Former C1 winners Ajax and Aston Villa face off in the first round in Amsterdam, Union SG look to reach another European quarter-final, while two Greek clubs will try to get a little closer plus the UEFA Europa Conference League final in Athens.
7 mars, 18h45
Ajax – Aston Villa
Molde – Club de Bruges
Sturm Graz vs LOSC Lille
Olympiacos - Maccabi Tel-Aviv
March 7, 9 p.m.
Servette – Victoria Pilsen
Union SG – Fenerbahce
Dinamo Zagreb – PAOK
Maccabi Haifa – Fiorentina
After that ?
Round of 16 return: March 14
Quarter and half draw: March 15
Quarter-finals: April 11 and 18
Semi-finals: May 2 and 9
Finals: May 29
Hot spots
Shock in Amsterdam
Ajax have been European champions four times to Aston Villa’s one, but John van’t Schip’s players are unlikely to have a superiority complex when they face a Villa side managed by the likes of Unai Emery UEFA Europa League winner three times as coach of Sevilla FC, and once with Villarreal. Ajax’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson will surely not need to remind his teammates that the Birmingham team are having an excellent season.
Berghuis equalizes for Ajax in the last minute
The Amsterdam club, on the other hand, has sometimes seemed feverish in 2023/24, a team mainly made up of young players having qualified for the play-offs for the knockout stage once morest Bodø/Glimt following extra time following the return match in Norway. Villa won the only meeting between the two teams 2-1 at home in a 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage matchwhile Ajax have lost their last five home matches once morest English clubs, even remaining silent in four of them.
A big fish for the Union
“We are a good team, we can hurt a lot of opponents,” midfielder Alessio Castro-Montes said as Union SG celebrated their knockout stage play-off success once morest Eintracht Frankfurt . The draw offered the Belgian team the opportunity to test themselves once morest another major force in European football by hosting the first leg once morest Fenerbahçe. Absent from European games from 1973 to 2021, Alexander Blessin’s team has quietly made a name for itself on the Old Continent in recent seasons.
Mohammed Amoura surprises Liverpool
However, she will have a lot to do in Brussels, particularly because the Flemish part of Belgium has a large Turkish population. Under the leadership of İsmail Kartal, Fenerbahçe is a team that knows how to please its fans: it has won its first 19 matches of the season in all competitions, and has many stars, notably seasoned strikers Edin Džeko and Dušan Tadić . In addition, the Turks are undefeated in their last three matches in Belgium (2 wins, 1 draw) and will be able to count on even more virulent support during the return match in Istanbul.
PAOK and Olympiacos Greek representatives
With the Europa Conference League final being played at the AEK Arena in Athens this season, the two remaining Greek teams have added motivation to perform well. Răzvan Lucescu’s PAOK will play their first leg once morest Dinamo Zagreb away, while Olympiakos will host Maccabi Tel Aviv on the same day.
El Kaabi decisive once more with Olympiacos
Based in Piraeus, a suburb of Athens, Olympiacos will have the shortest journey of all participants should they qualify for the final. The Thrylos have had an eventful campaign, with José Luis Mendilibar their third different coach since the start of the season, but they showed their talent by eliminating Ferencváros in the play-offs for the knockout stage. A success praised by defender David Carmo: “To achieve good results, you have to have a very good family in the locker room, and that is the case with us. No one is better than the other, we fight together for one goal. »
Back
14 mars, 18h45
Victoria Pilsen – Servette
Fenerbahçe – Union SG
PAOK – Dinamo Zagreb
Fiorentina – Maccabi Haifa
March 14, 9 p.m.
Aston Villa – Ajax
Club de Bruges – Molde
LOSC Lille – Sturm Graz
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Olympiacos
Where is the 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final played?
SPORTSFILE
The 2023/24 edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League will conclude at the AEK Arena in Athens, Greece on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
Inaugurated in September 2022, the new stadium is located on the former site of the Nikos Goumas stadium, which hosted AEK Athens since 1930, but which was seriously damaged during an earthquake in 1999. With a capacity of more than 30,000 seats, the new stadium located in Nea Filadelfia, in the northwest of Athens, hosts Greece’s international home matches as well as AEK matches.
