Thursday sees the second-legs of eight Europa League Round of 16 ties take place that will confirm the identity of the quarter-finalists.
The first-legs saw some mixed performances from the UK’s teams, with Tottenham losing at AZ Alkmaar, Manchester United drawing away at Real Sociedad and Rangers pulling off an impressive win in Turkey against Fenerbahce.
There were also away victories for the likes of Lazio, Lyon and Eintracht Frankfurt, giving those sides the advantage going into the second-legs.
The Norwegian hopefuls Bodo/Glimt enjoyed the biggest win with a 3-0 home triumph against Olympiakos.
Roma won by a narrower margin against Athletic Bilbao, taking a 2-1 victory to protect in Spain.
- ROMA DOUBLE CHANCE VS ATHLETIC BILBAO
- RANGERS DRAW NO BET VS FENERBAHCE
- MANCHESTER UNITED WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE VS REAL SOCIEDAD
- TOTTENHAM AND AZ ALKMAAR BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
Athletic Bilbao vs Roma
This is perhaps the most intriguing of Thursday’s eight Europa League games, with this tie still on something of a knife-edge despite Roma’s 2-1 win.
Bilbao finished second during the league phase and are currently fourth in La Liga, so their quality is not in doubt and they came extremely close to leaving Rome with a very pleasing draw.
Instead, Eldor Shomurodov’s 93rd minute strike saw Roma steal a narrow advantage, at a time when the visitors had been reduced to 10-men following Yeray Alvarez’s sending off.
Claudio Ranieri’s side followed that win with a 1-0 victory at Empoli, which means that they have now triumphed in each of their last six games.
The veteran manager has turned around Roma’s season, with European qualification through Serie A on the cards and silverware a possibility in this competition.
In contrast, Athletic Bilbao look like they might be running out of steam at a crucial point of the season, with their 1-1 draw with Mallorca being their third game without a win.
Having also drawn in the league phase, Roma have twice avoided defeat against these opponents and look capable of doing so again, to advance to the quarter-finals.
ROMA DOUBLE CHANCE VS ATHLETIC BILBAO
Rangers vs Fenerbahce
Few were expecting Rangers to win 3-1 at Fenerbahce in the first-leg of their tie.
The Scottish giants had lost 2-1 at Motherwell in their previous game and also had to fight back from behind to win 4-2 at Kilmarnock, in temporary manager Barry Ferguson’s first match in charge.
Yet Rangers have consistently saved their best for this competition, even during the stewardship of the subsequently sacked Philippe Clement.
Their form at Ibrox has been particularly impressive, with the Gers undefeated in three home Europa League games, which includes a draw against Spurs.
Fenerbahce are fighting it out for the title in Turkey under Jose Mourinho, so it was a surprise to see them beaten so comprehensively.
The legendary manager admitted that the margin could have been bigger, so he will be grateful that it remains at a level where his side are still in the game.
Both teams are evenly priced, which based on the first match makes Rangers the value in front of a packed Ibrox.
RANGERS DRAW NO BET VS FENERBAHCE
Manchester United vs Real Sociedad
A draw is not normally a result that appeases Manchester United supporters, but under the circumstances it represented a good outcome for the struggling club.
Morale was low after being knocked out of the FA Cup at home by Fulham, so the 1-1 draw away at Sociedad was a positive.
United were ahead in that match through Joshua Zirkzee, before being pegged back and were also in front in the weekend’s Premier League fixture against Arsenal.
Bruno Fernandes scored the goal on that occasion, but Ruben Amorim was denied a much needed victory by Declan Rice’s equaliser and his side remain 14th in the English top flight.
Real Sociedad are not faring much better in La Liga, where the Basque club are currently 11th after a 1-0 home loss to Sevilla over the weekend.
It was their fourth match without a win and Imanol Alguacil’s team’s recent away record does not suggest that they are likely to end that run in Manchester.
Sociedad have lost five of their last six games on the road and though they might get on the scoresheet, United seem more able to reverse their form.
MANCHESTER UNITED WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE VS REAL SOCIEDAD
Tottenham vs AZ Alkmaar
Tottenham lost 1-0 in the first-leg of their Round of 16 tie with AZ Alkmaar and they can be grateful that the damage was not worse.
A Lucas Bergvall own goal gifted AZ victory, but it was not undeserved in a game in which the Londoners were lacklustre.
Spurs’ performance was not much better against Bournemouth at the weekend, where they found themselves two goals behind before a fortunate goal from Pape Matar Sarr and a Heung-Min Son penalty, levelled the game.
The Cherries should not only have one, but like AZ, they could have easily have done so by a bigger margin.
Cristian Romero’s return after injury was clearly intended to make the back four more secure, but the World Cup winner was rusty and error-prone after a long layoff.
Tottenham kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win when these teams met during the league phase, but there is not much evidence to suggest that a repeat performance is on the cards.
AZ are well capable of scoring in this away leg and the former Spurs striker Troy Parrott will be motivated to do so against the club that released him last summer.
TOTTENHAM AND AZ ALKMAAR BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
