The Matchday Man

Half-way point of the #UECL League Phase. Nothing represents the diversity of European football better than a Conference League line-up. -FC Lugano 🇨🇭 are magic and deserve the deepest run possible. -Panathinaikos 🇬🇷, FC Twente 🇳🇱 among the group almost already assured of knockouts. -AS Monaco 🇫🇷 and Brighton and Hove Albion 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 feel the biggest title contenders right now, given their general quality. -Ajax 🇳🇱 and SC Freiburg 🇩🇪 could later emerge in that pack too. -History beckoning for Universitatea Craiova 🇷🇴, Mjällby AIF 🇸🇪, Sint-Truiden 🇧🇪 and Hajduk Split 🇭🇷 -Top 24 finishes for Riga FC 🇱🇻, Lincoln Red Imps 🇬🇮, Aarhus Gymnastikforening 🇩🇰, KF Egnatia 🇦🇱 or FC Kairat 🇰🇿 would be great too. -Getafe 🇪🇸 and Atalanta 🇮🇹 flattering to deceive. Deeply disappointed with how FC Midtjylland 🇩🇰 are faring, third in the UEL table last season...

Not felt a #UEL campaign this open in a long time. I'm not sure at all who's winning this one. There isn't really a "bad" champion here. Whilst it will annoy some if it's another Premier League side, it's none of the usual batch. Would at least be a special moment for any of the three (and Bournemouth only look the genuine contender at current) Benfica on pedigree should go deep (Béla Guttmann's lurking in the shadows though) Encouraged by Juventus, very discouraged by Milan and Celta. Leverkusen and Lyon could emerge. That Top 8 and especially that Middle 16 is a wonderful blend of nations. Great stories already in place with Ferencváros, USG, Beşiktaş, Levski, NEC, OFI, Omonoia, Torreense and potentially Celje which hopefully don't end soon into the new year...

Celtic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 going pointless in their first three #UEL games and then beating a Beşiktaş 🇹🇷 team who'd beaten Marseille and Hoffenheim and drawn with Crystal Palace is very Europa League.

How much longer do we need to go before the mainstream clock onto what's going on here? FC Lugano 🇨🇭 getting a 3-0 #UECL home win over Kauno Žalgiris 🇱🇹. On it's own, nothing spectacular, but it's the latest extra joy to one of the most extraordinary seasons I've witnessed. We're now into November. Lugano, from the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland, still haven't lost a game in any competition this season. They are 9 clear at the top of the Swiss Super League, on their way to a title they haven't won since 1949, and are one of just 4 UECL teams with a perfect 3/3 having previously beaten Crvena zvezda 🇷🇸 and Getafe 🇪🇸!

What a game in Portugal. SCU Torreense 🇵🇹 are the big story of the #UEL League Phase, full debutants after winning the Taça de Portugal as a second tier team. Half-way through their LP campaign, they're sat on a fantastic 6/12 points. Having previously won away to Lillestrøm 🇵🇹 on Matchday 1, it was a home fixture for Matchday 4, an opportunistic clash with Ararat-Armenia 🇦🇲 at their large alternative home venue in Leiria. It's been a wild evening. Jorge Aguirre 🇨🇺 gave Torreense the lead, only to be sent off 12 minutes later. Ararat flipped the game in their favour and were leading by the 58th minute, though they themselves encountered a problem when goalkeeper João Bravim 🇧🇷 was sent off for a foul outside the box. Level at 10v10, SCU Torreense 🇵🇹 have scored in the 93rd and 95th minutes to steal the win and leave Ararat-Armenia 🇦🇲 as the only team without a point to their name!

NK Celje 🇸🇮 have recently emerged on the European radar (mine especially) for runs to the #UECL Knockouts in the last two seasons. Having come very close to the #UCL League Phase this year, it's instead a #UEL League Phase spot, the underdog status naturally expected with an increase in overall opponent. After a losing start, Celje have pushed up to 4 points. They first came from 2-0 down to get a late 2-2 draw with Red Bull Salzburg 🇦🇹, and now got an even better result when away to Austrian opposition. Svit Sešlar 🇸🇮 the star, as he often is, to give NK Celje 🇸🇮 a precious win away to SK Sturm Graz 🇦🇹. Two French clubs have previously come to Liebenau during this League Phase, and Sturm have taken 4 points off them!

This time last year, FC Midtjylland 🇩🇰 were making waves in the early #UEL campaign, where they'd eventually finish 3rd in the giant table. A #UECL League Phase this time seemingly offered promise for the current Superliga leaders, but it's not happening so far. 1/9 points, a 1-1 away to KF Egnatia 🇦🇱, a 1-0 home loss to Sint-Truiden 🇧🇪, and now finishing with 10 men whilst getting hammered at home by Ajax 🇳🇱. This is FCM's biggest ever defeat in a single European game...

It's 16 years since Levski Sofia 🇧🇬 last made a UEFA Group Stage, the 2010-11 #UEL. They haven't been into a knockout round in the Group Stage era since 2005-06. That might end up changing. Steven Stoyanchov 🇧🇬 has scored an 83rd minute goal from a corner to give Levski a 1-0 win over Jagiellonia Białystok 🇵🇱 in Sofia. It's a second straight LP win, after beating Viktoria Plzeň 🇨🇿 2-1 away two weeks ago, and puts them onto a very respectable 7/12 points. -Olympique de Marseille 🇫🇷 (A) -Lillestrøm 🇳🇴 (H) -Milan 🇮🇹 (H) -Sunderland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (A) 3-4 more points from their final 4 makes a special knockout spot pretty much certain for a side who have spent 2026 breaking ducks.

A SMASH AND GRAB WIN FOR THE ROCK!!!! Lincoln Red Imps 🇬🇮 were a surprise in last season's #UECL League Phase, accumulated 7 points from a possible 9 in their 3 home games which left them very close to the KPO spots. Home matches with FC Twente 🇳🇱, Hajduk Split 🇭🇷 and FC Midtjylland 🇩🇰 this time around, casting uncertainty around whethey could find the same success at Europa Point. Comfortably beaten by Twente on Matchday 2, they're at least certain of something now. An 89th minute own goal has given Lincoln Red Imps 🇬🇮 a 1-0 win over Hajduk Split 🇭🇷, currently top of the Croatian league and coming into this game 2/2 in the League Phase!

The headline will probably be another defeat for Milan 🇮🇹, leaving them 1-0-3 at the half-way point of the #UEL League Phase. The much better story however, is that Ferencváros 🇭🇺 are 4/4. It's a punishing job to get a victory at San Siro, pouncing on hesitancy from young goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani 🇮🇹 to let Lenny Joseph 🇭🇹 score. The forward is then on the end of an excellent, fast counter attack to make it 2-0 just 14 minutes later. A red card after that, but no issue. Ferencváros 🇭🇺 might not be the current reigning Hungarian champions, but they continue to be under-respected for the level of competition and ability they can show when in the Europa League line-up. They've been in this UEL season since July's First Qualifying Round, and now pretty much certain of qualification to the knockout rounds. They're going to hope for Top 8 when playing like this!

Plucky Mjällby AIF 🇸🇪 are not going to come close to retaining their Allsvenskan title in 2026, instead sitting much closer to the bottom places. It's going a lot better in Europe though, after a #UCL and eventual #UECL League Phase qualification. The Hällevik outfit are fulling capitalising on their schedule so far, 7/9 points with wins over Inter Club d'Escaldes 🇦🇩 and now Borac Banja Luka 🇧🇦 at their alternate home venue for the League Phase. Knockout football highly likely now for the lone Swedish respresentative left in European competitions this season. A reminder too that this is their first ever European campaign.

Kinda rate it.

Won the trophy when away in Turkey though so who really cares.