Britian in the Europa League – the midway review

With four British sides in the Europa League, three of them top their groups, who are they and who’ve they beaten? Read on to find out.

Group B
Celtic have been poor in Europe in a particularly testing group which has seen them face off against both Red Bull-owned sides, FC Salzburg and RB Leipzig. The other side in their group is Danish side Rosenborg BK.

The Scottish giants did start off well after beating the latter of the three named sides at Celtic Park, winning thanks to a late Leigh Griffiths goal. Since then though it’s been a struggle with the Glaswegian side first losing to FC Salzburg.

In Austria, striker Odsonne Edouard gave The Hoops the lead but Israeli striker Munas Dubbur scored twice while Takumi Minamino got the other in a 3-1 win for Salzburg. To top the night off for the away side, James Forrest got sent off.

Most recently the group B side got toppled in a flat performance in Germany, where they were missing captain Scott Brown. It was over by halftime as goals from Matheus Cunha and Bruma defeated Celtic meaning they will need something special to get out the group that they currently sit third in.

Group E
Arsenal’s form in the league has transferred into their European performances, they’ve beaten all three of their group opponents sitting nicely at the top.

First up for the Gunners was FC Vorskla Poltava, who travelled to London putting up a valent effort though ultimately, they stood no chance. In the end, Unai Emery’s side won 4-2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got a double while Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil added the others.

Travelling to Baku saw the Premier League side victorious winning 3-0 in a comfortable away win against Qarabag. It was a night that saw three players score there first goals for the club, those players were Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Emile Smith Rowe and Mattéo Guendouzi.

Finally, Arsenal faced last year’s quarter-finalist Sporting, travelling to Lisbon saw the Gunners win 1-0 after a second-half Danny Welbeck goal. Even though the hosts never had a shot on target it was a frustrating night for the English side, who could have rued missed chances if the Portuguese outfit were more clinical.

Group G
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have suffered an indifferent experience in Group G, despite winning only one of the matches they sit top joint with the same points as Villarreal and yet could have won all three of their games.

The Scottish side first travelled to Spain to face Villarreal in their toughest game so far. It started off poorly as Carlos Bacca scored within a minute, though goals either side of Gerard Moreno’s strike from Canadian Scott Arfield and Kyle Lafferty would equalise the game to make it 2-2.

At the Ibrox would be where they would receive their only three points of the current European campaign as beat Rapid Wien. Veton Berisha would score the only goal for Wien as their lead would last one minute with Alfredo Morelos getting a double, James Tavernier would score from the spot to make it 3-1 in the end.

Most recently Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw with Russian side Spartak Moscow, despite having 12 shots the hosts were only able to have three shots on target and Moscow’s defence was hailed for an impressive shutout.

Group L
Chelsea sit top and are virtually through in they have navigated with ease. Consisting of Belarusian side FC BATE Borisov, Greek team PAOK FC and finally Vidi FC from Hungary, the task to get out of Group L is looking routine.

The London club first travelled to Greece to face PAOK and won this game 1-0 all be it not very convincingly scoring in the seventh minute through Brazilian winger Willian. The Premier League side managed 22 shots only getting five on target.

Again, the English side would only win 1-0 this time it was against Vidi FC at Stamford Bridge. In front of the home crowd, Álvaro Morata would score late in the second half to give them relief over again over not being clinical in the final third.

3-1 was the most recent result for Chelsea and all three of their goals came from English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek as they beat Belarus side BATE Borisov 3-1 in front of their own fans.

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