Five things we learned from the Europa League
Arsenal are beginning to take the Europa League more seriously
Arsene Wenger has naturally used the competition to introduce youngsters and to give squad members more game time this season. Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been the most beneficial, with the versatile midfielder starting five Premier League games since he featured in all six of their group stage encounters.
Wenger made only four changes from the team that lost the North London derby, with their precarious league position meaning that they may now have to win the Europa League to re-enter the Champions League next term. It ensured that Arsenal had little problem exerting their authority over Graham Potter’s Ostersunds, as they comfortably won 3-0 in Sweden.
Alex Iwobi’s persistence saw him eventually manage to get his shot away, which could only be parried into the path of Nacho Monreal by goalkeeper Aly Keita. The former Osasuna defender had a simple tap-in for his fifth goal of the season, which is a career best return.
They extended their lead inside 25 minutes, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan fired the ball across the area. It hit the back of Sotiris Papagiannopoulos and rebounded into the centre-back’s own net.
AS IT HAPPENED: Ostersunds vs Arsenal
READ MORE: Ozil shines as Gunners stroll to victory in Sweden
Oestersunds initially looked nervous given that it was the biggest game of their lives, although they did grow into the game. Saman Ghoddos looked particularly threatening and forced an acrobatic save from David Ospina on one occasion.
Mesut Ozil added a third after a one-two with Mkhitaryan. It was professional display from Arsenal and they now have the luxury of resting players back at the Emirates next week.
Celtic leave it late
The Scottish champions knew that they were in for a game against Roberto Mancini’s Zenit Saint Petersburg, but they were brimming with enthusiasm throughout. It was a tight first half, but Celtic were the more assured.
Eboue Kouassi was the surprise inclusion from Brendan Rodgers, with the young Ivorian making his European debut. He played well given the stage, although it was his removal that opened up the tie.
AS IT HAPPENED: Celtic vs Zenit St Petersburg
READ MORE: McGregor strikes late as Celtic edge out Zenit
The more attack-minded Charly Musonda was introduced and had an influence on the goal. Callum McGregor controlled the ball on his chest and then hammered it off the underside of the crossbar to send Celtic Park wild.
Batshuayi’s on fire
Michy Batshuayi has had a dream start to life in Germany after he made the move to Borussia Dortmund in January. He scored a brace on his debut for The Yellow Submarine against Cologne and then netted again at the weekend versus Hamburg.
Chelsea paid £33 million for his services from Marseille, although the forward never looked particularly comfortable within Antonio Conte’s philosophy. He made only four Premier League starts in his 18 months at Stamford Bridge, but he is now showing his talent.
Dortmund took the lead on the half-hour mark against Atalanta, when Lukasz Piszczek’s ball into another former Blue Andre Schurrle was extremely heavy. The winger managed to get a decent touch which set him up to slide it past the Italian’s shot-stopper Etrit Berisha.
The game turned on its head in a five-minute period early in the second half, when Josep Ilicic struck twice for Atalanta. However, Batshauyi came alive when he turned on the edge of the area and finished superbly to make it 2-2.
The Belgian striker is clearly confident and looks like the player that scored 17 goals in 32 starts in Ligue One during 2015/16. His night’s work wasn’t done, as he netted a winner in stoppage time to shock Gian Piero Gasperini’s men.
Leipzig show more interest than Napoli
The tie of the round failed to live up to the expectation in the first half, with both sides lacking quality in the final third. RB Leipzig certainly appeared the more threatening in the opening 45 minutes.
Napoli have prioritised Serie A this season, which is one of the main reasons why they finished third in their Champions League group. They had Dries Mertens suspended and Arkardiusz Milik also missing, but Maurizio Sarri still opted to leave Lorenzo Insigne on the bench.
It was €10 million signing Adam Ounas who broke the deadlock, when the 21-year-old scored his first goal for Napoli since joining from Bordeaux. That sparked Leipzig to step up a gear and they struck back almost immediately when Timo Werner managed to get the ball from under his feet.
Yussuf Poulsen caught Napoli’s highline out when he raced through with 15 minutes remaining. He squared the ball for Bruma, who had an easy finish to give the Germans a 2-1 advantage.
Werner showed why Manchester United and Liverpool have been keeping tabs on the striker. He scored his 14th goal across the Bundesliga and Europe this season, when he cleverly tricked Reina by giving the Spaniard the eyes and sent him in the opposite direction.
Atleti come from behind
The now favourites for the tournament started brightly in Denmark, but it was Copenhagen who surprisingly struck first. Peter Ankerson’s shot was expertly flicked into the net by Viktor Fischer for his second goal for Stale Solbakken’s side.
Their lead lasted only six minutes, as Saul Niguez headed in Antoine Griezmann’s cross. Atletico Madrid then went ahead when Kevin Gameiro finished a clever team move.
Griezmann then ensured the victory, when he scored his fourth goal in five games. Vitolo made it 4-1 in the snow, with Diego Simeone’s outfit illustrating their tremendous work rate yet again.
Nice blow yet another lead
Nice were 2-1 ahead against Dijon on Sunday, when they allowed the side that were hammered 8-0 by Paris Saint-Germain to score twice in the final 12 minutes to gain all three points. They were at it again when they took a 2-0 lead over Lokomotiv Moscow, with two goals from Mario Balotelli in the opening 30 minutes.
However, a hat-trick from former Valencia midfielder Manuel Fernandes saw them lose 3-2 for the second time in a week. Lucien Favre’s team have now lost four matches in a row and must bounce back against Claudio Ranieri’s Nantes this weekend.
