By IAN HOLLIDAY
The good news for Liverpool's Europa League campaign is that the club is undefeated in group play and has qualified for the knockout stage. The bad news for the Reds is that they've managed only two wins to go with three draws against less-than-stellar competition in Group K.
Liverpool let another game slip through its fingers, or more accurately Pepe Reina's, against Steaua Buchurest in Romania on Thursday. The goalkeeper mishandled Eder Bonfim's headed shot in the 61st minute to negate his club's early lead. The Reds were actually lucky to escape with a point intact, as their first-half goal from Milan Jovanovic proved to be their only shot on target in the match.
Other big clubs securing passage into the Europa League's knockout stage this week included Manchester City, which defeated Red Bull Salzburg 3-0 in Group A, and Paris St. Germain, whose 4-2 victory over Sevilla set up a winner-take-all round 6 match between Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund in Group J later this month.
Not all of the tournament's famous names have advanced, however. Italian giants Juventus' Europa League run is over after the club managed only a draw at Polish club Lech Poznan on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Russian clubs Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow remained the only perfect sides in the group stage, notching wins over Belgian side Anderlecht (3-1) and Swiss club Lausanne Sports (5-1), respectively. Both clubs are former winners of the competition formerly known as the UEFA Cup, and if they keep playing the way they have in this season's edition, it will be tough to bet against either of them in the knockout stages.
Here is a rundown of all the scores from this week's Europa League matches:
GROUP A
Lech Poznan 1, Juventus 1
Manchester City 3, Red Bull Salzburg 0
GROUP B
Atletico Madrid 2, Aris 3
Rosenborg 0, Bayer Leverkusen 1
GROUP C
Gent 1, Levski Sofia 0
Sporting Lisbon 1, Lille 0
GROUP D
PAOK 1, Club Brugge 1
Villarreal 3, Dinamo Zagreb 0
GROUP E
BATE Borisov 1, Dynamo Kiev 4
Sheriff Tiraspol 1, AZ Alkmaar 1
GROUP F
CSKA Moscow 5, Lausanne Sport 1
PAlermo 2, Sparta Prauge 2
GROUP G
Hajduk Split 1, AEK Athens 3
Zenit St. Petersburg 3, Anderlecht 1
GROUP H
Odense BK 1, Getafe 1
Young Boys 4, VfB Stuttgart 2
GROUP I
Metalist Kharkiv 2, Debrecen 1
Sampdoria 1, PSV Eindhoven
GROUP J
Borussia Dortmund 3, Karpaty Lviv 0
Paris St. Germain 4, Sevilla 2
GROUP K
FC Utrecht 3, Napoli 3
Steaua Bucurest 1, Liverpool 1
GROUP L
CSKA Sofia 1, Besiktas 2
Rapid Vienna 1, FC Porto 3
you’re right, the Europa League should be much smaller because DC Josh hasn’t heard of some of the teams.
I’m looking at the list, which teams arent ringing a bell?
On the bright side, Ruben hadn’t had a good game until then. Rossi lit it up…
I haven’t heard of half of these clubs. Why do they continue to expand the Europa League? It drains the competition of any meaning.
Liverpool is craptastic. They should finish no better than 8th in the PL this season.
Altidore did not play, Kljestan went 90 but they were easily beaten by Zenit.
Bummer for Altidore is that Ruben took one of his chances.
Did Altidore or Kljestan Play?