RTL Today – Europa League: Monaco and Rennes miss the car, Nice and Nantes revive
After leading in the score, Rennes and Monaco conceded a draw at the end of the match in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe (3-3) and in Budapest against Ferencvaros (1-1), Thursday during the fifth and penultimate day of Europa League.
On the other hand, Nantes and Nice managed to win, not without difficulty and in added time for the Canaries, both at home against Qarabag (2-1) and Partizan Belgrade (2-1), respectively.
The draw will be difficult to digest for Rennes and Monaco because a victory would have directly qualified the Bretons for the round of 16 and would have revived the Monegasques in the race for qualification.
The latter should now hope at best only for a second place (behind Ferencvaros, qualified directly for the eighth), synonymous with a play-off against an inverted club in the Champions League. The verdict will fall next Thursday during the reception of the Red Star at the Louis-II stadium.
Wissam Ben Yedder opened the scoring for Monaco (31st) and Ferencvaros equalized through Norwegian Kristoffer Zachariassen (82nd).
In Istanbul, Rennes can blame themselves for having missed such a great opportunity after leading 3-0. Bruno Genesio’s men, who had experienced a similar scenario in the first leg (draw 2-2 after leading 2-0) completely broke down in the second half and let slip a victory and a qualification that held out their arms.
“We lacked vigilance and sometimes humility“, judged the former Lyon coach after the meeting.
Amine Gouiri scored twice (5th, 30th) then Martin Terrier increased the score in favor of the Bretons (16th) who let the Turks come back to score by the Ecuadorian Enner Valencia (42nd), the Slovenian Miha Zajc (82nd) and the Turkish Emre Mor (88th).
Steve Mandanda left injured in the 51st minute, replaced by the young (19) Turkish goalkeeper Dogan Alemdar. “Steve felt a little pain in his adductor, so we preferred not to take any risks.“, explained Bruno Genesio.
The Rennais will play their qualification next Thursday at home against the Cypriots of Larnaca.
GANAGO FREES THE CANARIES
At La Beaujoire, Antoine Kombouaré’s men raised their heads after their sinking against Friborg (4-0), but it took a goal from Ignatius Ganago in added time to overcome Qarabag (90 + 5) .
Next Thursday, Nantes will play in Piraeus against Olympiakos with the hope of securing second or third place in their group.
In the Europa League Conference, Nice took the lead in their group, tied on points with their opponent of the day, Partizan Belgrade, logically beaten 2-1 at the Allianz Riviera.
In this very open group D, the “Gym” will play its future in Cologne next Thursday. A victory would ensure the Niçois a direct qualification in the round of 16.
PSV Eindhoven prevented Arsenal from securing first place in Pool A by dominating the Gunners (2-0). The two clubs will still see the rest of the competition thanks to the defeat of Bodo / Glimt in Zürich (2-1).
Real Sociedad, who defeated Omonia Nicosia (2-0), are three points ahead of Manchester United, who swept away Sheriff Tiraspol (3-0). The Basques and Mancunians are guaranteed to retain the top two spots in the group and will play a final for the top spot next week.