Benfica v Toulouse, Milan v Rennes and more: Europa League playoffs – live | Europa League

Benfica v Toulouse, Milan v Rennes and more: Europa League playoffs – live | Europa League

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Key events

Lens 0-0 Freiburg. Still no opener at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. But how? The brilliance of Kevin Danso explains it. Jordy Makengo meets a right-wing cross with a downward header. It’s blocked but breaks to Maximilian Eggestein, six yards out. He has to score … but after aiming towards the bottom right, the Freiburg camptain watches in horror as Danso arrives from nowhere, telescoping a leg to deflect around the post. That’s astonishing defending.

GOAL! Braga 1-2 Qarabag (Zoubir 54)

This is absurd! A Qarabag free kick, just to the left of the D. Yassine Benzia takes. The ball breaks off the wall towards Abdellah Zoubir, who rounds Matheus and slots. The flag pops up for offside … only for it to be established that Victor Gómez, playing the role of draught excluder behind the wall, played the Qarabag man on! The goal stands!

GOAL! Milan 3-0 Rennes (Leão 53)

This is absolutely sensational. Rafael Leão backheels a pass down the left for Theo Hernández, who immediately cuts it back. Leão shuffles to sort his feet and open his body, before sending a first-time right-foot sidefoot powering into the right-hand side of the net. Steve Mandanda no chance.

Rafael Leão scores a wonderful third for Milan. Game and tie tie over? Photograph: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

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Braga 1-1 Qarabag. Marko Janković nearly doubles his tally, latching onto a loose ball by the right-hand edge of the D, and fizzing a shot across Braga keeper Matheus and millimetres wide of the left-hand post.

GOAL! Milan 2-0 Rennes (Loftus-Cheek 47)

It’s that man again! A corner comes in from the right. Simon Kjær sends the ball towards the top left from close range. Steve Mandanda makes a fine reflex save, only for the rebound to fall to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who dives and plants the header home from six yards.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek scores his second of the night as Milan take control. Photograph: Giuseppe Cottini/AC Milan/Getty Images

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Second halves are starting all across Europe. More goals, please! Please.

Sweet Cheek. Milan’s goal in moving pictures.

Just as well we dragged Ajax 0-1 Bodø/Glimt into this. The home side whistled off by irate fans at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The Norwegians halfway to claiming another notable big-name victim, a list that already famously includes Roma and Celtic. Oh Jordan.

Conference League half-times

Molde 3-2 Legia Warsaw (FT)
Olympiacos 1-0 Ferencváros (FT)
Sturm Graz 4-1 Slovan Bratislava (FT)
Union Saint-Gilloise 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt (FT)
———
Ajax 0-1 Bodø/Glimt (HT)
Maccabi Haifa 0-0 Gent (HT)
Real Betis 0-0 Dinamo Zagreb (HT)
Servette 0-0 Ludogorets (HT)

Europa League half-times

Feyenoord 1-1 Roma (FT)
Galatasaray 3-2 Sparta Prague (FT)
Shakhtar 2-2 Marseille (FT)
Young Boys 1-3 Sporting (FT)
———
Benfica 0-0 Toulouse (HT)
Braga 1-1 Qarabag (HT)
Lens 0-0 Freiburg (HT)
Milan 1-0 Rennes (HT)

GOAL! Braga 1-1 Qarabag (Banza 44)

A corner hoicked into the mixer from the right. Sikou Niakaté, six yards out and level with the far stick, heads powerfully down. Marko Janković blocks on the line, but the ball breaks to Simon Banza, who rams home from close range. The hosts level at The Quarry!

Benfica 0-0 Toulouse. Back in the Europa League, at the Estádio da Luz, Rafa Silva cuts in from the left and sends a looping curler across the face of the Toulouse goal and off the junction of right-hand post and crossbar.

Ajax 0-1 Bodø/Glimt. This Conference League match has officially gatecrashed this blog. Jordan Henderson looks to level things up with a powerful drive towards the bottom left. It’s hot enough for Kjetil Haug to mishandle, but the keeper recovers both poise and ball with Kenneth Taylor lurking.

Coming to an England midfield this summer. Photograph: Peter Lous/Orange Pictures/Shutterstock

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Totaal audiovisueel entertainment.

GOAL! Milan 1-0 Rennes (Loftus-Cheek 32)

This is simple but delightful. Alessandro Florenzi advances down the right and curls an outswinger into the box. Ruben Loftus-Cheek rises and power-glances a header across Rennes keeper Steve Mandanda and into the bottom left. That’s a picture-book goal.

The Ruben Loftus-Cheek career revival continues apace. Photograph: Spada/LaPresse/Shutterstock

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Benfica 0-0 Toulouse. Toulouse only half clear a Benfica free kick. It drops to João Mário on the edge of the D. Pelt! The ball loops inches over the bar.

Lens 0-0 Freiburg. The home side are moving through the gears at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Florian Sotoca’s cute flick down the inside-right channel releases David Costa into the box. Costa lashes a low drive into the side netting. Lovely move, poor finish. Costa should have put Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu to work at the very least.

Lens 0-0 Freiburg. Massadio Haïdara makes good down the inside-left channel and into the box. A soft-shoe shuffle before a shot. Yannik Keitel deflects, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.

Milan 0-0 Rennes. Yet another chance for Rafael Leão. A corner hit long from the right. It drops to Leão at the far stick. He’s faced with both defender Adrien Truffert and a tight angle. The side netting ripples.

GOAL! Braga 0-1 Qarabag (Janković 21 pen)

Elvin Jafarguliyev races into the Braga box from the left. He goes barging past Victor Gómez on the outside. He’s bundled over. Penalty! Marko Janković fires it into the bottom-right corner in unstoppable fashion.

“Let’s Talk About Six!” chirrups Peter Oh. “No, not Liverpool’s European Cup/Champions League titles. The new number 6 shirt at Ajax. Jordan Henderson just marched out onto the pitch at the Amsterdam Arena. I’m very curious to see how his transition from Total Sellout to Total Football is going.” Well. Now then. He’s just been caught out of position as Bodø/Glimt’s Brede Moe takes a shot from the edge of the box. It’s deflected, wrongfooting Diant Ramaj in the Ajax goal, and it’s Ajax 0-1 Bodø/Glimt.

Ajax go to sleep at the back and allow Bodo/Glimt’s Albert Gronbaek to score the opening goal in Amsterdam. Photograph: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

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Braga 0-0 Qarabag. Some entertaining end-to-end stuff at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, aka A Pedreira (The Quarry). Braga’s Simon Banza sends a low drive straight at Qarabag keeper Andrey Lunev, then up the other end Juninho (not that one, nor that one) dribbles in from the right and takes a shot that bagatelles its way through a crowded box and harmlessly away from goal.

Milan 0-0 Rennes. The home side are well on top. Ruben Loftus-Cheek tears down the right and tiptoes along the byline before cutting back for that man Rafael Leão, whose snapshot flies wide right. Already a sense that it’s only a matter of time.

Milan 0-0 Rennes. Rafael Leão nearly gives Milan the lead at San Siro. He chests down to cut in from the left flank and whistles a rising shot off the crossbar. That would have been a peach.

The Europa Conference League has also restarted tonight. Here’s how the early knockout round play-offs ended, and how the 8pm kick-offs have undramatically started. No promises, this entry is purely bonus content for completists, though if Jordan Henderson plants one into the top corner from 30 yards we’ll drop everything and you’ll be the first to know.

Molde 3-2 Legia Warsaw (FT)
Olympiacos 1-0 Ferencváros (FT)
Sturm Graz 4-1 Slovan Bratislava (FT)
Union Saint-Gilloise 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt (FT)
———
Ajax 0-0 Bodø/Glimt
Maccabi Haifa 0-0 Gent
Real Betis 0-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Servette 0-0 Ludogorets

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All across the continent, the 8pms kick off. Here we go, then!

The Rennes supporters have gone heavy on the flares at San Siro. Photograph: Antonio Calanni/AP

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While we wait, some new-fangled audio-visual entertainment to fill the void. Eguinaldo’s late, late, late, late, late equalising power header for Shakhtar against Marseille.

Shakhtar have done it again! 🤩

A 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 equaliser from Eguinaldo sees it end honours even going into the second leg of this play-off tie!#UEL pic.twitter.com/l6IAtTblm9

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 15, 2024

The 8pm teamsheets

Benfica: Trubin, Aursnes, Silva, Otamendi, Alvaro Fernandez, Neves, Kokcu, Di Maria, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario, Arthur Cabral.
Subs: Morato, Bah, Neres, Tengstedt, Soares, Rollheiser, Marcos Leonardo, Araujo, Gouveia, Florentino, Gomes.
Toulouse: Restes, Desler, Costa, Nicolaisen, Diarra, Spierings, Sierro, Donnum, Gboho, Suazo, Dallinga.
Subs: Cissoko, Gelabert, Kamanzi, Mawissa Elebi, Magri, Skytta, Casseres Jr, Dominguez, Lacombe, Babicka.

Braga: Matheus Magalhaes, Gomez, Paulo Oliveira, Niakate, Borja, Joao Moutinho, Carvalho, Djalo, Ruiz, Zalazar, Banza.
Subs: Saatci, Fonte, Ndour, Fernandes, Tiago Sa, Mendes, Lopes, Pizzi, Chissumba, Said, Soumare, Hornicek.
Qarabag: Lunev, Matheus Silva, Mustafazade, Badavi Huseynov, Cafarquliyev, Romao, Jankovic, Leandro Andrade, Benzia, Zoubir, Juninho.
Subs: Medvedev, Keyta, Xhixha, Gugeshashvili, Isaev, Bayramov, Abbas Huseynov, Patrick Andrade, Medina, Ramazanov, Akhundzade.

Lens: Samba, Gradit, Danso, Haidara, Aguilar, Diouf, El Aynaoui, Frankowski, Sotoca, Costa, Wahi.
Subs: Abdul Samed, Fulgini, Chavez, Leca, Said, Khusanov, Mendy, Guilavogui, Thomasson, Sishuba, Pandor.
Freiburg: Atubolu, Kubler, Keitel, Gulde, Makengo, Hofler, Eggestein, Doan, Rohl, Sallai, Holer.
Subs: Szalai, Adamu, Muller, Muslija, Sildialli, Philipp, Gunter, Uphoff, Grifo, Gregoritsch.

AC Milan: Maignan, Florenzi, Kjaer, Gabbia, Hernandez, Musah, Reijnders, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao, Giroud.
Subs: Bennacer, Adli, Jovic, Okafor, Thiaw, Terracciano, Sportiello, Eletu, Mirante, Nsiala-Makengo, Bartesaghi.
Rennes: Mandanda, Guela Doue, Omari, Theate, Truffert, Bourigeaud, Santamaria, Matusiwa, Desire Doue, Kalimuendo, Terrier.
Subs: Cisse, Gallon, Wooh, Gouiri, Blas, Belocian, Salah, Seidu, Lambourde, Lembet, Nagida, Yildirim.

Thank you Dominic. Now then. Here’s how today’s Europa League card looks at the minute. Fifteen goals in four matches so far! Compare and contrast to the eight served up this week by the Champions League. Big doesn’t always necessarily mean better.

Feyenoord 1-1 Roma (FT)
Galatasaray 3-2 Sparta Prague (FT)
Shakhtar 2-2 Marseille (FT)
Young Boys 1-3 Sporting (FT)
———
Benfica v Toulouse (8pm GMT)
Braga v Qarabag (8pm)
Lens v Freiburg (8pm)
Milan v Rennes (8pm)

Just the 15 goals across those four first legs, what will the next batch have in store for us? After all that action, I need a lie down.

I shall no pass over to Scott Murray, who will be your guide for the rest of the evening, with Benfica v Toulouse and AC Milan v Rennes to look forward to. Scott!

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Narrator’s voice: It wasn’t.

GOAL AND FT: Shakhtar 2-2 Marseille

We thought there was late drama with the Iliman Ndiaye goal, but Shakhtar Donestk have pulled out an even later equaliser via Eguinaldo. The Brazilian has secured them a share of the spoils with a header deep, deep into added time!

Wowsers.

FT: Feyenoord 1-1 Roma

This was always a difficult tie to call and it ends all-square in Rotterdam. Roma will feel that Romelu Lukaku’s equaliser has given them a great chance of progressing. A good game, that one.

FT: Galatasaray 3-2 Sparta Prague

The full-time whistle sounds in Istanbul as well and it’s that Mauro Icardi strike that proves to be the difference between the two sides.

It’s been quite the performance from the former Inter and PSG striker tonight – he had a hand in all three goals against a spirited Sparta side.

Mauro Icardi has won it for Gala! Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters

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FT: Young Boys 1-3 Sporting

The damage was done largely in the first half by the Portuguese outfit, who take a commanding first leg lead back to Lisbon. They’ll be huge favourites to land a spot in the last 16 now.

GOAL! Galatasaray 3-2 Sparta Prague (Icardi, 90+1)

And there’s late drama in the Galatasaray game, too!

Icardi (who else?) shows a remarkably cool head with a canny low finish left and into the corner.

GOAL! Shakhtar 1-2 Marseille (Ndiaye, 90)

Ndiaye will always love you!!

It’s Iliman Ndiaye who looks to have nicked it for Marseille at the death. Drama in Hamburg. The ball made its way through bodies after a good cutback from the left.

Iliman Ndiaye scores for Marseille! Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

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And now they’ve hit the post! Roma are hanging on a touch towards the end of this game …

A great chance for Feyenoord substitute Giménez who forces a solid save from Svilar at his near post. It’s the hosts who are now looking the more likely as stoppage time approaches.

86 mins: A bit of off-the-ball nonsense from Bove gets him a yellow card and a ban for the second leg of this tie. Harsh or silly? A bit of both for me, Clive.

Another email from Peter Oh re one of Feyenoord’s teenage subs:

Milambo sounds like a nouveau riche British-born footballer showing off his new Italian sportscar.

Three of these games need a winner as we head towards the final five minutes plus added time. Or will sides be satisfied with a first leg draw? Galatasaray certainly aren’t … they’re pushing for a decisive third goal.

Should goalkeepers be getting cramp? Svilar of Roma seems to be suffering from it and needing a bit of help from his teammates. Hmmm.

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