UEFA Europa Conference League Knockout Round: Play-Offs Preview
Olympique de Marseille vs Qarabag FK
The first tie in the Europa Conference League Knockout Round Play-Offs pits Olympique de Marseille against Qarabag. Many were surprised to see Marseille finish 3rd in their Europa League group stage, when they were considered favourites at the start of the group stage to progress to the Europa League knockout rounds as one of the top two sides. However, only one win in their six matches, which included four draws only meant a third-place finish and a subsequent drop into the Conference League.
Jorge Sampaoli looks domestically to have made a strong impact at the Stade Velodrome since he took charge of the club in February 2021, being the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas. Currently Marseille sit 2nd in Ligue 1 and are well on track to secure Champions League football for 2022/23 via the league. So, it does remain to be seen whether L’OM will opt to treat the Conference League seriously.
Embed from Getty ImagesQarabag currently sit top of the Azerbaijan Premier League, 10 points clear of second-placed Gabala FK. The domestic competition in Azerbaijan recently resumed with the Azeri Cup, where Qarabag actually defeated Keshla 7-0 on aggregate to make the Semi-Finals. Atiliar (The Horsemen) reached this stage of the Conference League by virtue of a comfortable 2nd place finish in their group, behind FC Basel, however, ahead of Omonia Nicosia and Kairat Almaty.
Qarabag are not to be underestimated given they are becoming frequent European group stage participants. In addition, we do not know what L’OM’s ambitions are for the new tournament. However, one has to fancy Marseille to emerge triumphant over the two legs.
PSV Eindhoven vs Maccabi Tel Aviv FC
Upon dropping into the Europa Conference League after finishing third in their Europa League group, many considered PSV Eindhoven as one of the favourites to win the inaugural new third tier UEFA competition. Boeren (The Farmers) currently sit 2nd in the Dutch Eredivisie, five points behind leaders Ajax Amsterdam. Roger Schmidt and his team remain locked in a battle for the title, however, will want to also make progress in European competition in the new year.
A third-place finish in a Europa League group containing Sturm Graz, AS Monaco and Real Sociedad, provoked a range of different emotions for PSV. Disappointment to not finish in the top two and progress in the Europa League. However, dropping into the Conference League gives the club a strong and genuine chance to win a European trophy. PSV have dipped into the transfer market this January, signing 23-year-old Dutch defensive midfielder Joey Veerman from Heerenveen.
Embed from Getty ImagesMaccabi Tel Aviv currently sit 3rd in the Israeli Premier League, eight points behind leaders Maccabi Haifa. Israel’s oldest football club, being founded in 1906 came 2nd place behind Austrian Bundesliga outfit LASK Linz in their Europa Conference League group to seal their place in the first knockout round. The club is coached by former Partizan Belgrade, Schalke 04 and Serbia international defender Mladen Krstajic.
PSV will despite having to play the second leg away from home start this tie as considerable favourites, especially with talent such as Mario Gotze, Phillip Max, Noni Madueke, Ibrahim Sangare and Marco van Ginkel in their squad.
Fenerbache SK vs SK Slavia Prague
The next tie sees Turkish giants Fenerbache SK face off against SK Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic. Out of Turkish football’s “Big Three” sides, Fenerbache are currently enduring the best performance so far in the 2021/22 Turkish Super Lig. However, they are currently only lying in sixth place on 40 points, a whole twenty points behind leaders Trabzonspor. Besiktas and Galatasaray by contrast currently sit eighth and 13th respectively in a truly remarkable season in Turkish football.
Sari Kanaryalar (The Yellow Canaries) qualified for the Europa League group stage by virtue of seeing off HJK Helsinki of Finland in the play-off round before finishing 3rd in their Europa League group which contained Eintracht Frankfurt, Olympiacos and Royal Antwerp FC. Fener only won one of their six Europa League matches, a 3-0 away victory over Antwerp, yet three draws from their other five group games secured Europa Conference League football in the new year.
Embed from Getty ImagesSlavia Prague on the other hand come into this tie in much better shape. Jindrich Trpisovsky’s side currently sit top of the Czech First League standings, currently embroiled in a three-way title fight with rivals Sparta Prague and Viktoria Plzen. Slavia have proven a tough opponent for many a side in the last few seasons, as emphasised by two quarter-final appearances in the Europa League in both 2018/19 and 2020/21.
Slavia do look to have struggled more in European competition this campaign, they entered into the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League and surprisingly lost to Hungarian champions Ferencvaros. After dropping down into the Europa League, Slavia then suffered what many observed as another shock loss, this time 4-3 on aggregate to Legia Warsaw in the Europa League play-off qualifying round. This dropped them down into the Conference League group stages and it was only a 1-1 draw in their final group match vs Union Berlin which saw them progress to the knockouts.
Like many of the ties, this is a tough one to call and it genuinely could go either way.
FC Midtylland vs PAOK FC
The next tie is one which pits a very new club that has been impeccably run and built itself up organically into one of its countries largest clubs and an old, traditional powerhouse of a country’s domestic footballing scene in the shape of FC Midtjylland vs PAOK FC.
Just over a month after Manchester United had completed a remarkable treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League wins, FC Midtjylland was formed on 1st July 1999 as a result of a merger between two clubs Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. In just 22 years as a club, Ulvene (Wolves) have already won three Danish Superliga titles, all achieved since 2014/15 under the majority shareholding ownership of Matthew Benham, the owner of Brentford FC.
After eliminating Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic FC from the second qualification round of this season’s Champions League qualifying, Midtjylland then lost in the third qualification round to PSV Eindhoven which dropped them into the Europa League group stages. A third-placed finish in their group, narrowly finishing behind Red Star Belgrade and SC Braga dropped them into the Conference League. One of their interesting winter signings is one-time highly touted German football prospect Max Meyer, who joined recently on loan from Fenerbahce.
Embed from Getty ImagesPAOK are the old traditional force in this tie, founded in April 1926 in the Northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Aspromavri (The White-Blacks) are the fourth most successful Greek club when it comes to league titles won behind Athenian duo Panathinaikos & AEK Athens in addition to Piraeus-based Olympiacos. The most recent of their three Greek titles coming in 2018/19.
PAOK were made to battle through their Conference League qualification rounds, narrowly seeing off Bohemians FC of the League of Ireland and Rijeka of the Croatian Prva HNL to make the group stages. The Thessaloniki outfit finished 2nd in a group containing FC Copenhagen, Slovan Bratislava and Lincoln Red Imps only losing one of their six group games, the highlight of which being a 2-1 away win against Copenhagen at Parken Stadium, courtesy of goals from Sidcley and Andrija Zivkovic.
Like Slavia vs Fenerbahce, this looks another tough tie to call. Given the intimidating atmosphere likely to be created at PAOK’s Toumba stadium for the second leg, one feels Midtylland may well have to make the most of home advantage in the first leg and take a lead to Northern Greece.
Leicester City FC vs Randers FC
The next tie has a name in it which many will be shocked to see in the competition in the shape of Leicester City. Famous for their brilliant exploits of winning the English Premier League title against all odds in 2015/16, The Foxes have despite understandably not being able to repeat their magnificent exploits of six seasons ago still had an impressively upward trajectory in recent seasons. Another high point for Leicester was their 2020/21 FA Cup triumph with a 1-0 win in the final at Wembley against Chelsea FC courtesy of a Youri Tielemans goal.
However, 2021/22 has not lived up to the lofty heights of the last two seasons which yielded the famous FA Cup win in addition to two 5th placed Premier League finishes. Currently sitting 11th place in the Premier League, inconsistent results have struck The Foxes all season so far. Injuries have admittedly not helped Leicester cause, but will Rodgers and his players now treat the Conference League seriously? It is their only chance of a trophy this campaign and only route into European football for next season.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe draw for the knockout round play-offs was relatively kind to Leicester, pitting them up against Randers FC of the Danish Superliga. Randers currently sit 5th place in Denmark’s top flight and only resume their domestic league season this coming weekend as the Danish Superliga has a long winter break. In a group dominated by Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar, Randers to the surprise of many perhaps finished 2nd to make the Conference League knockout rounds ahead of Jablonec and CFR Cluj.
Leicester go into this tie as heavy favourites and the lack of competitive match sharpness due to their long winter break for Randers is another reason why it is very likely this is as far as the Danish side’s European adventure goes. It would be a major shock if The Foxes were not to progress to the next round.
Celtic FC vs FK Bodo/Glimt
Probably the tie of the knockout playoff round of the Conference League comes in the shape of Celtic FC vs FK Bodo/Glimt. After a slow start to life under new manager Ange Postecoglou where Celtic lost three of their first six Scottish Premiership games and were eliminated immediately from Champions League qualification, Celtic are currently on a hot streak. The Bhoys are unbeaten in 20 Scottish Premiership matches, the 18th of which was a 3-0 home victory over bitter rivals Rangers FC which has turned the Scottish Premiership title race in Celtic’s favour.
A third-placed finish behind Real Betis and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in their Europa League group saw Celtic drop into the Conference League post-Christmas. An excellent winter transfer window is being credited for the turnaround in Celtic’s fortunes. Two such signings in particular, Japanese duo Reo Hatate from Kawasaki Frontale and Daizen Maeda on loan from Postecoglou’s former club Yokohama F Marinos have made an impressive start to their time in Scotland.
Embed from Getty ImagesBodo/Glimt have established themselves as a neutral’s favourite over the course of the last two years. 53-year-old manager Kjetil Knudsen recently celebrated his fifth anniversary in charge of the Northern Norwegian club and it is arguably the greatest time in Bodo/Glimt’s history. The club won their first-ever Norwegian title in the 2020 Eliteserien and backed it up in 2021 by retaining their title.
Bodo/Glimt also made quite an impression in their Conference League group. Unbeaten in all their six group games, the highlight of which was a magnificent 6-1 home victory over AS Roma, widely considered favourites for this competition where Erik Botheim and Ola Solbakken netted braces. However, whilst Bodo/Glimt won all three of their home games, they were unable to win any of their three away matches. This meant they missed out on top spot in the group to Roma by just a solitary point.
Despite Bodo/Glimt’s heroics in Europe so far this season, Celtic do look favourites for this tie. A number of factors point to this. Firstly, some key playing personnel of Bodo/Glimt’s recent success such as Patrick Berg and the aforementioned Botheim have departed the club to sign for RC Lens and FK Krasnodar respectively. Secondly, the lack of competitive matches due to the Eliteserien clubs still being in their pre-season means Bodo/Glimt could be short of match fitness. Finally, Celtic are in excellent form and have been freshened up with their new winter window signings.
AC Sparta Prague vs FK Partizan Belgrade
The penultimate tie of the round sees AC Sparta Prague face off against FK Partizan Belgrade. Veteran coach Pavel Vrba took charge of Sparta in the summer and the club currently sits 3rd in the Czech First League.
After defeating Rapid Vienna in the second round of Champions League qualification, the third qualification round saw Sparta succumb 5-1 on aggregate to AS Monaco. Dropping into the Europa League, Sparta finished 3rd in their group behind both Olympique Lyonnais and Rangers FC which drops them into the Conference League post-Christmas.
Embed from Getty ImagesPartizan Belgrade go into this tie currently in the midst of one of their greatest runs in history domestically. After seeing their hated rivals Red Star Belgrade go the entire 2020/21 Serbian Super Liga season unbeaten whilst winning the title, Partizan are well-positioned to turn the tables on Red Star by winning the Serbian Super Liga title this season with an unbeaten season themselves. Their 22 domestic games so far have seen Partizan note 20 wins, 2 draws and 59 goals scored.
Coach Aleksandar Stanojevic and his players have also impressed in European competition too. After seeing off Dunajska Streda, PFC Sochi and Santa Clara in three qualification rounds to secure passage to the Conference League group stages, Partizan progressed to the Conference League knockouts in second place in their group behind Belgian Pro League A side KAA Gent. Cape Verdean striker Ricardo Gomes has emerged as a key player for Crno-Beli (The Black-Whites), netting 23 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Despite once again this being an even and difficult to call tie, one feels that the unbeaten run Partizan are on may prove to be the decisive factor for a victory for the Serbian side. Not to mention having home advantage in the second leg at the intimidating Partizan Stadium.
SK Rapid Vienna vs SBV Vitesse Arnhem
The final tie in this list of the first knockout round of the Conference League is by no means any less intriguing as SK Rapid Vienna and SBV Vitesse Arnhem face off. After a second-place finish in the 2020/21 Austrian Bundesliga behind Austrian football’s dominant modern-day force RB Salzburg, Rapid started the 2021/22 campaign in the Champions League qualifiers where they lost to Sparta Prague in the second qualification round.
Victories over Anorthosis Famagusta and Zorya Luhansk in two Europa League qualification rounds saw the Green-Whites qualify for the Europa League group stages. In the final round of group matches, Rapid secured 3rd place in the group, behind West Ham United and Dinamo Zagreb but ahead of Belgians KRC Genk and secured Conference League football post-Christmas.
Embed from Getty ImagesVitesse currently sit 6th in the Dutch Eredivisie after a recent poor run of form post-Christmas break where the Arnhem-based club have won only one of their four domestic league matches. Vitesse’s European campaign saw them enter into the Conference League third qualifying round where they narrowly overcame Dundalk FC of the League of Ireland before then surprisingly emerging victorious against Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht in the play-off qualification round.
Vitesse were then paired up in a group with Tottenham Hotspur, Stade Rennais and NK Mura and achieved three victories, one draw and two defeats from their six group games. The outbreak of Covid-19 which hit Tottenham before their final group match against Stade Rennais eventually resulted in the North London club having to forfeit the match 3-0 and thus with a stroke of good fortune, Vites made it through to the Conference League knockout rounds.
Rapid vs Vitesse looks like another well-balanced tie which will be very difficult to call with no obvious favourite.
