Thursday 9 March 2017

Europa League: Borussia Monchengladbach look for second victory over Schalke in a week

WINNER: Gladbach top scorer Lars Stindl helps his team to victory
 By Steven Oldham

German heavyweights Schalke 04 and Borussia Monchengladbach meet tonight in the Europa League round of 16.

Both sides are having under-par seasons in the Bundesliga but still have to be considered major threats in knockout competition.

Gladbach travel to Schalke on the back of a mini revival in domestic terms - with four wins in their last five - including a 4-2 victory over tonight's opposition last weekend.

Manager Dieter Hecking - in charge since January and overseeing consistent improvement in his team's fortunes - will be without the suspended Christoph Kramer.  


Having again being drawn into a tough Champion's League group, Monchengladbach improved on last season and avoided finishing last to qualify for the final 32 of this competition, where they knocked out Fiorentina despite losing the first leg at home 1-0.

Top scorer Lars Stindl scored an impressive hat trick in that second leg victory, and almost half of his tally so far this season have come since the winter break. 


The hosts meanwhile have only won one in the same time frame and while they have quality, they remain only four points above the relegation playoff places.

S04 made light work of their Europa League group, picking up 15 points from 18, only losing their last game against Red Bull Salzburg having already long qualified. They then eliminated PAOK of Greece in the first knockout round.

Their performances in Europe have been the highlight of a poor season to date, littered with inconsistency that shouldn't afflict a team including Benedikt Howedes, Coke and Matija Nastasic. Creditable results (victory over Herta Berlin, an away draw at Bayern Munich) are often followed by defeat.

With teams like Roma, Lyon, Manchester United and Besiktas still involved, both these German giants know tough challenges still await the winner in the next round. 


LOOKING FOR IMPROVEMENT: Schalke captain Benedikt Howedes

Europa League: Lyon vs Roma - battle of the big scoring marksmen Lacazette and Dzeko

KEY MAN: Olympique Lyonnais's leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette

By Steven Oldham 

LYON vs AS ROMA

This eye-catching fixture in the round of 16 sees Lyon take on Roma with the French team looking to add some much-needed consistency to their season.

They are well off the title pace in Ligue 1, 18 points behind leaders Monaco having played only one game less.  

When on form not many teams can live with them - handing Metz a 5-0 thrashing, outclassing Nancy 4-0 and crushing AZ in this competition 11-2 on aggregate, all since the start of the year. 

The goals of Alexandre Lacazette have been crucial in what has been good about Lyon's game this season - the marksman has 27 already this campaign - and he could be the difference between Lyon's season ending as a damp squib or a success.

However, out-of-sync defeats to Caen and Lille in the same timeframe, coupled with five defeats in their first ten league matches, leave them somewhere short of where they want to be.  

Victory in this competition is now pretty much their only way into the Champion's League next season barring a miracle run. 


Roma meanwhile, continue to perform strongly. Despite a narrow defeat to Napoli at the weekend, they have eight wins in ten and continue to chase Juventus at the top of Serie A.

The return of Luciano Spalletti just over a year ago to the dugout has reinvigorated Roma's fortunes despite some of his decisions not being universally accepted. The results though - a 64% win rate in 14 months - can not be argued with. 

Edin Dzeko is enjoying a purple patch this season  - the ex-Manchester City man has 29 for the season including eight in this competition - including a hat trick against Villareal in the last round. 

The mercurial form of Radja Nainggolan since the start of 2017 has been a big part of their success - he's scored six times in six games over two months - and the midfielder will surely be a key player in this fixture.

Centre back Antonio Rudiger misses out through suspension.

Both teams are not short of goals so regardless of the winner, it should be an entertaining pair of fixtures. Roma will head into the game as favourites but a lot depends on whether Lyon show up - if they do, they can cause real problems.



PURPLE PATCH: Roma striker Edin Dzeko is in lethal form

Europa League early kick-offs: Manchester United pitch winning credentials in Russia as FC Rostov await

AVAILABLE: Manchester United's Ibrahimovic can play despite ban
 By Steven Oldham

Manchester United's away clash at Russian Premier League runners-up FC Rostov leads the early kick-offs in tonight's Europa League round of 16 first leg games. 

Jose Mourinho's side will look to return to winning ways after Saturday's fiery draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford, which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic pick up a retrospective three-match ban after accepting violent conduct charges for his clashes with Tyrone Mings.

The state of Rostov's threadbare pitch is a more pressing concern for United with Mourinho critical of the playing surface- described by UEFA as 'not perfect, but playable'.

He said: "It's hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field - if you can call it a field. I don't know which team to play." 

United will definitely be without Eric Bailly with the Frenchman suspended after a red card in the last round against Saint-Etienne, while Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw have not made the trip. 

The returning Henrikh Mkhitaryan may now not be risked due to the pitch conditions. The Armeninan midfielder has been missing with a hamstring injury in recent fixtures. 

United should still have enough to overcome Rostov but need to be wary of complacency against a team that handed Bayern Munich a shock 3-2 defeat in the Champion's League group stages. 

The Russians performed solidly in their debut Champion's League campaign, picking up five points, finishing above seasoned European campaigners PSV Eindhoven to secure a place in this competition. They knocked Sparta Prague out 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round, winning the home leg 4-0. 

BARE: The under-fire pitch at Rostov's Olimp-2 stadium
FC COPENHAGEN vs AJAX

Reigning national champions FC Copenhagen head into this fixture on the back of an unbeaten season so far in the Danish Superliga, twelve points clear of nearest challengers Brondby ahead of the league split next month. A crushing 5-0 defeat of Horsens at the weekend extended this run to 24 games. 

The Danes narrowly missed out on qualification for the last 16 of the Champion's League and were unbeaten at home in the group stage without conceding a goal.  They eliminated Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the last round.

Ajax, meanwhile, are on a nine-match unbeaten run of their own in the Eredivisie, but their momentum suffered a slight blow at the weekend, only drawing 1-1 with mid-table Groningen. 

After comfortably winning their group ahead of fellow round of 16 qualifiers Celta Vigo, the Dutch team narrowly came through the last round, defeating Legia Warsaw 1-0 on aggregate thanks to Nick Viergever's home goal in the second leg. Defenders Joel Veltman and Davinson Sanchez both miss out through suspension. 
 
SUSPENDED: Ajax defender Joel Veltman is banned for the first leg

  APOEL NICOSIA vs ANDERLECHT 

Cypriot champions APOEL continue to punch above their weight in European competition, knocking out Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao in the previous round 4-3 on aggregate.

An impressive all-round performance saw them narrowly lose the first leg 3-2 before turning their opponents over at home, with Giannis Gianniotas scoring in both fixtures including the decisive penalty that took them through.

A morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Omonia in the Nicosia derby at the weekend will leave head coach Thomas Christiansen quietly confident ahead of this evening's game. 

Anderlecht, meanwhile, failed to live up to top billing in their group, finishing as runners-up to Saint-Etienne, but recovered to eliminate Zenit St Petersburg in the last round (albeit on away goals).

Domestically, they are joint top with Club Brugge but lost their most recent fixture 3-2 at Mechelen - their first league defeat since November. 

Anderlecht have no fewer than seven players one yellow card away from missing the return leg, so the likes of top scorer Youri Tielemans and double goalscorer from the Zenit victory Frank Acheampong need to be careful tonight.

IN FORM: Anderlecht's top scorer Youri Tielemans

Search This Blog