Maria Abranches / Reuters
No wins, two losses and one draw for the three clubs involved in the C3 first leg play-offs this Thursday.
The continuation and conclusion of the Europa League play-offs this Thursday, after the first salvo of matches earlier in the evening. Three French clubs on track, no victories to report. The most worrying situation ahead of next week’s return match is Rennes’ 3-0 thrashing at Milan. At the same time, Lens conceded a draw against Friborg (0-0). Finally, TFC thought they would get a good draw against Benfica from Lisbon. This was without counting on the penalty converted by ex-Parisian Angel Di Maria in the final moments (2-1). Note the success of the Azerbaijanis from Karabagh to Braga (2-4). Earlier, OM netted twice against Shakhtar (2-2) in Hamburg.
Unrecognizable lenses
Returning to the Europa League after a respectable run in the Champions League, Lens attack the C3 play-offs with certain hunger. But Sang et al suggested from the beginning (19E) after a sluggish start to the game. Before the half-hour mark, Lensois pressed several times but efforts from either Sotoca or Pereira da Costa went over the top.
Apathetic, clumsy, even timid, Frank Hyes’ men avoided the worst on the hour mark, when Denso saved his team magnificently on his line after an Agstein strike. Note that the Lensois defender will miss the return match after receiving his yellow card in the first period. Hacked, Sotoka’s teammates thought they had Bolarte to thank for Haidara’s two-step goal (71).E) before the match referee denied it for the latter hand. Lens squandered a great opportunity and will have to do better next Thursday (6:45 pm) in Friborg, to try to continue their European adventure.
Rains fell on strong
From the start, AC Milan did not let their opponent breathe and dominated the Rennes camp. With five corners and 80% possession already for the Lombards after almost twenty minutes, the stats spoke for themselves! The Bretons resisted until the 32nd and Florenzi’s centre. Loftus-Cheek took care of the rest. The referee sent both teams back to the locker room, the logical score being 1-0.
In the second half, the intentions remained the same and Milan added to the score, Loftus-Cheek taking advantage of a corner poorly cleared by the Breton defense (48th) to score a double with a header. The Italians were enjoying their moment of strength. The Hernandez-Leo pairing was suffering, with the Frenchman serving to his Portuguese teammate, who set up Mandanda with flat-foot (53rd). Despite the Rennes revolt, Milan kept a clean sheet (3-0 final score). Perfect shot.
Toulouse believed in him, but …
Winners of Liverpool in the group stage, Toulouse travel to Benfica with ambitions to improve on an average season. 14th in Ligue 1 and eliminated from the Coupe de France, TFC have only C3 to cheer about. So, against Benfica, Toulouse took out the warm-up blue and defended themselves during the first period. The Portuguese were defeated by a brave purple defense (0-0 MT). Until this hand error from Logan Costa. Conceded by penalty from Di Maria (68th). Not deterred though, the visitors grabbed an equalizer with a superb volley from Dessler (78th). Alas, a foul by Allebi in the area changed the fate of the match in stoppage time. Double punishment, red as a bonus. And Di Maria who didn’t miss the chance to give his team the victory (2-1 final score).
