A few days ago, the Europa League title was rolled back, namely playing a match in the playoffs. This round is called the playoffs because there is a difference in format from the previous seasons. This season, the format of the Europa League has changed with the emergence of a new tournament, the European Conference League, which is a third-tier competition between European clubs.
There are only 8 groups in the Europa League this season, then the group winners and runners-up will qualify for the knockout round plus the club ranked 3rd in the group stage in the European Champions League. Unlike the previous season, this season the club ranked 3rd in the Europa League group stage is also not immediately eliminated, but will compete in the knockout round of the Conference League competition.
In the knockout round of the Europa League, there are 24 clubs that will compete. However, in the initial round, there were only 16 clubs competing, then 8 other clubs were waiting for the round of 16. The first round in this season’s Europa League is called the playoffs, which brings together the runners-up in the Europa League group against the 3rd place in the Champions League group.
The winner in the playoffs will automatically enter the round of 16 of the Europa League and will face the group winners of the Europa League itself, who had been waiting for it beforehand. Indeed, with this new format it feels quite complicated, but this format is fair enough for a club that has won in the group stage. So that the equal distribution of the quality of the match can be more well organized. During the group stage of the Europa League and the first leg of this season’s playoffs, there were several players who performed quite consistently and stole the show, here’s a review.
- Rayan Cherki
This 18-year-old young player was only promoted from the Olympique Lyon academy to the senior team in January 2020. So they have not had many opportunities to play as a starter in domestic competitions, as well as in competitions between European clubs. This season, the player who has the advantage in terms of ball control has played in 4 matches in the Europa League and some statistics show Cherki has scored 2 goals and 1 assist. So far the average rating for Rayan Cherki is 7.90.
- Aleksandr Selikhov
The 27-year-old goalkeeper has been the goalkeeper for Russian club Spartak Moscow since January 2017. Unfortunately in the last few seasons, he has often been on the bench due to a decline in performance. Even though it was quite bad in the domestic Russian League, Selikhov was able to look extraordinary when he was trusted to appear in the Europa League. So far, Selikhov has played in 3 matches, conceding 1 goal, saving 2 pinati kicks and 4.3 saves per game. The rating for Aleksandr Selikhov is 7.87.
- Florian Wirtz
This 18-year-old young player has become a phenomenon in recent seasons. Wirtz was able to perform extraordinary with Bayer Leverkusen even at a very young age. This makes several elite European clubs scramble to get the services of the player. Apart from performing well and consistently in the German Bundesliga, Wirtz has also performed exceptionally in the Europa League this season. Wirtz has played 5 matches, scoring 3 goals and contributing 3 assists. The rating for Florian Wirtz is 7.80.
- Adnan Januzaj
The 27-year-old player stole the show when he was in Manchester United’s uniform a few seasons ago. However, due to his declining performance, Januzaj was loaned out to several clubs until he was finally released permanently to Real Sociedad at the beginning of the 2017/2018 season. Januzaj’s performance every season has increased until he has become a mainstay of Real Sociedad in attack. This season in the Europa League, Januzaj has recorded 6 matches, made an average of 3.3 key passes per game, and entered the Team of the Week 2 times. The rating for Adnan Januzaj is 7.78.
- Evander
The 23-year-old player who plays as a central midfielder plays for Danish club FC Midtjylland. Since joining in the 2018/2019 season, Evander has always been a major player and has performed consistently in each competition season. This season in the Europa League, Evander has played in 6 games, scoring 2 goals and 1 assist for his club FC Midtjylland. Unfortunately FC Midtjylland had to go down to the Conference League caste because it only finished 3rd in Group F of the Europa League. The rating for Evander in this season’s Europa League is 7.72.
ASL
