Moments, characters and insightful stories from the last day of the group stage.
Above Liberec rises Mount Jested for a thousand meters, and on the top of Mount Jested stands a domed tower with a religious air. It has a hyperboloid shape that seems to extend the shape of the mountain in an inorganic way. Karel Hubacek designed it in 1966 and from its windows you can see what the sky is like in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. It is a television tower, but also a luxury hotel. At its foot, Liberec’s life has been running neurotic since the thirteenth century, when the city was controlled by the Bieberstein and Redern families. But it was in the 1800s that the city exploded, filling with Jugendstil buildings, the official architectural style of the UEFA Europa League. But there are also neo-Renaissance buildings, others in the secession style. These include the Opera House, which has a curtain designed by Gustav Klimt inside.
Not least is his team, Slovan, which on the emblem bears the mystical shape of the city skyline and was born a few years before the tower: in 1958, thanks to the merger between Slavoj and Jiskra, not without some resistance from players and fans .
After a few years of passion at the bottom of the ranking of the minor leagues, and after many failed attempts, thanks to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the birth of the Czech championship, in 1993, Slovan Liberec found himself in the first division. In 2002 Slovan became the first team to win the Czech championship outside of Prague. Today the club has reached 3 championships and 1 national cup in its palmares. Although he has not won for five years, he managed to break, together with Victoria Plzen, the hegemony of the Prague clubs in the Czech championship. Or at least to dampen it.
Now he is experiencing a season of great difficulty: he is tenth in the league and out of the groups of the Europa League, despite having played a decent group in which he has put together 7 points, with 4 goals scored and 13 conceded: considerable sense of the economy . But this big Bohemian heart will never stop beating.
Plan your trip online: Poznan
Arriving at the third or fourth edition of the only column that allows you to travel with the imagination, we understand that we might as well talk about the city we will hardly go to, whether to cheer or for other reasons. Given that Lech Poznan sadly left the group despite a great Ishak, we might as well take a (metaphorical) jump. Poznan rises placidly on the middle course of the Warta River, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Its name means “known city” and it actually seems like a beautiful place, even a very lively one (in 2008, for example, it hosted the United Nations Conference on Climate Change). However, this is not the point: here is his virtual visit.
A museum: the St. Martin croissant museum
A single food museum should seem absurd to everyone but us. So let’s bring respect and admiration to this museum totally focused on a croissant filled with almond paste and poppy seeds. According to legend, they were inspired by a horse that lost its shoe, which is why they are horseshoe-shaped, like all the horns in the world after all. Fortunately, you won’t find people inside arguing about whether they should be called croissants or croissants or in which city to eat the best, because all St. Martin’s croissants are exceptional.
One animal: the fighting goats
Behind the presence of two goats as the “cuckoo bird” of the great tower clock there is a beautiful legend, one of those involving animals, but you really need to stop and watch two mechanical kids that scorn at 100 meters of altitude. ‘height? It happens at 12:00, but I guess it’s also on the internet.
A wi-fi antenna: a statue of Jesus Christ
If you have an hour to spare, take your virtual car and drive on the virtual highway connecting Poznan to Świebodzin, where there is a statue of Jesus Christ, one of the tallest you will see in your life. It rises in an empty space, above a mound of earth that raises it above the horizon. It is a white statue, Christ represented as a Christ the King. It is not a particularly evocative statue, however in the crown there are antennas for the wi-fi signal. The discovery of this thing caused a lot of confusion in the small Polish town, so much so that in 2018 they were eventually removed.
A dish: Czernina
Maybe after the Dundalk black pudding I shouldn’t have insisted on blood-based dishes, but I don’t think anyone will actually cook these dishes. The Czernina soup is a dish of those that, they say, you can only find them there and that is Poznan, so I couldn’t help but. To do it I advise you to inform yourself well, better than I will do in the next lines. To get it, go to your trusted duck blood hunter and ask for duck blood. If it doesn’t have duck, goose is fine too. Now I report why it is written in the recipe, but know that my heart is crying: the duck (or goose) should have just died and together with the blood you also need its parts including stomach and heart.
At this point you should have already given up, so I’ll save you the rest.
One means: Poznański Szybki Tramwaj
A cross between a metro, a tram and an old bus is the easiest way to get around Poznan after walking.
Is Prague beer or Prague ham better?
Yesterday the commentator of Sky, Lucio Rizzica, who commented Ludogorets-LASK on Diretta Goal, gave the line to Prague saying “Like ham”, to distinguish Prague from Braga. The Sparta-Milan commentator seemed confused, however, and said “I don’t know if the Prague ham is good, certainly the beer is good”, launching a sensational dig at one of the most famous and recognized products of the Czech capital. We want to have our say in this dispute, to decide whether prosciutto or Prague beer is better.
PRO of Prague beer
– There is a Czech saying that goes: “Where there is beer there is prosperity, where there is beer there is happiness”.
– It is on average more bitter than other beers.
– It’s pretty cheap.
– Being full-bodied it goes well with almost all foods.
CONS of Prague beer
– It is bad for health.
PRO of Prague ham
– It has no bone, notoriously one of the few inedible things in the animal kingdom.
– It was created by a Czech butcher named Antonin Chmel – chubby cheeks, beautiful mustaches – who became a supplier of hams to Czech, Bavarian and Romanian royal houses.
– It’s delicious, especially in sandwiches.
AGAINST Prague ham
– It’s not Parma ham.
– It still involves the killing of other living beings.
Especially for this last point we must conclude that Prague beer is better than its ham, although we remind you that together they represent a very tasty and invincible pairing.
Alireza: wise, strong, kind
The name Alireza, in Farsi, means “strong, wise and kind”. Obviously many weak, insane and grumpy people are called Alireza, but this is not the case with Beiranvand, an Iranian goalkeeper who, even though he is only twenty-eight, has an ancient and austere profile like the ridge of the Alborz mountains, broken by the line of the nose as if were the Damavand, and the deep and sunken eyes of someone who gives you the impression of being wise and kind. Strong? We get there.
Alireza Beiranvand has been the starting goalkeeper of Iran for more or less five years, he was a flag of Persepolis and this year he decided to test himself in Europe: Royal Antwerp has focused on him it is not clear why, perhaps with a view to strengthening trade relations between Belgium and Iran, perhaps because it seemed like a good deal after all.
If there is something to complain about the Sinjoren, rather, it is the never having made him play before last night: but perhaps for our Alireza we needed a pompous debut the right, and a match like yesterday’s with Tottenham, against Son, Vinicius and Kane, in front of Mourinho, in which not much was decided but the first place in the group, was exactly the kind of game in which Alireza could have exalted. Or crumble as one day will happen with the Alborz mountains.
It is not yet time, however, for the world to fall apart, and Beiranvand yesterday ended up being the best of his team on the field, with 8 decisive saves, with his sly style until it stretches like the Aras river to draw. borders, in our case between the glory of the goal and the glory of Alireza.
Son of a spectacular story , born into a family of nomadic shepherds, so used to sleeping on the ground that he even did so in the headquarters of the first club, humble to accept a job as a worker in a textile factory or in a car wash or as a garbage man as a child he was half a champion of Dal Paran, a game of which no traces can be found but which seems to consist in throwing stones as far as possible. What can a footballer learn from the noble art of Dal Paran?
Alireza has absorbed and somehow re-declined the ability to throw very long with his hands , but he seems to have a mortar in his forearms, a medieval weapon, a ballista. Did he do it last night? Sure he did . But he also sketched running dribbling to get rid of the opposing pressure, reckless but punctual outings , in short, all the samples of an interesting goalkeeper in his being effective and never banal.
If you wanted your goalkeeper site reference for the upcoming Europa League games, in short, you found it. And considering that Royal Antwerp’s owner so far, Jean Butez, has collected twenty-six balls from goal in twenty official matches played this year, Royal Antwerp as well, I guess.
So is Kalulu strong?
In the ultra-experimental, I would say avant-garde formation of Milan against Sparta Prague, perhaps the most unknown name was the one at the center of the defense. Not Leo Duarte – mysterious object prince – but Pierre Kalulu, a 20-year-old French defender who arrived on a free transfer in the summer from Lyon. It is an interesting profile also only because it came from Lyon, that is from one of the most reliable youth sectors in Europe, and to take it was Frederic Massara, one of the greatest connoisseurs of French football. He played center-left and has touched more balls than anyone else in Milan. While playing on the left, he imposed with his right, he missed some bad balls, but in general he always tried to start the game with his head held high.
On a defensive level he seemed a powerful and aggressive defender, author of some good advances. Attentive to the distances with the attacker, and at the same time a bit imprecise in managing situations. Look in injury time, for example, at his drop in concentration on the ball that only reaches Karlsson in front of the goalkeeper. In any case, the reserve team of Sparta Prague seems a very unreliable test. In short, it is like having seen it move for the first time, sensing its characteristics, but without being able to actually understand its value. Sorry for honesty.
Top 11 groups of the Europa League
We selected the 11 players who stood out in these groups, lined up according to a classic 4-3-3.
Goalkeeper – Dominik Livakovic
Up to a quarter of an hour before the end of yesterday’s game, Dinamo Zagreb were the only team in Europe to have not yet conceded goals in the groups, between the Champions and the Europa League. This is above all thanks to his captain, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic who, at 25, seems ready to go to rot in a low Premier League team, or to take flight in a team that knows how to play football. Today he is also the titular goalkeeper of the Croatian national team. A typical goalkeeper of the Eastern European school, with clean fundamentals, very strong at the exit and between the posts, not exceptional in the game with his feet.
Right Back – James Tavernier
During his group he scored an own goal, but he was still the most complete full-back in the two phases. In the offensive phase he is relentless, it is the right winger who scores the most goals in Europe at the moment, if we go out of the five major leagues: in the Scottish Premiership 16 goals and 8 assists in 10 games. In the Europa League, 2 goals and 3 assists. Clearly his numbers are inflated by penalties, but even without he still scored 6 goals. Tavernier kicks very well with his right, but above all he has a non-trivial instinct for deep insertions in the penalty area.
Left Back – Nacho Monreal
Yes I know what you are thinking but what we have to do, we are still in the Europa League, and Nacho Monreal can still be his best left-back. In that statistical Bermuda triangle that is the Europa League index, Monreal is the best defender. Draw your own conclusions.
Center back – Rasmus Lauritsen
This 24-year-old Danish center, who arrived in the summer from Norkopping for 1 million and a half, is one of the secrets of Dinamo Zagreb’s waterproof defense in the Europa League groups. He won 4.2 aerial duels for ninety minutes, out of the 5.2 engaged. Do you want to know more about him? He supports Arsenal and his favorite player is Andy Carroll.
Central back – Marcos Senesi
Marcos Senesi joined Feyenoord at the start of last season and despite having played just 16 games he won the league’s best defender award. This year, in a not so brilliant season for Feyenoord, he is even managing to improve. Senesi plays central left next to the not exceptional Spajic, and is the player appointed to start the game from behind. He is the Feyenoord player with the most balls touched for ninety minutes.
Defensive Midfield – Karem Demirbay
The classic halfback with the number 10 who directs the game in the middle of the field with a cigarette in his mouth. Sometimes Demirbay’s anti-competitive spirit is so extreme it seems provocative. He seems taken by a challenge with himself to close the games without even breaking a sweat. If he can afford it: look at the goal he shoots against Hapoel Beer Sheva: the ball hits the inside of the crossbar and doesn’t even touch the net.
Left Mezzala – Magnus Eikrem
We had written about Magnus Eikrem a couple of weeks ago, we had told about the career of former young prodigy pupil of Solskjaer. Eikrem, however, is not only good for lol but also for your Europa League midfield: his was a sumptuous group, closed in crescendo, with 3 goals and 2 assists in the last two games with Rapid and Dundalk. He has 3.2 crux passes for ninety minutes, as well as 3 shots. It is a very complete classic box to box but with an above all offensive attitude.
Right half winger – Mikel Merino
Another former young prodigy who has failed abroad and who has found himself at home. For a couple of years now he has been one of the most technical, intelligent and interesting midfielder in Europe with Real Sociedad. In this group in which the team was more fluctuating than in the league it represented one of the few certainties. With 2.4 dribbling for ninety minutes he is the midfielder who has missed the most man in the Europa League.
Right Winger – Nicolas Pepè
Nicolas Pepè, cross and delight, excitement and blasphemies. He has more bad dribbles than he did, but in his chaos he still creates a lot in a team that is simply obscene like Arsenal. With 3 assists he is at the top of this ranking in the competition; also has 2 goals and 3.4 key passes for ninety minutes. His technical and physical superiority in the competition is at times embarrassing.
Left Wing – Pizzi
One of the strongest footballers in the world who by chance still plays in the Europa League. Top scorer of the competition with 6 goals, to which he adds 2 assists. It is useless to spend any more words here for Pizzi, king of the underrated.
Center forward – Donyell Malen
Malen is one of the most peculiar and atypical number 9 of world football. We preferred him to other strikers of an excellent Europa League, but more classic, such as Darwin Nunez, Lukas Julis and the commander of the competition Carlos Bacca. Malen is 21 years old, he is a very mobile striker, born as a winger and who has been converted from a central point of reference to exploit his instincts in the penalty area, which are by no means trivial. He scored 5 goals in this group, all in the penalty area, showcasing a fascinating repertoire of movements.
Top 11 Conference League
We have chosen the best 11 players, role by role, who would look good in the Conference League, the cup that will mess up the old continent’s plans from next year. We lined them up with 4-3-1-2 in homage to the main Serie B module.
Goalkeeper – Milan Borjan
33-year-old captain of the Red Star, has a Canadian passport and a brief spell in Boca Juniors. The receding hairline and quiet man’s belly make him perfect for third competition.
Right-back – Alan Czerwiński
Zero goals, one assist, Czerwiński is an absolutely normal Polish full-back. In the national team it is the Bereszyński reserve.
Left-back – Tomáš Hubočan
He was born as a central, but was also adapted to full-back. With Zenit he won a lot, before losing himself to Marseille. At 35 he is the backbone of Omonia Nicosia, but he seems boiled: perfect for the Conference League where if the full backs push they are looked at very badly.
Central back – Aaron Appindangoyé
Carved out of rock, Aaron Appindangoyé guarantees you a granite defense of the area and the charisma of a captain of fortune. Play in the Sivasspor.
Center back – Sheriff Sinyan
If you write his name in Google Docs, the autocorrect recommends the word sayan , it seems enough to make him enter this top 11. In the groups he will be remembered for a couple of pretty incredible sidelines.
Defensive Midfield – Dmytro Ivanisenya
Classic point guard of the Ukrainian school, with Zorya he made 385 passes and got 342 right. He moves as slow as a python after meals, but in his feet he has the gold of Krivoj Rog.
Left Mezzala – Kai Stratznig
Very young Wolfsberger midfielder, just 18 years old. It combines two of the most popular characteristics in the Europa League: Austrian provenance and red hair.
Right midfielder – Tom Rogić
Born, humanly and sportingly, in Australia, Balkan blood in his veins. For some years now Rogic has been delighting Celtic Park with his plays.
Attacking Midfield – Elvis Manu
Maybe more winger than attacking midfielder, but in Conference League football his uncoordinated runs in the middle of the pitch will be our bread.
Second Striker – Chidera Ejuke
Chidera Ejuke is the player with the most successful dribbles in the Europa League groups. Result? Zero goals, zero assists and a sad exit with the CSKA Moscow shirt. Perfect for doing double the dribbling in Conference League.
Center forward – Luis Suárez
Obviously the game here is that his name is Luis Suarez, he plays the role of Luis Suarez, but he’s not as strong as Luis Suarez. This Luis Suarez is a center forward of Granada, last year he scored 19 goals with Real Zaragoza, this year 2 in the Europa League in just over 300 minutes played. Take and bring home.
Ranking of eliminated teams based on how much we will miss them and a short epitaph
1 Qarabag Beautiful beards / outside Europe / we will remember
2 Dundalk Sincere faces / well-liked farriers / goals 3 Slovan Liberec Team nì / city yes / isn’t that the point? 4 Omonia Nicosia
Team of Communists / a hug
5 Ludogorets Nothing special / but we got used to it
6 Zorya Timeless elegance / will not be forgotten for points 7 Rapid Vienna
Mitteleuropa / more mitteleuropa
8 Paok Thessaloniki Everyone should have narrow striped shirts
9 Lech Poznan
Ishak / we believed it
10 Cska Sofia
History is not one goal too many / but a tank
11 Sparta Prague
We have discovered that the goals of a striker without quality are not enough / not enough
12 Rijeka
For us you are / and you will always remain / River
13 Aek Athens
El tanque / Tankovic
14 Cluj
You deserved to pass / but we will make a reason
15 Sivasspor
We still wonder / how did you get there in the first place
16 Standard Liege
Ah / but you were there too
17 Beer Sheva
See you next year / no rush
18 AZ Alkmaar
You had to be iron / you were a feather
19 Nice
More Promenade / than a football team
20 Celtic
Your enemies forward / you back
21 CSKA Moscow
The end on the face / Akinfeev in goal
22 Gent
This year there wasn’t even Genk / to joke with
23 Feyenoord
Worst team in the Europa League / by posting probably
How old do Dundalk players look
In Dundalk the wind whips your cheeks, the rain digs them, defeats stretch them. It’s a harsh life that players carry on their own skin by aging before others.
Chris Shields, 30, looks 51
Calculate that we are talking about a man born in Clondalkin, a Viking settlement for some time.
Sean Hoare, 26, looks 44
It must be said that in this photo it is not at its best.
Brian Gartland, 34, looks 41
Perhaps the man with the thickest neck among professional soccer players.
David McMillan, 32, looks 38
Magnetic smile.
Your Europa League sponsor: Preciosa – Slovan Liberec
And here we are back to that column that talks about commercial brands without making a penny. Isn’t this a great work of journalism, or the most tangible sign that capitalism has now screwed up every single cell of our brain?
There are some objects that inhabit our lives that we have never questioned about where they come from. It seems to have always been there, created by no one, to exist just to exist. One of these objects are glasses. You know the crystal glasses, the goblets, precious? One of the most famous brands of glasses and crystal objects in general is called Preciosa and is the main sponsor of Slovan Liberec. It is the first brand ever registered in Bohemia, in 1915, and it is not surprising given that we are still talking about the land of crystals. In the factories of Jablonec, where Preciosa is based, the crystals were created that ended up in the chandeliers of the palace of Versailles, or in the palace of Fontainbleau. The Preciosa company was also the protagonist of dark episodes in Czech history. During the years of the communist regime, for example,were subjected to inhumane conditions. With the fall of communism Preciosa experienced a progressive process of privatization.
Who is Nurio Fortuna explained in 5 photos
Yesterday in the final in Hoffenheim-Gent, Nurio Fortuna scored the goal of the flag for the Belgians with a strange scissor kick that came out of nowhere. Born in Luanda, Angola’s main city, he grew up in Braga before ending up in Belgium. He plays defender but has some attacking ideas . Here are 5 photos to get to know him better
His photo on Wyscout
Bleached pigtails, bleached eyebrows. In this photo Fortuna looks like his version created on some old PES in which someone has escaped the hand.
The presentation with Charleroi
Here he is presented as the new Charleroi player, whose nickname is zebre given the black and white social colors.
With the tips of the blonde braids
A nice photo with the braids in the wind, the gold colored tips. With Charleroi he played 82 games, scoring 2 goals.
Smiling, just arrived in Gent
After three years at Charleroi, in the summer Fortuna moves to Gent. Short hair, wide smile, he says he is happy to be able to play in the Champions League. They will be eliminated in the preliminaries.
With the family
Nurio Fortuna with the white shirt and bow tie, the uniform of the players in the evenings between the informal and the elegant.
Eaten goals that are also Christmas movie recommendations
An armchair for two
Timeless Christmas film: there are two very different players (one rich, the other poor) launched into the opposing half practically alone. Two bad brothers decide they can switch roles, which is not great.
Toy Story
Braga footballers come to life. At one point one kicks a ball to the stars and shouts “To infinity and beyond!”
Mom I missed the plane
A blond from Az Alkmaar does not wake up and no one notices. Slapstick moments ensue like a guy trying a bicycle kick and making a mess. In a very famous scene, the blonde puts his hands on his face and screams after missing a sensational goal.
Weah’s secret message
Yesterday Timothy Weah scored his first goal in the Europa League. He did it with the Lille shirt against his former team, Celtic. After the goal he raised his hands, as the ex do to apologize. But did he really want to apologize? He had several layers of white tape on his fingers, was that an encrypted message for someone? Some hypotheses: – Timothy would have liked to play volleyball but his father George Weah forced him to become a footballer, so he uses this trick – the white tape on his fingers is used by volleyball players to make figs – to remind his father of the pain that grips the his life.
– Timothy is actually a Liberian secret agent, a country of which his father is president, and those four pieces of scotch tape indicate the coordinates where a terrorist cell on French soil is hiding
– Those hands say “Paul is dead” confirming the story that Paul McCartney died in an accident in 1966 and replaced with a look-alike.
Most Europa League player: Eran Zahavi
How much we believed in it: 6
How strong was he really: 4
How much has fallen from grace: 8
How depressed he looks: 8
Eran Zahavi had blossomed into Israeli football as a surprise. Halfway between an attacking midfielder and a striker, here he was famous for two things: an overhead goal against Lyon and a kiss to his girlfriend after a goal against Benfica. Enough to convince Zamparini to make him the next wonderful thing for Palermo to replace Pastore, who was sold for gold at PSG. “We took a real talent. One that is potentially stronger than Cassano, “the president said. What convinced him was the fact that Zahavi had started to study Italian even before the negotiation was entered into.
As soon as he arrived he said he wanted to score 8-10 goals and many assists, the Italian journalists had asked him if he was afraid of racism, he had replied that he was perfectly happy in Palermo. He had played two games with Cavani’s 7, convinced by his girlfriend, then he had changed his mind and had taken the 16. His religion immediately became a starting point : he could not eat many Sicilian delicacies because they were not kosher and especially in Palermo he did not a Synagogue in which to pray. In one of the first matches he had scored a crazy goal, to think “but who is Pastore?”
In the end, the goals had been 2, in 20 appearances and Zahavi had returned to their homeland, to Maccabi Tel Aviv where from first striker they had become a wrath of god, with 127 goals in 167 games and a fight with the fans in the derby . At that point, perhaps Zahavi could have returned to a more competitive league, but instead he had chosen to go to China to end his career at Guangzhou. There too he continued to score with incredible regularity. The second year he was the top scorer with 27 goals in 30 games. It was so superior to the context that it could score of rabona.
At the age of 33 he decided to move to foggy Eindhoven instead. The Dutch team took him from China to replace Lammers, who went to Atalanta. His looks like a career made in reverse: Ronaldo the phenomenon had started from PSV and then had scored 300 goals, Zahavi after scoring 300 goals went to PSV. Much Europa League like thing.
Goal plus Europa League: Debeljuh
Virility: 10
Absurdity: 6
Anti-epic: 10
Fear of death: 9
Cluj had to win at Young Boys to go to the round of 32 of the Europa League. His recent history is full of victories at home and defeats in Europe and – more so in a troubled season – a move to the round of 32 would have been a great achievement. It was with this ardor in his loins that Rondon blocked a ball in the heart of the penalty area when the score was 0-0 and 84 minutes passed. who rolled like a ball in an Indiana Jones movie on the pole. At that point, instead of accelerating, she shot between Zesiger and Debeljuh who were embracing. There are no comfortable replies, I could tell you that the Cluj player hit her head while falling,
Then the world broke out. Cluj were six minutes from a better future, maybe a great team to face head on. Debeljuh after having entered the hearts of the fans of Mantova and Este in the Italian Serie D, had entered the hearts of the fans of the fulva team of Romania. What’s more Europa League than a goal that keeps you in the Europa League? Celebrated as the coming of the Lord then? Only what happened next makes it even more Europa League. At 93 minutes the referee awarded a penalty to the Young Boys for an exit from the keeper’s fist. Here at Ultimo Uomo we never talk about referees, but I imagine this column could be an exception: a robbery as big as a house. Here’s something very Europa League: a daring goal by a Romanian team on a Swiss,
Anyone who only knows about the Europa League knows nothing about the Europa League
6 days in 7 weeks. 144 games in 48 days: practically a world. We put the first point and it is time to look back. The ancients read the future in the bowels of animals, we will read the past in the statistics of the Europa League: can the passages made by Konstantin Maradishvili tell us something about the conflict in Ossetia? Could Mario Rondon’s shots be like a book about the coup attempt in Venezuela?
Not really: it was just a way like any other to present a quiz on statistics and curious facts of the Europa League up to here, waiting to go through the hell of knockout.
- What do Callum McGregor, Kamso Mara and Diogo Dalot have in common? a) all three are 181 cm tall b) have played all the minutes that the Europa League has allowed them c) have the same name as mercenaries who fought in Africa
- Last night’s Gent-Hoffenheim will go down in history for a reason, what? a) it is the game with the most shots in the whole of the Europa League b) Hoffenheim had 78% of ball possession, a historic record here in the Europa League c) Robert Skov completed 16 dribbles and kicked on goal 11 times, for a rating in the Europa League Performance Zoneof over 2000 for the first time since registration
- Who is the player with the least successful passes among them?
- a) Maxime Gullit b) Dmytro Piddubnyi c) Ioannis Foivos Botos
- Who remembers Villarreal-Qarabag? And why should you? a) Jaime Romero’s great game b) there was such a heavy downpour that it was played late into the night c) Villarreal had 89% ball possession, a record in UEFA competition
- You will never guess which team has suffered the most fouls in the Europa League (click here)a) Tottenham b) Slovan Liberec c) Slavia Prague
- Who, on the other hand, has gone offside several times? a) Sivasspor b) Real Sociedad c) Gent
- How many fouls were made in Maccabi Tel Aviv-Qarabag, the match with the most fouls? a) 49 b) 64 c) 46
Answers: 1. b: they played 540 minutes 2. a: 38, at least 2 more than any other game 3. c: 0 successful passes out of 2 attempted, worse then Gullit (1 pass attempted, but successful) 4. question trick: Villarreal-Qarabag is the match that will never be played 5. b: Slovan Liberec, 103 6. a: Sivasspor, 21 7. c: 46, one every two minutes practically.
