Europa League: FC Metalist vs. Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen have travelled to Ukraine to face Hungarian side Metalist Kharkiv to play the first leg of this season’s Europa League Round of 32 match tonight.
The Ukrainian side hasn’t played a competitive game since late November and is lying in 3rd place in the Ukrainian Super Liga. Metalist would definitely be the underdogs in this match but they won their last two games in the group stages and
would be looking to stretch their Europa league run to three matches in front of a home crowd against the Bundesliga giants.
Bayer Leverkusen were unbeaten in the Group stages and are favourites to win this game. However, summer signing, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabian-Giefer-c13104,
is out injured as well.
The Bundesliga outfit has been touted as a favourite to win the clash but coach, Jupp Heynckes, has warned his side that they won’t be able to completely dominate the game. Metalist are in good form in the competition and defeated Italian side Sampdoria
and then thrashed Hungarian champions Debrecen 5-0 to qualify for the knockout phase.
So far, Metalist has won 3 games and drawn two games while losing only one game in the group stages. Under coach, Myron Markevich, the Ukrainians have won 6 games and drawn 2 in their last 12 away games, which goes to show that the small and unfashionable
club from the South of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ukraine-c3032 isn’t an easy side to beat.
The win against Sampdoria last November was perhaps the biggest win in the history of the club and they will be looking to cause one of the biggest upsets in the history of European football by defeating Bayer Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen were definitely the best team in the Group B and won 4 games while drawing just 3 and finished the group on top, 2 points clear of Greek side Aris. The group contained last season’s champions, Atletico Madrid, who they drew with
on both occasions.
The La Liga side was eventually eliminated from the tournament after finishing third and Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to go all the way in the competition. In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen are in 2nd place behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund
and chase them by 12 points.
Realistically, their Bundesliga title chances are pretty much over so the Reds will now be looking to set their sights on winning the Europa League.
Previous meetings
The two sides are meeting for the first time on the European stage. The last time Metalist played against a Bundesliga side was in 2008/09 campaign when they drew 0-0 in their debut campaign against the ‘now-relegated’ Hertha http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Berlin-c7536.
On the other hand, Leverkusen have a pretty decent record against Ukrainian sides. They have played 6 games against the Ukrainian sides and have won three, drawn 1 and lost 2 games. This season, Leverkusen played Ukrainian side, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Tavriya-Simferopol-c40467, in
the Europa League playoffs and beat them 6-1 on aggregate.
Player to watch
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sidney-Sam-c33476 to provide him with the necessary assistance to stretch
his excellent goal scoring run.
Prediction
The Ukrainians have been a treat to watch this season and showed that they are no one-hit wonders when they defeated Serie A side Sampdoria but Leverkusen may turn out to be an altogether different proposition in terms of motivation and skill level. A home
defeat can’t be ruled out for a side that is playing in the European stage for only the third time in its history.
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