Frustrating night in Europe for Spanish sides

It was a tough night for LaLiga’s representatives in the UEFA Europa League, with none of the three teams managing to record a victory. Villarreal CF and RC Celta and salvaged draws in their games after falling behind against Osmanlispor and Ajax respectively, while an up-for-it Genk side handed Athletic Club their second defeat of their European campaign, beating the Basques 2-0.

Osmanlispor shocked Villarreal early on, with Rusescu striking twice in sixty seconds in the 24th minute of the match. It took until the second half for the Spaniards to finally settle into the game and get over the surprise of the two quick strikes. After the Turkish side were reduced to ten men Villarreal started to dominate the match, and their efforts were rewarded with a goal coming from a corner, having missed a penalty just beforehand. With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Brazilian Alexandre Pato levelled the scores to make it 2-2, which is how the match finished up.

It was the same result at Balaidos, but rather a different script. Hakim Ziyech made it 1-0 to Ajax off a counterattacking move, but Andreu Fontas equalised with a spectacular left-footed back-heel strike. Amin Younes made it 2-1 to put the visitors back in front, but then Fabian Orellana came off the bench and the game changed. He scored a brilliant goal with his left foot and came close to snatching victory for Celta. The final score was also 2-2.

Athletic, meanwhile, failed to settle in their game against Genk. They created chances early on, but never looked like they were capable of taking the three points. Jakub Brabec made it an uphill struggle for the Rojiblancos when he followed up on the rebound from a shot by a teammate and fired the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. Markel Susaeta came on for the final 10 minutes and although he infected the rest of the team with his movement, they were unable to find the back of the net. Their opponents, however, managed to add another to their tally, with Wilfred Ndidi scoring an absolute beauty.