired, with several back-up players (such as promising ex-Maidstone defender Chris Smalling and West Brom old-boys Zoltán Gera and Jonathan Greening) taking their opportunity by the scruff of the neck. Despite the continued absence through injury of Andy Johnson and Diomansy Kamara, and a modest budget, the 62-year-old manager has developed a versatile squad that plays with a pleasingly progressive style. And the widely-predicted impact of a plethora of European engagements has, thus far, had negligible impact on Fulham’s Premier League form, sitting, as they do, in a comfortable mid-table position.
In Basle, the concession of a debatable penalty and a powerful Streller header were overcome by a breakaway goal from Gera, as Fulham held on to join Roma in today’s draw for the knockout stages. While groups such as Celtic’s (C) and Everton’s (I) had been decided during their penultimate rounds, there was still much to play for across the continent on Thursday night.
Genoa hosted Primera División giants Valencia (Group B) needing to match Lille’s result in Prague (against Slavia) to secure their place in the post-Christmas action. Unai Emery fielded his full artillery – David Villa, Juan Mata, Joaquín, et al – in pursuit of the single point which would seal the onward progress of Los Che. Villa was in fine early form; denied only by fine saves from Genoa’s experienced ‘keeper Alessio Scarpi on three separate occasions, but was then justly yellow-carded for a kick-out at ex-Valencia team-mate Emiliano Moretti.
The visitors lost captain Carlos Marchena – a key member of Rafa Benítez’s 2004 UEFA Cup-winning side – to an innocuous-looking injury, but, with Lille cruising to victory in the Czech capital, looked very much in control of their fate. Their confidence grew stronger as defender Bruno, brought along from former club Almería by Emery, flukishly looped a header over the ill-positioned Scarpi to open the scoring. Genoa’s hopes seemed all but dead and buried.
The second half, however, brought a dramatic revival. Led by chief cheerleader Hernán Crespo, the shivering Marassi crowd were brought to life as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team was transformed into a frenzied red and blue swarm camped in the Valencia half. Veteran forward Crespo, now 34, but a regular scorer in Europe since the days of Parma’s victorious 1999 UEFA Cup campaign, utilised all his remaining vitality and undisputed penalty-box virtuosity to snatch an equaliser – poking the ball between the outstretched legs of Miguel Àngel Moyá.
Within a single goal of sealing progress at the expense of their illustrious visitors, expectation surged through the rossoblu faithful, yet, despite continuous pressure, a second goal was not forthcoming. In a rare moment of counter-attacking freedom, Joaquín broke free in the Genoa area only to be callously shoved off his feet by Salvatore Bocchetti. Moments later David Villa was left standing incredulously in the penalty area, hands clasped to mouth, having seen his hopeless penalty kick flash wide of the left post.
In the final minute of injury time – as Emery jigged around furiously on the touchline à la Martin O’Neill, contradictorily imploring his men to remain calm – Villa was redeemed and Genoa were finally dispatched to the European scrap-heap. Scarpi mis-kicked in his desperation to launch one last Genoa attack, and Villa capitalised to virtually walk the ball in for the winner.
So Valencia, along with Fulham and Roma, join continental powerhouses such as (Champions League drop-outs) Liverpool, Juventus and Marseille, plus a significant selection of hard-punching middleweights: Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg from the Bundesliga; Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao from La Liga; back-to-back Russian champions and Camp Nou-conquerors Rubin Kazan; PSV, Ajax and Twente (of Steve McLaren fame!) represent the Dutch Eredivisie; while Fenerbahçe (without Roberto Carlos, who appeared in European football for the final time last night before returning to Brazil next month) Galatasaray, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Panathinaikos and (sort of) defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk will all make challenging opposition for pretenders to Europe’s second-tier crown.
UEFA Europa League draw takes place at 12 noon today (17th December). Last-32 ties start February 16th.
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