Arsenal's out-of-favor playmaker Mesut Özil has been left out of their Europa League squad for the 2020-21 campaign, giving rise to media speculation that he might have played his last game for the Premier League side.
NYON, Switzerland — Seven-time European champion AC Milan, winners of a marathon 24-penalty shootout against Rio Ave on Thursday, were rewarded by being drawn against Celtic and Lille in their Europa League Group on Thursday.
Milan, banned from the competition last season for breaching UEFA's break-even Financial Fair Play rule, scraped through 9-8 on penalties after snatching a last-gasp 2-2 draw with the Portuguese side.
The 2020/21 group stage is set
Tottenham manager José Mourinho believes their packed fixture schedule will force them to prioritize the more lucrative Europa League over the League Cup in a bid to avoid further injuries in the squad.
Spurs host Chelsea on Tuesday in the League Cup fourth round, two days before Maccabi Haifa's visit to north London for a Europa League playoff match. Mourinho said the English Football League "made the decision" for him and he had no option but to rotate the squad for the London derby.
AMSTERDAM — Fans of Dutch soccer team Willem II Tilburg came under fire in the Netherlands for throwing a large party with no regard for social distancing rules to celebrate their team's return to European competition.
Pictures taken by fans showed around 1,000 supporters singing and dancing on a square in Tilburg on Thursday before Willem II's Europa League qualifying match against Scottish side Rangers.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said he had to demand Europa League opponents Shkendija fix the goalposts ahead of their tie on Thursday after his keepers alerted him to the fact they were too small.
Spurs goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Joe Hart noticed the dimensions were wrong and told Mourinho, who took the matter up with UEFA's delegate at the match.
After the game Mourinho posted a picture of himself on Instagram nearly touching the crossbar.
BUDAPEST — Bayern Munich beat Sevilla 2-1 after extra time on Thursday to lift the UEFA Super Cup and complete a quadruple under coach Hansi Flick, in the first European game played with fans in the stands since the sport returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Substitute Javi Martinez headed in the winner in the 104th minute after Europa League winners Sevilla had taken a 13th-minute lead through Lucas Ocampos's penalty and Bayern levelled through Leon Goretzka in the 34th.
MILAN — AC Milan's talismanic forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and the 38-year-old responded in typically irreverent style, saying it was a bad idea for the virus to challenge him.
Milan said that Ibrahimovic, who will miss the Europa League match at home to Bodo/Glimt later on Thursday, was placed in quarantine at home and the health authorities had been informed.
BUDAPEST — When Hungarian and European football leaders invited Hungarian ambulance workers to the continent's first major international match open to fans since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 500 paramedics jumped at the chance to attend Thursday's Super Cup.
Champions League winners Bayern Munich of Germany and Europa League champions Sevilla of Spain meet at Budapest's Puskas Arena in a game that European football's governing body UEFA considers a safety test of games with spectators.
Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder on Monday urged Bayern Munich fans not to travel to the UEFA Super Cup final against Sevilla in Budapest this week or risk turning the event into a hotbed for COVID-19 to spread.
The German champions, who won the Champions League, face Europa League winners Sevilla in the Hungarian capital on Thursday.
"My stomach hurts thinking about the Super Cup. Budapest is a risk area. We have to be very careful that we don't risk turning it into a football-Ischgl," he said.
Shamrock Rovers of the Irish Premier Division knew it was in for a rough Europa League qualifier after drawing AC Milan. What nobody expected was the heart-touching moment after the match from Zlatan Ibrahimović.
There wasn’t any shocking upset to be had with AC Milan dominating in nearly every statistic and a rather routine 2-0 victory. To the surprise of nobody, Ibrahimović found his way on the scoresheet, netting the Rossoneri’s first goal of the season.