Europa League

Ajax did their level best to bungle away their place in the Europa League final. Lyon did their level best to crawl out of the hole they had dug for themselves. In the end, the distance was too great. The hole was too deep.

Facing a 4-1 aggregate deficit, Lyon girded their loins and went out and let Ajax get the first goal, courtesy of youngster Kasper Dolberg.

Ajax had a plan to make it interesting, though. They let Alexandre Lacazette get two goals in two minutes right before halftime, and the game was on.

Celta de Vigo came agonizingly close to scoring a vital second away goal that would've seen them advance to the Europa League Final. In the sixth minute of extra time, striker John Guidetti mishit a bouncing cross from ten yards out, and United cleared the ball out of the box before hearing a long awaited final whistle. Any shot on goal would've beaten United keeper Sergio Romero, who was out of position defending against the last-minute surge from Celta.

Manchester United extended their lead against Celta Vigo with a all-important goal from Marouane Fellaini. Henrikh Mkhitaryan found Marcus Rashford in space, and he delivered a perfect pass to Fellaini at the far post. A simple header from close range beat keeper Sergio Alvarez, who could only get a hand on the shot. Celta Vigo controlled possession early on, needing at least one away goal to advance. Their task just became much more difficult.

18-year-old Kylian Mbappe and AS Monaco’s youth revolution has garnered the headlines throughout the club’s thrilling run to the Champions League semifinals, but there’s a similar movement taking place in Europe’s less prestigious club competition, the Europa League, at AFC Ajax.

Ajax dismantled Lyon 4-1 in their Europa League semifinal first leg at the Amsterdam ArenA, and, after landing 16 shots on target, they’ll be disappointed that they didn’t add more to their total before the return leg.

The Europa League quarterfinal between Lyon and Besiktas was delayed for 45 minutes when supporters were forced to invade the pitch after projectiles and firecrackers were thrown from the upper deck and into the stand below.

Getting called up for international soccer is no easy feat, and getting called up for a FIFA top 30 team is even harder. Kenny Saief is learning that the hard way. The Israeli-Druze footballer was born in Panama City, Florida and wants to represent the United States at the international level. He's made two appearances for Israel but only in friendlies, meaning he's still eligible to switch allegiance to the United States.

It could be argued that this was Jose Mourinho’s masterplan all along against Rostov at Old Trafford, to sit back, control possession against an ultra-defensive setup and just let Zlatan Ibrahimovic do his thing.

It worked, and no one will remember this game tomorrow. Manchester United are through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League thanks to a beautiful assist from Ibrahimovic. United required a phenomenal save from Sergio Romero at the death to avoid extra time, and everything else made you want to be crushed by the skull of Marouane Fellaini. 

Esteban Cambiasso might just be the most interesting footballer in the world. His lasting legacy will be as Jose Mourinho’s defensive midfield marshal during Inter Milan’s unprecedented Italian treble in 2009-10, but he’s only added to his legacy since that historic season. 

Lost in all the madness that was Leicester City’s title-winning run last year was the influence of the man who made it all possible in the first place — Esteban Cambiasso.

The Олимп-2 pitch in Rostov-on-Don was frozen. It was wonderfully patchy and Jose Mourinho wondered if you could even call it a field at all. His desire to have the venue changed was laughed off by a UEFA official, Mourinho claiming the official told him “the players are insured, so if something happens, no problem.”