Europa Conference League: Knockout Play-offs First Leg

By Eden Roitfarb and Yossi Medina

The Europa Conference League is back to action after a long break.

The knockout stage brought us familiar names, alongside newcomers from the Europa League.

Here are the best moments from the first leg of the knockout stage play-offs.

Emotional evening in Trabzon

For the first time since the tragic earthquake that hit Turkey last week, an official match took place in the country and emotions ran high as expected.

Before the game, fans from the big three Istanbul teams - Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas - gathered with Trabzonspor fans in a show of solidarity and unity for all Turkish football.

The crowd displayed a giant tifo of a baby carried in the arms of a rescuer, holding a Turkish flag.

And that feeling resonated on the pitch too, as Trabzonspor won 1-0 via a Jens Stryger Larsen goal.

Wow! Amazing choreography by Trabzonspor fans who honoured the rescue workers in Turkey following the recent devastating earthquake. 👏👏pic.twitter.com/PEMq2xLLXr

— BabaGol (@BabaGol_) February 17, 2023

Our city, our trophy

After their rivals won the title last year, Lazio wanted to continue the dominance of Rome-based teams in their tie against CFR Cluj.

Although Patric was sent off in the 15th minute, Lazio managed to score in the first half.

The eternal Ciro Immobile scored the goal that gave Lazio a comfortable lead ahead of the second leg.

👑 @ciroimmobile
⚽️ 191#UECL | #LazioCluj #CMonEagles 🦅 pic.twitter.com/RRwnHufmNW

— S.S.Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) February 16, 2023

Politics all over the place

Sheriff Tiraspol joined from the Europa League, but they couldn’t imagine that their knockout match against Partizan Belgrade would look like this.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine really affected Moldova this week, with reports of a possible Russian invasion.

The match was played in Chisinau instead of Tiraspol, and without the home advantage Partizan won 1-0, with a goal from Ricardo Gomes.

Partizan gets a big 1-0 away win over Sheriff !

Ricardo with the goal as per usual.

Excellent result considering that they went down a man right at the start of the 2nd half.

It's far from over but this is a good start. pic.twitter.com/eiWcvPGcjM

— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) February 16, 2023

Scoreless in Norway

With a sense that some teams are still on their winter break, a 0-0 draw between Bodo Glimt and Lech Poznan summed it all up.

Sure, the local side can argue that it’s their first competitive match back since November, but overall we left with much to be desired.

Lech, on the other hand, can feel good about not losing in one of the most difficult away fixtures this competition can offer.

Enooormt deilig å være i gang igjen! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/hAFlkhOGE6

— FK Bodø/Glimt (@Glimt) February 16, 2023

Jovic takes over

It’s fair to say that we probably have our first team through to the next round.

Fiorentina didn’t leave any doubts after their trip to Portugal, smashing hosts Braga 4-0 - with Serbian striker Luka Jovic grabbing a brace, before Arthur Cabral added two more in the final 10 minutes.

Jovic currently tops the tournament’s goalscoring chart with six goals.

GRAZIE. 👏#ForzaViola #BragaFiorentina #ACFFiorentina #UECL pic.twitter.com/8vojtZHL9z

— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) February 16, 2023

Advantage Qarabag

There wasn’t a lot to separate between Qarabag and Gent in Baku, but in a game of few chances you need just one clinical moment in front of goal.

That was provided to the locals by Leandro Andrade after a great cross by Marko Jankovic in the 78th minute.

It could’ve been worse for Gent, after they conceded a penalty in the 55th minute. But keeper Davy Roef was on hand to stop Ramil Sheydaev converting.

Other matches this week:

AEK Larnaca - Dnipro-1 1-0

Ludogorets - Anderlecht 1-0

Edited by Alex Smith