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UEFA Europa League Qualifiers: Your Running Commentary

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By AVI CREDITOR

A day after the UEFA Champions League field was completed, the UEFA Europa League has its final day of qualification. 

Highlighting the remainder of Thursday's 36-match slate is Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and the rest of Aston Villa hosting Rapid Vienna (2:45 p.m.) with the edge after securing an away goal in their 1-1 first-leg encounter. Guzan is starting in goal, with Friedel as his backup. Lichaj is starting the match on the bench with the returns of James Collins and Carlos Cuellar from injury dropping him from the starting lineup.

CSKA Moscow, which qualified on Tuesday, and reigning cup holder Atletico Madrid are already among the 48 teams to reach the group stage. The 10 losers from the final round of Champions League qualifying are also automatically entered into the draw.

Here's Thursday's hefty schedule of games:

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE SCHEDULE (All times ET)

12 p.m.

  • Aktobe Lento vs. AZ Alkmaar (Alkmaar advances, 3-2)
  • Dinamo Minsk vs. Club Brugge (Brugge advances, 5-3)
  • Dnepr-Mogliev vs. Villarreal (Villarreal advances, 7-1)
  • FK Qarabag vs. Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund advances, 5-0)
  • Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Lausanne Sports (teams tied at 2-2)
  • Martimo vs. BATE Borisov (Borisov advances, 5-1)

12:45 p.m.

  • HJK Helsinki vs. Besiktas (Besiktas advances, 6-0)

1 p.m.

  • Apoel Nicosia vs. Getafe (Getafe leads 1-0)
  • Austria Vienna vs. Aris Salonika (Aris leads 1-0)
  • Brondby vs. Sporting Lisbon (Brondby leads 2-0)
  • FC Metalist Kharkiv vs. Omonia Nicosia (Kharkiv leads 1-0)

1:30 p.m.

  • Grasshoppers vs. Steaua Bucuresti (Bucuresti leads 1-0)
  • Levski Sofia vs. AIK (teams tied at 0-0)
  • Liteks Lovetch vs. Debrecen (Debrecen leads 2-0)
  • PSV Eindhoven vs. Sibir Novosibirsk (Novosibirsk leads 1-0)
  • Trabzonspor vs. Liverpool (Liverpool leads 1-0)
  • Unirea Urziceni vs. Hajduk Split (Hajduk Split leads 4-1)

2 p.m.

  • AEK Athens vs. Dundee United (Athens leads 1-0)
  • KAA Gent vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam (Rotterdam leads 1-0)
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Paris St. Germain (PSG leads 2-0)
  • Tavriya Symferopol vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Bayer Leverkusen leads 3-0)
  • VfB Stuttgart vs. Slovan Bratislava (Stuttgart leads 1-0)

2:15 p.m.

  • Lech Pozan vs. Dnipro (Lech Poznan leads 1-0)

2:30 p.m.

  • FC Utrecht vs. Celtic (Celtic leads 2-0)
  • T.N.S. vs. CSKA Sofia (Sofia leads 3-0)

2:45 p.m.

  • Aston Villa vs. Rapid Vienna (teams tied at 1-1)
  • Elfsborg vs. Napoli (Napoli leads 1-0)
  • Fenerbahce vs. PAOK Salonika (PAOK leads 1-0)
  • Juventus vs. SK Sturm Graz (Juventus leads 2-1)
  • Karpaty Lviv vs. Galatasaray (teams tied at 2-2)
  • Lille vs. FC Vaslui (teams tied at 0-0)
  • Manchester City vs. FC Timisoara (Manchester City leads 1-0)
  • Motherwell vs. Odense BK (Odense leads 2-1)
  • NK Maribor vs. Palermo (Palermo leads 3-0)

3:15 p.m.

  • Dinamo Zagreb vs. Gyor (Dinamo Zagreb leads 2-0)

3:30 p.m.

  • FC Porto vs. Racing Genk (Porto leads 3-0)

If you will be watching any of these matches on DirecTV, UEFA.com or via live Internet feed, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and play-by-play in the comments section below. Enjoy the games!

Comments

  1. actually david beckham became more skillful with the ball at his feet during his time at real madrid (and i’m not beckham super fan)….not talking about his crossing ability (that’s what made him), i’m talking about his a bility to dribble and change direction…those skills were not so necessary in the english game at that time (i was able to watch real madrid consistently between 2000-2005)…..so i think there is some hope for jozy, though i would love to see him score in bunches, often times keepers have made incrdible saves on his shots, other times he is not patient enough to make the right decision…i think it’s too early to write him off…i think jozy was playing better before the hull move….i do believe that his time there helped him in some ways but hurt him in others…i wish that he had taken a loan to a lower division spanish team rather than go to hull…the style of play in england and spain are very different…..so let us try to tame our expectations, particularly since this is not a world cup year and i doubt that he wouldn’t be called for gold cup, let’s hope that he can get some PT and eventually put a few pass the keeper…

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  2. I think all the Altidore hype rather comes from guys who won’t shut up about how disappointing he’s been. We have all these expectations and wants for Jozy and we throw them at him and rip him to shreds when he doesn’t achieve all of them. I know that a player is open to criticism, but critics need to be open to the fact that the United States isn’t at the point where our young players are even expected to be anywhere clos to where Jozy is on a consistent basis. Now, if you wanna criticize Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and the like for not producing as strikers, go ahead. we know what they can do. However, Jozy is a young player that is gaining skills, consistency, maturity, experience and a great life lesson. Give him time. It’s the simple fact that the American fans are just way too impatient.

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  3. Maybe he just had one bad game. Just throwing that out there. The main problems I see with Jozy is that his first and finishing touch aren’t great, he’ll tend to put his head down, his stamina isn’t great and his decision making can be really bad at times. The best parts about him is that he’s got a great work rate, he has pace, size, strength and knows how to use them to his advantage, if he DOES control the ball, his dribbling and 1v1 ability is quite impressive and he has an absolute thunderbolt of a strike. As badly as people want him to be a top striker, we’re not to the point where we can expect to produce guys who are killing it on the world stage at the age of 20 all the time. Our youth system just isn’t there yet. So yes, you may be disappointed that Jozy’s not where you want him to be at such a young age, but American fans need to stop placing these kids next to guys like Rossi or whoever saying” why can’t you be like that?”. Setting the bar a bit higher is the key to getting better, but don’t set it so high that no advancement is good enough for you.

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  4. See, now this point is just ridiculous. Wayne Rooney has a proven track record in the EPL, and his struggles in the World Cup are real and cause concern among English fans. Just like Jozy’s lack of goals in any competition is cause for concern.

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  5. Guzan is unfortunate to have such a poor defense.

    Lichaj should without a doubt get a start now. Bob Bradley is about to have a job.

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  6. If only it was pouring and there were puddles on the field and Villa were playing against RSL, then they might be able to score 2 maybe 3 goals in the final 3 minutes of injury time.

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  7. Not really his fault, I s’pose. Vienna player sent a ball across the 6, Guzan dove for it but it went past him and onto the foot of a Vienna player who put it in. Villa defense didn’t close down the crosser or get in front of the goalscorer.

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  8. Looked like Guzan tried too hard to snag that ball rather than just getting a touch on it. I guess that’s usually the protocol — you have to grab it cause you don’t want to spill it in the box, but if he’d just got a piece of it Villa probably clears.

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  9. no excuse for a professional to miss from there, but i could see myself doing that. you’re trying desperately not to sky it over so you come over the top of the ball and so then it bounces hard off the turf and over the bar

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  10. How do you even do that? I couldn’t miss from there if I tried. 6 yards…. how do you hit the ball over a wide open net from 6 yards.

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  11. Well, extremely soft penalty given and soft penalty taken so justice done…now the previous non-penalty i’m not so sure about.

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  12. Exactly.

    Jozy was given a start against a poor quality side (who had already been beaten 5-0) and he sucked!

    You cannot justify that.

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  13. Yeah Rob, I gotta agree. Every time an American steps on the field or isn’t chosen to play, for that matter, the whiplash reaction of American fans is typically at DEFCON 4. I think that the American fan has more room to allow for players to develop, to have off days, to grow, mature, and to learn from setbacks. I’m not saying lets pat everyone on the back and coddle them…I’m just saying (just sayin) that a little perspective might be appreciated by taking a step back, looking at the big picture, and not putting expectations on these guys to score 5 goals every time they step on the field. My 2 centabos…

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  14. Yes, it is troubling. Dempsey scored yesterday against a low club. Jozy should be scoring here to justify his potential and reason to see the field.

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  15. And btw I am not saying he will be world class… But like I said before American fans are way to fickle and seem to have some sort of inferiority complex, needing the best here and now. Let the kid develop in La Liga wether on the bench or playing every game.

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  16. And scoring goals is a skill just as passing is one too. What use is a striker that cannot score? What’s the point? Its like a goalie conceding 3 goals per game. Time to change him at that rate.

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  17. He scored twice while at Hull one in league play….. Scored at villarreal before he was loaned the injured, has 9 goals in World Cup qualification, scored confeds cup.

    Hulls strikers as a whole had horrible years, what does that tell you?

    You guys are ridiculous.

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  18. This is a fair point, but I might also add that when fans clamor for Jozy to be getting playing time, they should remember he is only an average player right now.

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