Europa League roundup
Francisco Moura’s second-half strike earned Porto a 1-1 draw against 10-man Roma in the first leg of their Europa League knockout-round playoff as Galatasaray lost 4-1 at AZ Alkmaar.
Zeki Celik put Roma ahead in the dying seconds of the first half before Moura equalised when his shot deflected off a defender past goalkeeper Mile Svilar in the 67th minute.
Claudio Ranieri’s Roma were dealt a further blow five minutes later when they were left with 10 men as Bryan Cristante was handed a second yellow card.
Ten-man Galatasaray suffered a 4-1 defeat at Alkmaar thanks to goals from Sven Mijnans, Jordy Clasie and David Møller Wolfe along with a penalty from Troy Parrott. Twente earned a last-gasp 2-1 home win over Bodø/Glimt and Romania’s Steaua Bucharest fought back to beat PAOK 2-1.
In the early kick-offs, Fenerbahce claimed a resounding 3-0 home win over Anderlecht, while Ajax, Real Sociedad and Ferencvaros also secured first-leg leads against Union Saint-Gilloise, Midtjylland and Viktoria Plzen respectively.
Reuters
That’s it for our coverage of a fun night of European football, one that two 16-year-olds – Jorthy Mokio of Ajax and Michael Noonan of Shamrock Rovers – will never forget.
We’ll be back in the morning with our Friday buildup blog; see you then.
Updated
Europa League results
After all that excitement, this is the state of play.
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht
Winners play Rangers or OlympiacosFerencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Winners play Lazio or Athletic BilbaoMidtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Winners play Man Utd or Tottenham HotspurUnion SG 0-2 Ajax
Winners play Lyon or Eintracht FrankfurtAZ Alkmaar 4-1 Galatasaray
Winners play Man Utd or Tottenham HotspurPorto 1-1 Roma
Winners play Lazio or Athletic BilbaoPAOK 1-2 FCSB
Winners play Lyon or Eintracht FrankfurtTwente 2-1 Bodo/Glimt
Winners play Rangers or Olympiacos
Updated
Full time: Porto 1-1 Roma
Ten-man Roma have held on for a draw in Portugal. Claudio Ranieri will be pretty happy with that as he attempts to win his first European knockout tie since Chelsea beat Arsenal in 2003-04.
Actually, as I type that, Ranieri marches onto the field to give his players an almighty brollocking. I think he’s telling them to get away from the referee rather than expressing his anger at their performance or the result.
Full time: PAOK 1-2 FCSB
A fine win for FCSB. The game turned on the sending off of Taison on the stroke of half-time when PAOK were 1-0 up.
Full time: Twente 2-1 Bodo/Glimt
That penalty was pretty much the last kick of the game.
GOAL! Twente 2-1 Bodo/Glimt (Van Wolfswinkel 95 pen)
A very calm penalty from Ricky van Wolfswinkel gives Twente a crucial advantage ahead of next week’s second leg.
Updated
Full time: AZ Alkmaar 4-1 Galatasaray
A fabulous night for AZ, who took Galatasaray apart in an outstanding performance.
Updated
Penalty to Twente! Jostein Maurstad Gundersen has been penalised for handball with four seconds of injury time remaining.
87 min: Porto 1-1 Roma It’s still all Porto, though Roma are keeping them at arm’s length for the most part. In the last minute or so Porto have had a couple of long-range shots well wide.
Updated
GOAL! Twente 1-1 Bodo/Glimt (Berg 85)
Bodo/Glimt equalise with their first shot on target! The captain Patrick Berg beats Lars Unnerstall with a precise curling shot from 20 yards. Lovely finish.
80 min: Porto 1-1 Roma Porto are really pushing for a winner against 10-man Roma, who have taken off their main striker Artem Dovbyk in a fairly unambiguous statement of defensive intent.
Red card: Porto 1-1 Roma (Cristante) Roma, who were cruising at 1-0 up, are now down to 10 men. Bryan Cristante was given a second yellow card for a foul on Fabio Vieira, who is definitely on loan from Arsenal.
A reminder that the English clubs, Manchester United and Spurs, will play the winners of AZ Alkmaar v Galatasaray and Midtjylland v Real Sociedad in the last 16. At the moment it looks like Alkmaar and Sociedad.
Rangers will play the winners of either Twente v Bodo/Glimt or Fenerbahce v Anderlecht.
Europa League latest
AZ Alkmaar 4-1 Galatasaray
Mijnans 12, Parrott 36 pen, Clasie 58, Wolfe 66; Sallai 20
Porto 1-1 Roma
Moura 67; Celik 45+5
PAOK 1-2 FCSB
Samatta 21; Gheorghita 50, Dawa 60
Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt
Ltaief 5
GOAL! Porto 1-1 Roma (Moura 67)
A Roma corner leads to a goal – for Porto! Diogo Costa pings a long goalkick out to Pepe, who moves into the area and is well challenged. Francisco Moura follows up with a shot that takes a big deflection and flies into the net.
Updated
GOAL! AZ Alkmaar 4-1 Galatasaray (Wolfe 66)
This is a rout. Troy Parrott’s shot is brilliantly saved by Muslera but David Moller Wolfe taps the rebound in. At first he looked offside; in fact he was played on by Sallai on the far side.
GOAL! PAOK 1-2 FCSB (Dawa 60)
Another goal from an FCSB substitute. Risto Radunovic’s fine corner is headed in emphatically by Joyskim Dawa; PAOK are in all sorts.
Updated
Europa League latest
AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Galatasaray
Mijnans 12, Parrott 36 pen, Clasie 58; Sallai 20
Porto 0-1 Roma
Celik 45+5
PAOK 1-1 FCSB
Samatta 21; Gheorghita 50
Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt
Ltaief 5
GOAL! AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Galatasaray (Clasie 58)
Galatasaray, who some of us fancied to win the Europa League, are in big trouble now. Jordy Clasie has finished masterfully from eight yards to put AZ Alkmaar two goals and one man ahead.
Updated
GOAL! PAOK 1-1 FCSB (Gheorghita 50)
It’s all going wrong for PAOK. They had Taison sent off just before half time and now the substitution Andrei Gheorghita has swept FCSB level after good awareness from Florin Tanase.
Updated
Red card: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Galatasaray (Ayhan) Kaan Ayhan, the Galatasaray right-back, has been given a second yellow card for a clear foul just outside the penalty area. He had the effrontery to complain, and then limped off, but it was a simple decision for the referee.
Conference League Antony, on loan from Manchester United, has scored an excellent goal to give Real Betis the lead away to Gent. The phenomenon of players regaining confidence the moment they leave Old Trafford is one of the great mysteries of our time.
A bit of half-time reading
Europa League half-times
AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Galatasaray
Mijnans 12, Parrott 36 pen; Sallai 20
Porto 0-1 Roma
Celik 45+5
PAOK 1-0 FCSB
Samatta 21
Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt
Ltaief 5
45+5 min: PAOK 1-0 FCSB (Taison sent off) PAOK are down to 10 men. Taison has been given a second yellow card for dissent, prompting unapologetic celebrations from some of the FCSB players!
GOAL! Porto 0-1 Roma (Celik 45+5 min)
Roma lead on the stroke of half time! Alexis Saelemaekers’ low cross from the right was half blocked at the near post and broke for Zeki Celik, who cracked it past Diogo Costa. Celik had been involved earlier in the move and just kept running.
Updated
45 min: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Galatasaray “Troy Parrott isn’t on loan at AZ,” writes Jamie Smith. “Excelsior last season was a loan. He had a good season but they went down and AZ bought him from us (Spurs).
Ach, my mistake. Thanks for pointing it out.
Updated
A quick reminder of the teams who have already qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League: Lazio, Athletic Bilbao, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Eintracht Frankfurt, Lyon, Olympiacos and Rangers.
39 min: Porto 0-0 Roma The luckless Paulo Dybala has gone off with what looks like a knee injury. He’s able to walk off but he’s pretty distressed and has the body language of a man who knows it’s more than just a knock. Tommaso Baldanzi replaces him.
Updated
35 min: PAOK 1-0 FCSB PAOK have had a goal disallowed for offside after making a mess of a three-on-one break. Samatta scored from an offside position but the chap who passed the ball to him (not sure who it was) was through on goal and could have scored himself.
GOAL! AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Galatasaray (Parrott 37 pen)
Baris Yilmaz concedes a penalty with a preposterous tackle on Seiya Maikuma. Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott, on loan for Tottenham, calmly sits Muslera down and passes the ball into the net.
Updated
32 min: FC Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt The Bodo/Glimt keeper Nikita Haikin has just made a stunning save, leaping to his right to brush a screamer from Daan Rots onto the crossbar. There won’t be a better save tonight.
Europa League latest
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Galatasaray
Porto 0-0 Roma
PAOK 1-0 FCSB
Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht (FT)
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen (FT)
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad (FT)
Union SG 0-2 Ajax (FT)
31 min: Porto 0-0 Roma “Lots of empty seats at Porto,” says Joe Pearson. “I don’t understand how they can’t fill the house for a European tie against Roma. Or am I out of touch with pricing and travel? Odd.”
I’m not certain but I think this is a fairly standard attendance for the Estadio do Dragao. Talking of which, Lorenzo Pellegrini has just missed a presentable chance for Roma.
Updated
26 min: AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Galatasaray Ernest Poku has missed an excellent chance to restore Alkmaar’s lead, lobbing the ball over Fernando Muslera and onto the roof of the net.
GOAL! PAOK 1-0 FCSB (Samatta 21)
The home side are ahead in Greece. Mbwana Samatta, who had a short spell at Aston Villa in 2020, has finished smartly from about 10 yards.
GOAL! AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Galatasaray (Sallai 20)
Another cracking goal in Alkmaar. Roland Sallai runs onto a loose ball, 20 yards out, and cuts across a sizzling strike that is too hot for the Alkmaar keeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro. He gets a hand to it but can only help it into the net.
Europa League latest
AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Galatasaray
Porto 0-0 Roma
PAOK 0-0 FCSB
Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht (FT)
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen (FT)
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad (FT)
Union SG 0-2 Ajax (FT)
GOAL! AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Galatasaray (Mijnans 13)
A stunning free-kick from Sven Mijnans, totally unsaveable, has put Alkmaar ahead against Galatasaray. That was as near to the perfect free-kick as dammit: 25 yards out, slightly to the left of centre, curled into the top corner at the near post with his left foot.
Updated
GOAL! Twente 1-0 Bodo/Glimt (Ltaief 5)
An early goal in Enschede. Sayfallah Ltaief showed serious pace to run onto a speculative long ball, hold off a defender and drag a precise shot back in to the far corner.
Updated
“Víkingur Reykjavík were well worth their 2-1 win over Panathinaikos in Helsinki,” writes Kári Tulinius. “With Icelandic weather being what it is, there were no grounds in suitable condition in Reykjavík. But they took a sizable contingent with them, who were in fine voice, even as the fans had to suffer through a couple of interminable VAR checks. At the end the Icelanders were much likelier to add a third than Panathinaikos equalising.”
The 8pm games are under way, including the tie of the round in Portugal: Porto v Roma. The Porto coach Martin Anselmi, 39, is 34 years younger than Roma head coach Claudio Ranieri.
Updated
Europa League results (5.45pm kick-offs)
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Union SG 0-2 Ajax
Fenerbahce, Real Sociedad and Ajax are all in excellent positions going into the second leg. Highlights include a storming goal from Real’s Takefusa Kubo and a marvellous volley from another 16-year-old, Ajax’s Jorthy Mokio.
Updated
Full time: Molde 0-1 Shamrock Rovers
A goal from Michael Noonan, 16, has given Shamrock Rovers a famous victory in Norway! Noonan was also the player fouled when Valdemar Lund was sent off just before half-time. Extraordinary stuff.
These are the other results in the early Conference League playoffs.
Celje 2-2 APOEL
TSC 1-3 Jagiellonia
Vikingur Reykjavik 2-1 Panathinaikos
Updated
90 min: Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht Jose Mourinho is squatting theatrically on the touchline. Don’t ask me why.
85 min: Union SG 0-2 Ajax Davy Klaassen has just made a crucial goalline clearance to keep Ajax 2-0 in front. That would be a super result to take back to Amsterdam.
Europa League latest
There’s around 10 minutes to play in each game. And, yes, Shamrock Rovers still lead 1-0 away to 10-man Molde in their Conference League playoff.
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Union SG 0-2 Ajax
“Just look at those match-ups!” coos Matt Dony. “Yes, the Champions League has the glamour, but tonight is a football hipster’s feverish dream! I think I’ll put on some vinyl, drink some ridiculously over-priced coffee, stroke my beard, and start googling prices for fixie bikes. Magnificent.”
All together now: A night online with your mates and it’s f- well, never mind.
(NB: Clip contains adult language. Yeah?)
GOAL! Union SG 0-2 Ajax (Mokio 71)
Ajax may have unearthed another gem. Jorthy Mokio, 16, has scored a gorgeous goal in Belgium. A corner was headed away to the edge of the area, where Mokio calmly steered a volley into the bottom corner as if it was the most routine thing in the world. Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of that finish.
Updated
PAOK v FCSB team news
PAOK Kotarski, Jonny Otto, Kedziora, Michailidis, Baba, Meite, Schwab, Pelkas, Konstantelias, Taison, Samatta.
Substitutes: Balomenos, Tsiftsis, Camara, Chalov, Zivkovic, Colley, Sastre, Thymianis, Ozdoev, Shoretire, Thomas Llamas, Despodov.
FCSB Tarnovanu, Cretu, Ngezana, Mihai Popescu, Radunovic, Chiriches, Sut, Miculescu, Cisotti, Tanase, Birligea.
Substitutes: Udrea, Zima, Dawa, Stefanescu, Edjouma, Baluta, Pantea, Musi, Alhassan, Gheorghita.
Referee Lawrence Visser (Belgium)
Updated
Europa League latest
Fenerbahce 3-0 Anderlecht
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Union SG 0-1 Ajax
GOAL! Union SG 0-1 Ajax (Rasmussen 59)
Ajax lead in Belgium. A fine, end-to-end move was finished off beautifully by Christian Rasmussen, who clipped a first-time shot into the far corner from 19 yards.
Updated
GOAL! Fenerbache 3-0 Anderlecht (En-Nesyri 57)
It’s all going swimmingly for Jose Mourinho. Youssef En-Nesyri has put Fenerbahce 3-0 ahead with a mighty header from Sebastian Szymanski’s cross. He was about 15 yards out and powered it into the bottom corner at the near post.
Updated
GOAL! Molde 0-1 Shamrock Rovers (Noonan 57)
Michael Noonan, the 16-year-old debutant, has put Shamrock Rovers ahead in Norway! What a beautiful moment this is. Dylan Watts nicked the ball off Mats Moller Daehli in the Molde area and slid a low cross that was turned in to the empty net by Noonan. Oh, football, you old charmer.
Updated
Twente v Bodo/Glimt team news
Twente Unnerstall, van Rooij, Hilgers, Lagerbielke, Kuipers, Vlap, Sadilek, Rots, Steijn, Ltaief, van Wolfswinkel.
Substitutes: Karssies, Kjolo, Tyton, Booth, Lammers, Van Hoorenbeeck, Mesbahi, Kuster, Verschueren, Unuvar, Bruns.
Bodo/Glimt Haikin, Sjovold, Nielsen, Gundersen, Bjorkan, Evjen, Berg, Saltnes, Blomberg, Hogh, Hauge.
Substitutes: Lund, Brondbo, Wembangomo, Auklend, Fet, Helmersen, Maatta, Sorli, Bro Hansen, Mikkelsen, Kjaer.
Referee Sebastian Gishamer (Austria)
Updated
Porto v Roma team news
Porto Costa, Djalo, Nehuen Perez, Otavio, Joao Mario, Stephen Eustaquio, Varela, Moura, Borges, Mora, Aghehowa.
Substitutes: Claudio Ramos, Marcano, William, Vieira, Pepe, Sanusi, Cardoso Sousa, Loader, Andre Franco, Tomas Perez, Gul, Ze Pedro.
Roma Svilar, Celik, Mancini, N’Dicka, Saelemaekers, Kone, Cristante, Pellegrini, Angelino, Dybala, Dovbyk.
Substitutes: De Marzi, Gollini, Abdulhamid, Shomurodov, Hummels, Paredes, Soule, Nelsson, Baldanzi, Pisilli, Sangare, El Shaarawy.
Referee Tobias Stieler (Germany).
Updated
AZ Alkmaar v Galatasaray team news
AZ Alkmaar Owuso-Oduro, Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Wolfe, Clasie, Mijnans, Koopmeiners, Poku, Parrott, Lahdo.
Substitutes: Verhulst, Zoet, Martins Indi, Dekker, Smit, Buurmeester, Kasius, de Wit, Daal, van Duijn.
Galatasaray Muslera, Ayhan, Cuesta, Bardakci, Jelert, Mertens, Kutlu, Gabriel Sara, Sallai, Morata, Baris Yilmaz.
Substitutes: Guvenc, Jankat Yilmaz, Demirbay, Demir, Subasi, Lus, Kocak, Balta, Akman, Baltaci.
Referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro (Portugal)
Updated
Conference League
Shamrock Rovers have a chance of a shock win in Norway. They’re drawing 0-0 at half-time, but Molde are down to 10 men after Valdemar Lund received a straight red card for a last-man foul on 16-year-old Michael Noonan.
Updated
Half-time scores
Fenerbahce and Real Sociedad, two contenders to win the Europa League, are in good positions after a quarter of their playoff ties.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce have had some hairy moments against a lively Anderlecht but lead 2-0 through Dusan Tadic and Edin Dzeko. In truth it could easily be 2-2.
Sociedad lead in Denmark against Midtjylland, as do Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros at home to Viktoria Plzen. Sociedad’s second goal, slammed in by Takefusa Kubo, was a thing of beauty.
Ajax’s match away to Union SG is goalless, though Ajax came within millimetres of taking an early lead after a goalmouth scramble. The goalline technology showed the ball was exceptionally close to crossing the line..
Fenerbahce 2-0 Anderlecht
Tadic 11, Dzeko 43
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Abu Fani 23
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Buksa 38; Mendez 11 (pen), Kubo 31
Union SG 0-0 Ajax
Updated
Read Ben McAleer’s previews
Porto v Roma, 8pm
This is probably the standout tie of the round, but neither team has been at their best this season. Porto will hope to improve on a run of one win in their last eight games when they welcome Roma to the Estádio do Dragão. The Portuguese side are now under the management of the 39-year-old Argentinian Martín Anselmi, who has sought to implement a three-man backline since taking over from Vítor Bruno last month.
Porto are out of contention in the Primeira Liga and out of the Taça de Portugal, so are looking to the Europa League to save their season. Marko Grujic, Iván Marcano and Martim Fernandes will miss the Roma game with injury, but the main blow to their chances is Nico González’s €60m move to Manchester City on deadline day.
Roma have no injury or suspension worries but they have been poor on the road this season. Their narrow 1-0 victory at Venezia at the weekend was justtheir second away win in all competitions in 2024-25. It has been a tough year for the club, who have employed four managers in the last 14 months. Claudio Ranieri came out of retirement to lead his boyhood club in November and would dearly love to finish his career with some European silverware. Prediction: Roma to progress.
Preamble
Good evening and welcome to a proud moment in Guardian News & Media history: our first Europa League playoff clockwatch of the 2024-25 season.
It doesn’t quite have the heavyweight feel of the Champions League games earlier in the week but there are still some big games involving potential winners of the competition. These are tonight’s games, with the second legs to follow a week tonight.
5.45pm kick-offs
Fenerbahce 2-0 Anderlecht
Ferencvaros 1-0 Plzen
Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad
Union SG 0-0 Ajax
8pm
Alkmaar v Galatasaray
FC Porto v AS Roma
PAOK v FCSB
Twente v Bodo/Glimt
Updated
