UEFA Europa League: Liverpool Play One Of The Worst Games In Football History While Bayer Leverkusen Entertain

At the end of this match, a screen needed to flash on the screen, ala Oregon Trail. “You have died of boredom.” So bad was the UEFA Europa League match between Sparta Prague and Liverpool FC that supporters threw a smoke bomb onto the pitch in the second half to express their displeasure. And really, I can’t blame them. I don’t support hooliganism and I find it really hard to support things like throwing smoke bombs onto the pitch, but holy crap, that game was really bad. The smoke bomb was awesome, because it allowed me to give my brain a three minute rest from the suck.

I would describe key events from the game, but there were none. The smoke bomb was far and away the coolest thing that happened in this game. I just got a text message from a friend of mine that said “I didn’t even go to the game and I want my money back.” You and me both, buddy.

Liverpool and Sparta Prague are engaged in a bit of a snoozefest in their UEFA Europa League match in Prague, which might actually be a good thing. Earlier today, Villarreal and Napoli were involved in one of those exciting 0-0 draws in the first half, which gave way to a poor second half. Hopefully this game will be the opposite, with a poor first half giving way to a much more entertaining second half.

Sparta have looked a bit dangerous at times, but there’s been no obvious “they’re about to score” moment. Pepe Reina hasn’t been forced into any absolutely world class saves, but he’s still playing very well. His command of his area has been superb as always. The best part of Liverpool’s game has been their ability to keep the ball, but those long spells of possession have hardly gone anywhere. David N’Gog is playing up top, and he has been neither terrible, nor good. Sparta’s wingers are having a decent impact on the game so far, but they could do a lot more to get Vaclav Kadlec set up for some great scoring chances. On top of that, the center of their midfield could do a little better to try to win the ball back.

Napoli and Villarreal played an exciting first half in their UEFA Europa League encounter, but the second half was not nearly as eventful. The Yellow Submarine came on a bit at the end, challenging Napoli’s goal, but failed to score. A 0-0 was probably a fair result, and both sides will find it very difficult to complain.

With a couple of great rosters and an excellent start to the game, it appeared that we were in for a real thriller. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way, and both teams failed to show the quality that has taken them to Champions League places in their respective domestic leagues.

A lot of times, when someone tells you that a game is tied 0-0 or that a game ended in a 0-0 draw, they say it with a hint of disdain in their voice. You know the tone.

“Hey Kevin, how did that game end?”

The first half of the UEFA Europa League match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Metalist Kharkiv was very evenly matched, with Eren Derdiyok’s goal being the only real difference between the two sides. The second half was a completely different story, as Metalist were completely overrun by their visitors. Bayer’s second goal was stunning, and Sidney Sam decided to add a stoppage time brace to put the exclamation point on a fantastic win that all but guarantees Bayer’s safe passage into the next round of the competition.

Metalist were almost certainly affected by the fact that they have not played since November, which would explain why they were a good match for Bayer in the first half, but faded significantly towards the end of the game. Bayer’s second goal came in the 72nd minute, and it was all downhill from there as Metalist would fail to create much of anything going forward from that point on.

FC Metalist Kharkiv might have finally had all hopes of advancing to the next round of the UEFA Europa League, thanks to an incredible FC Barcelona-esque goal from their opponents, Bayer Leverkusen. The German side now have a 2-0 lead in Kharkiv in the second half, and as good of a team goal as the opener was, the second goal was even better.

The move was started in the 72nd minute by Arturo Vidal, who has had a great game in the center of midfield for the visitors. He passed the ball to Renato Augusto, who found space in the middle of the pitch, and he quickly moved it along to Eren Derdiyok. The Bayer attacking pair of Augusto and Derdiyok played a great one-two give and go exchange, resulting in Augusto chipping the ball up over the keeper towards the far post. The ball might have gone in anyway, but substitute Gonzalo Castro wasn’t going to take any chances. He beat his defender and tapped the ball into the back of the net, capping off a fantastic team goal that looked like something out of an FC Barcelona game.

It’s been a very evenly matched UEFA Europa League match between FC Metalist Kharkiv and Bayer Leverkusen, but one moment of brilliance stands out above all else, and that has been the difference. Bayer’s 22nd minute goal was a great one, scored on a clean finish by Eren Derdiyok after Renato Augusto and Hanno Balitisch did very well to set him up. Metalist have had opportunities as well, but no one has had Derdiyok’s finishing touch.

Taison has been the biggest attacking threat for the home side, while Xavier and newcomer Sebastian Blanco have contributed as well. Blanco’s fellow Argentinian and fellow newcomer Jonathan Cristaldo has made less of an impact, struggling to mesh with his teammates. They will have to get him more acclimated to the game or make a substitution in the second half if they want to score, and therefore, have some chance of advancing to the next round after the second leg at the BayArena.

Sebastian Blanco and Jonathan Cristaldo, a couple of Argentinian attack-minded players, looked like fantastic January additions to FC Metalist Kharkiv on paper. In time, it’s likely that both of them will become staples of a side that features six South American players in today’s starting lineup and another on the bench. However, they have had two very different debuts so far in Metalist’s UEFA Europa League match against Bayer Leverkusen.

Cristaldo has given the ball away on a few occasions and has looked lost once in a while. He doesn’t appear to be up for dealing with the physical defending of Bayer Leverkusen, and does not appear to be on the same page with attacking mates Taison and Xavier.

Bayer Leverkusen have broken the deadlock in their UEFA Europa League game against FC Metalist Kharkiv, securing a valuable away goal in the 22nd minute off of a fantastic team move. Eren Derdiyok was the man who finished the play with a great composed finish, but the credit for the goal should be divided up equally among Derdiyok and a couple of his teammates.

The real dangerous part of Bayer’s team move was started by Renato Augusto, who is playing as an attacking central midfielder behind Derdiyok. He sprayed the ball out to the left hand side of the penalty area, where it was picked up by Hanno Balitsch. The German winger, who has been a starter in Europa league but primarily used as a substitute in the Bundesliga, swung in a great low ball across the face of goal. Derdiyok timed his run perfectly in order to stay onside and was virtually uncontested when he reached the ball. As the ball skipped up off the turf, the Swiss international striker hit a fantastic creative right footed shot, directing the ball into the back of the net at the far post with his first touch.

It’s been an interesting start to the UEFA Europa League match between FC Metalist Kharkiv and Bayer Leverkusen, with both teams showing a willingness to attack, but with the weather obviously affecting play. It’s a balmy 15 degrees Fahrenheit in Kharkiv today, and everyone is wearing a snood. One might think that Leverkusen would be the more affected by the weather of the two teams, but Metalist have six South Americans in the team, two of which have just recently joined up. Both teams look slightly slow and robotic, but the pitch looks to be in very good condition despite the weather, allowing both teams to pass on the ground.

Both teams have forwards who have been very influential in the game by drifting around to find the ball and space to operate while bringing their teammates into the game. Metalist’s Taison and Bayer Leverkusen’s Eren Derdiyok have both looked very good in the early going.