First day of the Conference groups: Zorya Luhansk-Gent, Lugano-Bodo Glimt and Club Brugge-Besiktas draw
The Conference League is the tournament of surprises and, already on the first day of the group stage, the less popular teams provide great emotions. In group E, AZ Alkmaar and Zaniolo’s Aston Villa mess up: the Dutch come back from 0-3 to 4-3 against Zrinjski Mostar, the English lose 3-2 in Warsaw. At the end of the matches at 6.45pm, Stankovic’s Ferencvaros (3-1 against Cukaricki Belgrade) and Eintracht Frankfurt who beat Aberdeen (2-1), as well as Fenerbahçe, Paok and Ludogorets, all victorious, celebrated. In the evening, Slovan Bratislava, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Viktoria Plzen and Dinamo Zagreb also achieved success. However, Bruges, Lugano and Gent draw, respectively playing against Besiktas, Bodo Glimt and Zorya Luhansk.
group a
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After Lille’s success against Olimpija Ljubljana yesterday afternoon (2-0, goals from David and Yazici), Slovan Bratislava fell behind against debutants Klaksvik. For the first time in history, in fact, a Faroe club scores in a UEFA competition. In Slovakia, in the 49th minute, the score was 0-1: the goal by defender Pavlovic was decisive, scoring from a set piece. Five minutes pass and the former Pescara player Weiss restores the balance, before Cavric’s goring – a quarter of an hour from the end – which sets the result at the final 2-1.
group b
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Even at 36, former Palermo player Zahavi continues to score for Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Israelis host the Icelanders of Breidablik, who are making their debut in a European competition after a journey of over 5 thousand kilometres. After half an hour it was already 3-0 (goals from Macon, Zahavi and Biton), then Klaemint Olsen rekindled the visitors’ hopes. The winger scored a brace, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 3-2 defeat. Gent, on the other hand, challenges the Ukrainians of Zorya Luhanski in Poland. After an emotionless half, in the 67th minute Cuypers reached a low cross and made it 0-1. The Belgians’ lead lasts just three minutes, because in the 70th minute Guerrero makes it 1-1 with a turn in the area.
group c
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The usual Bruno Petkovic leads Dinamo Zagreb, who wins three points in their first European outing of the season. The Croatians host the Kazakhs of Astana, who manage to stem the opponents’ counterattacks for over half an hour but in the 42nd minute they concede a goal from the former Bologna striker. In fact, before the break, Darboe brought down Ljubicic in the penalty area: the referee pointed to the spot and Petkovic made no mistake. In the second half, Dinamo spreads by exploiting set shots: Petkovic doubles the lead again from a penalty, Bulat scores the hat trick directly from a free kick. In the final, Astana scored the winning goal with Hovhannisyan, Dinamo took the lead with Marin and then made it 5-1 with a long-range shot from former AC Milan player Halilovic. Viktoria Plzen also wins, playing against Ballkani, who for 45 minutes proves to be compact but is seen very little in the opponent’s half of the pitch. The Czechs advanced thanks to a stone from Kalvach, who broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute with a shot from distance.
group d
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In group D the big match between Bruges and Besiktas immediately takes place: in the first half the teams of Deila and Gunes are equal, both from the point of view of the game and with regards to the (rare) occasions. In the second half, Bruges pressed on the accelerator, Skov Olsen came close to taking the lead but Gunok denied him. After a long siege, in the 77th minute the former Bologna player runs halfway across the pitch with the ball at his feet, reaches the back and serves the ball to Vanaken to make it 1-0. Besiktas’ reaction only came in the 88th minute, with the Turks doing well to take advantage of an error in Bruges’ set-up phase: Aboubakar intercepted a pass and served Tosun, who made no mistakes one-on-one with Mignolet. However, the match between Lugano and Bodo Glimt ended in a scoreless draw.
group e
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Is everything easy? Yes, actually no. At the home of Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar, AZ Alkmaar dominated for a while and then let themselves come back from behind. After 45 minutes the Dutch are ahead 3-0 thanks to a volley from Van Brederode, a tap-in from Mijnans and a diagonal from De Wit. However, the home team surprisingly got back up in the second half: substitute Kozulj scored directly from a free kick and in the 68th minute Corluka closed the gap with a cross that went under the crossbar. AZ goes haywire and ultimately loses the match. The 3-3 came in the 71st minute, scored by Hrvanovic a few seconds after entering the pitch. In the 81st minute Kozulj concedes an encore and scores the definitive overtaking, entering the history of Bosnian football. The twists don’t end here: in the same group, in fact, Legia Warsaw also stands out, hosting Aston Villa in the first round. After two minutes the Poles are already ahead thanks to a nice move from Wszolek, but Duran immediately equalizes the score. Legia’s driving force is Ernest Muci, born in 2001, who twice starts on the counterattack and beats Dibu Martinez. Former Roma player Digne also scores, author of the momentary 2-2 with a left-footed volley, but it’s not enough for Aston Villa to avoid a 3-2 defeat.
group f
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In the same group as Fiorentina, Cukaricki Belgrade challenges Ferencvaros coached by Dejan Stankovic. The goal that puts the Serbs ahead is scored by Ivanovic, who in the 26th minute mocks Dibusz with a first-time shot in the penalty area. The Hungarians, however, dominate from a playing point of view and in the 44th minute they equalize through Varga. The 28-year-old made it 1-1 on a penalty kick, awarded due to a hold in the area by Ivanovic. Deki’s team finds the turnaround before the break, led by Owusu who shoots and puts the ball in the seven. Pesic also scores 3-1 in the second half and Ferencvaros flies to the top with 3 points.
group g
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Eintracht started well and took the lead with a penalty from Marmoush, but Aberdeen held firm and put Trapp and his teammates in difficulty. In Frankfurt, Dante Polvara scored his first goal for the Scots, pushing Nicky Devlin’s low cross into the net. In the 45th minute the score was 1-1, in the second half Eintracht came back ahead and won by taking advantage of Koch’s centimeters from a free kick. In the same group, HJK Helsinki and Lucescu Jr’s Paok drew. The match, surprisingly, broke the deadlock thanks to a header from Bande, who scored in the 35th minute following a corner. The quality of Paok, however, is far greater: the Greeks do not hesitate and make the remuntada. In the 55th minute they equalized with a header from Koulierakis, in the 81st minute they took the lead through Despodov, before Thomas’ hat trick and Radulovic’s final 3-2 (on a penalty).
group h
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In the Super Lig Edin Dzeko dominates with goals (4 in 4 games), but in the Conference he rests and leaves room for Batshuayi. In Istanbul the Turks beat Nordsjælland without difficulty: in the 24th minute Miguel Crespo beat Hansen by deflecting Fred’s free kick, shortly after the former United player recovered the ball in the midfield and provided Batshuayi with the assist for the second goal. In the second half, Aziz made it 3-0 with a header, then the Fener defense fell asleep and allowed Villadsen to score the final 3-1. In group H, Ludogorets and Spartak Trnava also face each other. Balance reigns in Bulgaria for 45 minutes, but upon returning from the changing rooms, Bogdanov’s team goes wild and scores three goals in a quarter of an hour with Yordanov (great strike from the edge) and Piotrowski (a brace), a 25-year-old midfielder who has already scored 6 goals in the season. In the finale, Seco’s poker also arrives.
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