By Yossi Medina and Eden Roitfarb
The Europa Conference League round of 16 is here. Eight teams that qualified from the previous round joined the eight group winners. All of them wants to keep their road to Athens.
Here are the best moments and stories of the round of 16 first leg.
An unforgettable night for Israeli club football. Ido Shahar, Eran Zahavi and Felicio Milson thrashed Olympiacos in Pireus (Photo courtesy: Maccabi Tel Aviv official wesbite)
Maccabi Tel Aviv shocked Olympiacos
Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived for an away match in Olympiacos. They are familiar with the long history of Israeli teams against the Greek powerhouse - only one win for Olympiacos in eight matches. The last time that Olympiacos played against an Israeli team, they conceded four goals against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League qualifiers last year.
The Israeli side were dominant from the first moment. By the half time, the results was 3-1 with a brace of Eran Zahavi. With these two goals, Zahavi is now second in the all-time Conference League top scorers list with 18 goals, only three goals away from Arthur Cabral. Later Maccabi Tel Aviv scored another goal and won 4-1.
A massive win for the Israelis, that are now one step away from reaching a European quarter-finals for the first time.
Goaless match for the former European champions
Ajax and Aston Villa were the main event for tonight, but failed to score. The only two clubs in the Conference League that won the European Cup in the past, tried to make an important step before the quarter-finals.
Both teams didn’t make an impressive performance and barely managed to shoot. For Aston Villa, Unai Emery will try to complete his path to the next stage at home next week, but it seems that it’s not going to be easy.
A Conference Classic between Maccabi Haifa and Fiorentina
Fiorentina, the drama kings of the competition, were once again a part of a classic to remember for years - this time vs Maccabi Haifa of Israel.
The game took place in Hungary due to the ongoing security situation in Israel, but both sets of fans made the journey and added to the atmosphere.
After a wild back and forth between the two, Fiorentina managed to snatch a winner in the final seconds of stoppage time to win 4-3, as substitute Antonin Barak scored with a great shot from the edge of the box.
Barak himself netted the winner in last season’s semi final at Basel in the 129th minute, a goal that sent his side to the finals in his homecountry of Czechia.
However, the Greens from Israel can gain some positivity not only from their good performance but also from the Viola’s Conference League history: Last season, they scored four goals in the first leg away from home against Braga and Lech Poznan - only to find themselves in 2-0 and 3-0 deficits respectively in the home return leg, before ultimately coming back to seal the deal.
Fenerbahce hand Union Saint Gilloise their first European home loss of the season
The red-hot Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, which eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt in the previous round, was humbled this evening at home by visiting Fenerbahce, who taught them a lesson with a great 3-0 victory, almost surely putting the tie to bed before the return leg in Turkiye.
Goals from Michy Batshuayi, Jayden Oosterwolde, and Dusan Tadic marked Union SG’s first home loss of the European campaign and only their second of the entire season, in which they hosted clubs such as Frankfurt, Liverpool and Toulouse.
Nordic drama by Molde
Molde provided a true drama for their fans in their home match against Club Brugge.
With the extreme weather conditions, Molde used their home advantage to take the lead. The real drama was in the last minutes. Maxim De Cuyper converted a penalty in the 85th minute, and the Belgians were close to end this match with a draw. In the 92nd minute, Molde’s prolific scorer, Fredrik Gulbrandsen, hit the winning goal.
This win was important for Norwegian football, as they clinched their top 15 spot in the UEFA ranking. As a result, Norway will have two teams in the Champions League in 2026, as well as a total of five teams in the European competitions.
The Canadian new Conference League legend
Jonathan David marked his name as the first goalscorer in this season’s group stage. He did it back in September, when Lille hosted Olimpja Ljubljana. In the round of 16, he came back when his team played away against Sturm Graz.
The Canadian found the net twice, raising his record this season to 4 goals in 7 matches. Edon Zhegrova scored the third, and Lille celebrated a 3-0 win in Austria.
In the last two years, no French team reached the final, would Lille make it for the first time?
Petkovic is on fire, your defence is terrified
In the early window it was Eran Zahavi who put on his show in Greece, and in the late window it was the other contender for the competition’s top scorer - Bruno Petkovic, who did it against another Greek opponent.
Dinamo Zagreb faced PAOK in the Maksimir, and the 29 year old poacher did his job as usual with a brace and a comfortable 2-0 win, joining Zahavi with 7 goals each in the competition proper.
Due to the crowd trouble in the summer between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL qualifiers, there was no away crowd today in Croatia. The same will be applied for the return match in Greece.
In another game: Servette and Viktoria Plzen finished in a 0-0 draw in Switzerland, snapping Plzen’s 11 game winning streak in the UECL, dating all the way back to a 0-0 draw with Drita in July.
