There is an argument to say the Europa League is more fun to watch than the Champions League. The second-tier UEFA competition has more teams and many are from far-flung European destinations. It all makes for an exciting competition on Thursday nights during the football season.
In nine of the last 11 Europa League Finals, at least one team eliminated from the Champions League group stage played for the tournament’s trophy. Last year’s winner, Atletico Madrid, had failed to get out of their Champions League group. Diego Simeone’s side then blew through the Europa League and defeated an overmatched Marseille in the final, 3-0. There is every expectation that a Champions League team will win the tournament once more. Three of the top six favourites, according to leading sportsbooks, started their European campaigns in the Champions League.
The Favourites
Napoli, Inter Milan, and Valencia all failed to get out of their Champions League groups and all three are now in search of silverware via the Europa League. Two of the three sides looked strong and miles ahead of the competition in their respective first legs. Napoli blew past FC Zurich 3-1 and the game was wrapped up before the half an hour mark. Valencia scored on either side of halftime against Celtic and had little difficulty in their 2-0 win. Inter did have the most difficult time of the three. The Italians laboured to a 1-0 win thanks to a penalty from Lautaro Martinez.
Along with the three exiled Champions League teams, Chelsea and Arsenal have been tagged with favourites status. Chelsea won clinically, 2-1, against Sweden’s Malmo. Arsenal suffered an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Belarusian team BATE Borisov. The Gunners couldn’t breakdown their opponent’s defence on a cold Eastern European night. Arsenal never really looked like scoring against a team still in its preseason.
The Dark Horses
The Europa League has several dark horses who started their European campaign in the competition. Eintracht Frankfurt won all six matches in the group stage. They finished Thursday night with a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. Shakhtar had come from the Champions League.
Perhaps the best match of all the first leg games came in France. Down 3-1 at halftime, Spain’s Real Betis battled back to draw 3-3 thanks to a Diego Lainz 90th minute goal against Rennes. Like Frankfurt, Real Betis are firmly focused on the Europa League. Although both teams are playing well domestically, they are taking the tournament seriously.
Who will win the Europa League?
The answer to this question is a difficult one. While it is much simpler to predict a Champions League Final at this stage, it is harder to predict the Europa League last two thanks to the number of teams left in the tournament.
Based on the last 11 seasons, there is no reason to believe a team that played in the Champions League group stage won’t be in the final. Napoli look great and Chelsea have plenty to prove. Meanwhile, Frankfurt and Real Betis are something special and desperately want to win the competition. It is still far too early to predict this year’s winner.