Europa League Play-Off Previews: Napoli, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven And Villarreal All Are In Action
Posted Thursday, August 26, 2010 by Goal.com
Qarabag - Borussia Dortmund (18:00 CET)
This tie was over as a contest in the first 45 minutes at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund as Borussia scored four times. It eventually finished 4-0 to the former Champions League winners and now Qarabag have to conjure up a miracle in Azerbaijan.
Maritimo - BATE (18:00 CET)
Belarusian giants BATE Borisov scored three goals in the second-half to win the first-leg 3-0 at home and modest Portuguese club Maritimo will need a miracle to win this tie.
Dnepr - Villarreal (18:00 CET)
Villarreal wouldn't have been featuring in the Europa League qualifiers had Real Mallorca not been disqualified by Uefa but the Spanish side are making the most out of it. A massive 5-0 win at home in the first-leg implies that they are almost through.
Besiktas - HJK (18:45 CET)
Turkish club Besiktas are 2-0 up from the first-leg and should consider themselves as favourites to progress from this tie.
Austria Wien - Aris (19:00 CET)
Aris would have taken a 0-0 scoreline to Austria for the second-leg had Carlos Ruiz not scored an injury time goal in Greece in the first-leg last week. However, Austria Wien will be looking forward to getting a home win and progressing to the group stage.
Brondby - Sporting (19:00 CET)
Danish club Brondby should already be celebrating a place in the group stage of the Europa League. They defeated Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon 2-0 in Portugal last week, thanks to goals from Jan Kristiansen and Ousman Jallow.
APOEL - Getafe (19:00 CET)
Spanish Primera Division side Getafe take a narrow 1-0 advantage to Cyprus for the second-leg against APOEL. This is a tricky situation for both teams but Getafe could just nick it in the end.
Levski - AIK (19:30 CET)
Bulgarian club Levski Sofia will go into the second-leg needing just a goal to advance to the Europa League proper. It finished 0-0 between the two sides last week.
PSV - Sibir (19:30 CET)
Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven lost 1-0 to Russian club Sibir Novosibirsk in the first-leg last week. It would have finished 0-0 had Aleksandr Degtyarev not scored in injury time. However, PSV will be the favourites to win the return leg in Eindhoven on Thursday.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv - PSG (20:00 CET)
French giants PSG defeated Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-0 at home in the first-leg last week and will now aim to secure the tie on Thursday. Maccabi still do have a chance but a goal from PSG will make it tremendously tough for the Israelis.
Tavriya - Bayer Leverkusen (20:00 CET)
2002 Champions League finalists Bayer Leverkusen appear to have secured their place in the group stage of the Champions League after defeating Tavriya 3-0 at home in the first-leg. The German side travel to Ukraine with massive confidence.
KAA Gent - Feyenoord (20:00 CET)
Dutch side Feyenoord take a 1-0 advantage from the first-leg to Belgium. They will still consider themselves favourites but Gent will not make it easy for them on Thursday evening.
VfB Stuttgart - Slovan Bratislava (20:00 CET)
German club Stuttgart are virtually a foot into the group stage of the Europa League after defeating Slovan Bratislava 1-0 in Slovakia. An 88th minute from Martin Harnik has put Stuttgart in a very good position to progress.
Karpaty - Galatasaray (20:45 CET)
Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray are on the verge of getting knocked out of Europe. They could only draw 2-2 at home to Ukrainian side Karpaty Lviv and were actually 2-0 down at the break.
Maribor - Palermo (20:45 CET)
Serie A club Palermo are virtually through to the group stage of the Europa League after their 3-0 win at home in the first-leg last week. Slovenian side Maribor have a Herculean task on their hands now.
Lille - Vaslui (20:45 CET)
French club Lille are at home for the second-leg and will be favourites to progress to the group stage as they drew 0-0 in Romania last week.
Elfsborg - Napoli (20:45 CET)
Napoli defeated Elfsborg 1-0 in Naples last week thanks to an Ezequiel Lavezzi goal in the first-half and will travel to Sweden with confidence. The tie is far from over, though, as Elfsborg will be happy that they conceded just one away. However, the Serie A side have a superior attackline and a goal for them will put their hosts under huge pressure.
Fenerbahce - PAOK (20:45 CET)
Turkish giants Fener have to overcome a one-goal deficit from the first-leg. PAOK won in Greece thanks to a 19th minute goal from Vieirinha. It will not be easy for Fener but they are quite strong at home.
Porto - KRC Genk (21:30 CET)
Portuguese superpower and former Champions League winners FC Porto have virtually secured their place in the group stage of the Europa League after defeating Genk 3-0 away in the first-leg. The return leg in Portugal on Thursday is more or less academic as it is very unlikely that Genk will be able to net three or more away goals.
Some other games on Thursday are:
Dinamo Minsk - Club Brugge
Aktobe - AZ
Lokomotiv Moscow - Lausanne
Metallist - Omonia
Unirea - Hajduk Split
Litex - Debrecen
GC - Steaua
Lech - Dnipro
Dinamo Zagreb - Gyor
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