The UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations for eligible European football clubs
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At the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Atalanta beats Olympiakos 2-1 in the first half. to the goal scored by Soares, on an assist from Masouras, and the Lombards are also seen to cancel the goal of the eventual equalizer due to the offside position against Pessina in the 45th minute. In the second half Djimsiti thinks to overturn the situation by making a decisive personal double between the 60 ', with the help of Malinovskyi, and the 63'. The success achieved today places Atalanta in a certainly favorable position compared to Olympiakos in view of the next round. (chronicle Alessandro Rinoldi)
After last week's 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, Napoli and Barcelona will play the second leg of the Europa League's playoffs at the Stadio Maradona, where one of the two sides will advance to the round of 16. In the first leg, Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring in the 29th minute to give Napoli the 1-0 lead and Ferran Torres scored in the 59th minute to seal the 1-1 draw on a penalty. Barcelona maintained the majority of possession -- 67% to 33% -- and they also outshot Napoli 21 to 4 and won the xG battle 2.0 to 0.9. Thursday's clash sees Barcelona as the slight favorites, but Napoli are in front of their home supporters and will not be a cakewalk for the Catalan club.
Here's what you need to know:
Napoli: This is being viewed as the Diego Armando Maradona derby, as the legendary Argentine played in both teams during his career. The home fans will celebrate him in the 10th minute -- a nod to his iconic jersey number. Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti spoke about him in the pre-match press conference: "Playing at the Maradona will certainly be a positive thing for us. We will also be accompanied by Diego, he will look after us and cheer for us. We don't have Maradona in the team, but we have 11 players who together can become a strong team. Who fights can lose."
Napoli have progressed from all eight of their UEFA European knockout ties when they've drawn the first leg away from home, most recently in the last 32 of the Europa League in 2013-14 against Swansea City (0- 0 first leg, 3-1 second leg).
Barcelona: Xavi's team are the favorites to go through and this tie against Napoli will make us understand their ambitions for this season a little more. The Barça coach also spoke about Maradona: "It's an honor to play in a stadium named after him, a player who thrilled everyone. If it hadn't been for Messi, he would still be the best of all time today. Having a good match in this stadium is a great motivation for us."
In major UEFA European competition, Barcelona have beaten six different Italian sides away from home (Fiorentina, Inter, Juventus, Lazio, Milan and Udinese), more than any other side. Napoli are one of two sides they have faced but not beaten, along with Roma.
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