With four French teams to keep track of in the Europa League this season, we should perhaps be grateful for the competition’s ‘two-sitting’ approach more familiar from the restaurant sector. Also, that unlike last year’s edition, they all scored actual goals, which came as a pleasant surprise. Nobody lost, which should also really be a positive, but the second sitting made rather heavy weather of obtaining their points, which may be a slight worry not just in the next round but for their league campaigns as well.
Groningen 0 – 3 Marseille
Act 1 included the one unmitigated success of the evening, as OM channelled the free-spirited-attack approach that has seen them put six past Troyes and four past Bastia, rather than their more click-free iteration that has seen losses to Caen, Reims and Guingamp, failing to score. Possession was shared and the hosts matched the visitors’ pass completion in a tidy and efficient game (89/88%), but OM’s greater vim going forward (14 shots to 7) and efficiency when they got there was the key.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou got his first for his new club inside half an hour, followed by Lucas Ocampos later in the first half and Romain Alessandrini adding the third just after the hour-mark in a match that saw Michy Batshuayi given a rest and several youngsters given a chance to shine, including a very useful CB pairing of Stephane Sparagna and Karim Rekik, who should be pretty pleased with their clean sheet.
Bordeaux 1 – 1 Liverpool
Also feeling reasonably pleased with themselves will be les Girondins, whose match was probably the most evenly-matched of the evening. Possession was slightly in the visitors’ favour but they were level in both enthusiasm (11 shots to 10) and efficiency (87% pass completion apiece) – a classic “a draw was a fair result there, Clive” conclusion. Bordeaux were up against a youthful Liverpool team who lost their only player over 27 when Kolo Toure limped off inside half an hour after having collided with his goalkeeper.
Bordeaux seemed to be on top, Wahbi Khazri and Diego Rolan both missing good first-half chances, but it was Adam Lallana who opened the scoring in the 65th minute, and Philippe Coutinho was a holy terror for the visitors throughout. Enzo Crivelli continued his campaign to secure a starting role up-front, including a glorious bit of ball-juggling to set up substitute Jussie for the equaliser with under ten minutes to go. The roar from the new Stade Matmut-Atlantique when it went in was joyous; a point against their toughest group opponents promising.
Act 2
Anderlecht 1 – 1 Monaco
Last season, Monaco’s strength, particularly in Europe, was an obdurate defence despite multiple staffing changes back there. This season, things have gone a bit awry, and the departures of Yannick Ferrera Carrasco and Anthony Martial haven’t helped matters in the scoring department as new recruits try to get settled. ASM had much more of the ball (57% possession) and more success in getting it to colleagues than their opponents (86/78% pass completion), but were undone by an early Guillaume Gillet (ex-Bastia) goal and were looking in some trouble before Lacina Traore popped up with the equaliser five minutes from time.
Actually much more attacking than they have been so far this season in the league, Monaco still don’t have the cutting edge that should put matches to bed, and with Tottenham up next, will be kicking themselves that they didn’t come away with all three points.
Saint-Etienne 2 – 2 Rosenborg
The most frustrating match was the only one where pretty much every quality statistic showed the home side ahead, on possession (57%), pass completion (84/76%), shots (9-6)…so naturally it ended a draw, obtained with an 87th minutes penalty converted by Nolan Roux. New signing Robert Beric had opened the scoring inside five minutes but Norway’s dauphins equalised shortly afterwards and went ahead with a little over ten minutes to go.
With Dnipro and Lazio also featuring in this group, ASSE should be the least pleased of the French teams with their result. They really should have done better, but after last year’s farrago where they finished bottom of the group behind Inter, Dnipro (yup), and ASM’s future opponents Qarabag, scoring a massive two goals in six matches, maybe matching that total in one match is a sign of progress. They are, after all, the highest-placed of these four teams in the league, and if they can’t put a couple at home past a shaky FC Nantes on Sunday, that really will be a cause for concern.
Petits Fours?
The next round of games takes place on 1 October.
19.00 : Lazio v Saint-Etienne
19.00 : Spurs v Monaco
21.05 : Rubin Kazan v Bordeaux
21.05 : Marseille v Slovan Liberec