EUROPA League
Ten Hag laments injuries as Sabitzer bemoans ‘stupid’ Man Utd defending
Erik ten Hag was left ruing injury problems as Manchester United suffered late heartbreak against Sevilla in the Europa League, while Marcel Sabitzer slammed “two stupid goals” to concede.
Sabitzer’s first-half double seemingly had United in complete control of Thursday’s quarter-final first leg, with Ten Hag’s hosts dominant throughout at Old Trafford.
Yet a Tyrell Malacia own goal six minutes from time handed Sevilla hope before Harry Maguire deflected into his own net in the 92nd minute.
Ten Hag insisted United’s 2-2 draw was down to bad fortune, as opposed to his substitutes collapsing under late pressure.
The United manager told BT Sport: “I think we had the game in hand, we were 2-0 up and should have scored three or four. The game was totally on us.
“Some unlucky moments with injuries. Raphael Varane at half-time, Anthony Martial because it was his first start, Antony and Bruno Fernandes because they were on a yellow card.
“Then we lose control at an unlucky moment, then another unlucky moment with Lisandro [Martinez] going off injured when we go down to 10.
“We conceded two own goals, that is bad luck. We have to learn, we have to kill the game, but everything is open for the next game.
“I know we can do better with those players in the last part of the game, we had to be more composed and could benefit from our counter-attacking opportunities, but we didn’t.
“We were a little bit unlucky with the defending, two own goals and deflected shots, it’s not a nice night.”
The late drama saw United become just the second English side to score two own goals in a single match in a major European competition, after Chelsea against Ten Hag’s Ajax in November 2019.
It was also the first time United failed to win a match in a major European competition when they had a two-goal lead, since a 3-3 draw with Basel in September 2011.
Sabitzer was left struggling to find an explanation for the chaotic finale after United relinquished what appeared to be an unassailable position.
“I have problems finding the right words, like a rollercoaster game,” the United loanee told BT Sport.
“We played a good first half, had good chances after and we had to finish the game off. At the end, it is a draw and that’s not what we wanted so we have to go to Sevilla and get it done there.
“Unfortunately we gave away easy goals, we cannot concede these types of goals and we are very disappointed now.
“In a competition like this you have to be focused until the end, when you have a per cent less you can give the game away.
“I think the last minutes were a bit strange, one man down and we had to get the result done.
“But as I said, two stupid goals and that is not what we wanted. Very frustrated. You cannot concede like this and not focus until the end when you are 2-0 up at home, you have to get it done.”
List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
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Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”
The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.
The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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