With FC Utrecht already eliminated, Go Ahead Eagles and former Europa Cup II/UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord are the only Dutch clubs with a chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.
Just like in the UEFA Champions League, all 18 UEFA Europa League games are scheduled to kick off at 21.00 CET on Thursday, January 29th.
Where are the two sides currently in the standings, and what exactly do they need to qualify for the knockouts? Flashscore maps it out for you.
Feyenoord are on the edge
We start with Feyenoord. Robin van Persie’s side has endured some painful weeks but is starting to show signs of improvement with wins over Sturm Graz and Heracles Almelo in the last two games.
In the UEFA Europa League, things haven’t gone well for Feyenoord, who are in 26th place with six points and a goal difference of -3. Before their win over Sturm Graz, Feyenoord lost three consecutive European games, leaving them fighting for a ticket for the knockouts.
Prior to their away game against Real Betis, Opta gave Feyenoord an 11.24 per cent chance of reaching the UEFA Europa League knockout stages.
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In order to reach those knockouts, Feyenoord will have to beat Real Betis and overtake at least two teams in the standings. Six of the following seven scenarios would need to come out:
– Young Boys lose to Stuttgart;
– Celtic fail to beat FC Utrecht;
– Ludogorets fail to beat OGC Nice;
– FC Basel don’t beat Viktoria Plzen by big numbers or end on more goals scored than Feyenoord;
– Red Bull Salzburg don’t beat Aston Villa by big numbers;
– FCSB don’t beat Fenerbahce by big numbers;
– Go Ahead Eagles don’t beat Sporting Braga by big numbers.
With a win in Sevilla and favourable results in the Lille-Freiburg and Sturm Graz-Brann games, Feyenoord could overtake Lille and Brann, too. By overtaking either team, Feyenoord need one less scenario to come out.
Go Ahead Eagles need a prayer
We continue with Go Ahead Eagles. The reigning KNVB Beker winners are in 28th place with six points and a goal difference of -8.
The Eagles have failed to win a UEFA Europa League game since late October, when the Deventer outfit beat Aston Villa 2-1 to make it two wins on the spin. Since then, however, Melvin Boel’s team lost to Red Bull Salzburg, Stuttgart, Olympique Lyon, and OGC Nice.
Ahead of their home game against Sporting Braga, Opta give Go Ahead Eagles a mere 4.32 per cent chance of finishing in the top 24.
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The Eagles will qualify for the UEFA Europa League knockouts by beating Braga and having the following five scenarios come out:
– Celtic lose to FC Utrecht;
– Ludogorets fail to beat OGC Nice;
– Feyenoord fail to beat Real Betis;
– FC Basel fail to beat Viktoria Plzen;
– Red Bull Salzburg fail to beat Aston Villa.
If Go Ahead Eagles manage to beat Braga by at least two goals, Young Boys, who have a goal difference of -5 and play Stuttgart, could also be overtaken. In that case, the Eagles only need four of the five scenarios to come out.
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