On another great night of Europa League action there was a surprise at the Camp Nou on Thursday, as Barcelona failed to break down a stubborn Galatasaray defence who took a clean sheet and a 0-0 draw back to Turkey.
The Europa League 2022 betting oddspitch the Blaugrana as favourites and they should still make the last eight but they will have to fight harder than they did on Thursday in Catalonia. Memphis Depay had a shot brilliantly saved in the top left corner and Galatasaray’s Marcao saw his header tipped away, before Depay was again denied by a superb save from Inaki Pena. Frenkie de Jong came closest to breaking the deadlock but he saw his late effort bounce back off the upright as Barca dew a blank.
Elsewhere there were wins for Sevilla, Atalanta and Eintracht Frankfurt to tee up some mouth-watering second legs.
Hammers toil without Bowen
Sevilla took a goal lead in their tie against West Ham thanks to a Munir El Haddadi strike at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium
Here at SBOTOPwe took a close look at this game and predicted a Sevilla win as the absence of attacking midfielder Jarrod Bowen through injury robbed the Hammers of a valuable creative talent. It was an entertaining first leg as both teams had chances to grab the initiative with Sevilla winning the shot count by 22 to nine and six to three on target, and they earned a deserved 1-0 victory. Munir met a cross from Marco Acuna and hammered home the only goal of the game on the hour. Nicola Vlasic had two good chances to score for the Hammers, while Munir and Lucas Ocampos both came close for Sevilla, who take a narrow lead to the London Stadium.
David Moyes will hope that Bowen may be fit enough for a crucial Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Sunday.
Malinovskyi and Muriel are pure class for La Dea
Leverkusen met Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern recently and scrapped hard for a 1-1 draw and it looked like they were in the mood in Bergamo on Thursday night as they took a tenth minute lead when Charles Aranguiz took a pass from Florian Wirtz just outside the penalty area and fired a low hard shot into the bottom right corner, giving Juan Musso no chance. But Atalanta have been one of the best teams to watch over the past two or three seasons with an attacking flair to rival the best in the world, and they showed what they can do in an explosive two minutes.
With 23 on the clock Luis Muriel found Ruslan Malinovskyi in space in the penalty area and he slotted a finish into the bottom right corner. And the Ukranian star returned the favour just two minutes later when he passed to Muriel and he found the same corner with a clinical finish. In this mood Atalanta can score at will and they added a third just after half time with the very same combination and result. Malinovskyi to Muriel and Lukas Hradecky was picking the ball out of the bottom corner.
Moussa Diaby halved the deficit mid way through the second half but this was a great night for Atalanta’s two magnificent ‘M’s.
Betis’ momentum is waning
Real Betis came into their tie at home to Eintracht Frankfurt without a win in three, in all competitions, and they have slipped out of the top four in the La Liga table; so a 1-2 reversal at home to Eintracht Frankfurt was another blow to los Verdiblancos. Filip Kostic scored a spectacular opener for the visitors when he slung in a ball from the left flank and it flew over the keeper and into the net. It’s not clear whether it was an intended cross or a shot; take a look at theEuropa League 2022 highlights and make your own mind up. Betis responded through attacking midfield man Nabil Fekir who fired into the bottom left corner after good work from Sergio Canales with 30 minutes on the clock. But the fans at the Benito Villamarin Stadium fell silent again just two minutes later when Daichi Kamada restored the Germans’ lead.
Betis won the shot count by 15 to 14, but Frankfurt had an impressive nine on target to their hosts’ three and that was the difference. With two away goals in the bag Eintracht are now strong favourites to go through to the quarter finals; and Manuel Pellegrini must now prepare his team for the visit of Athletic Bilbao in the hope of winning a first game in five before they head to Frankfurt next week.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
