After a great two nights of Champions League football there was more entertainment on Thursday as the Europa League and Europa Conference Leagues both got underway.
The big Europa League 2023 news has been the return of Liverpool to the second tier of European football, after Jurgen Klopp’s side finished in fifth place in the Premier League last season. And the Reds started with a 3-1 win away to Linz ASK to get their campaign underway, though they looked well off the pace in the first half which ended up 1-0 to the hosts.
Liverpool roared back to win and ran out comfortable winners and three of their attacking stars had successful nights. This SBOTOP writer has picked out five players who particularly enjoyed the first round of fixtures and got the fans on their feet; and I’m starting with Klopp’s Reds. Mo Salah, the talisman who could have gone to the Saudi Pro League for a world record fee, has stayed at Liverpool and that is one of the reasons the Europa League 2023 betting odds reckon the Reds are hot favourites for the title.
Salah was on target and so was Luis Diaz who has made a successful return from injury but my first pick is Darwin Nunez who made an assist and scored a goal. The Uruguayan hit man moved to Anfield with a weight of expectation in 2022 and this season he is looking more settled. He was coolness personified when he slotted home a penalty to level for Liverpool, after Diaz had been fouled, and then he did some superb work to set up Salah for the third goal.
My second star of the night is Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who made an assist and scored a goal as Bayer Leverkusen beat Hacken 4-0. At 20 years of age Wirtz has wowed fans for two seasons at Leverkusen and has already won ten caps for Germany. He can play on the left as an inverted winger but against Hacken he had a fluid role which had the visitors’ defence chasing shadows and the Leverkusen fans celebrating.
The Bundeliga side will go deep into the competition and will be one of the teams Liverpool will have their eyes on, and Wirtz is a player attracting plenty of attention among the top clubs in Europe.
Romelu Lukaku is the biggest name on my list as a Scudetto winner with Inter Milan and Belgium’s hot striker with 77 goals in 110 internationals. So it is a little bewildering that his career has cooled a little and he struggled to find a club this summer after a poor season at Chelsea last year. He had talks with Juventus and Inter, but eventually his former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho came in and brought him to Roma. And both manager and seasoned striker will be delighted that he popped up with a 66th winner in a 2-1 win away to Sheriff Tiraspol.
In the Conference League Aston Villa are one of the favourites to win the tournament but they came a cropper in their opener, losing 3-2 away to Legia Warsaw. The Villains have started well in the 2023/24 Premier League and are handily placed in seventh, so they travelled to Warsaw full of confidence. But they were always playing catch up, coming from behind twice but the Polish side was relentless and deserved their victory. 22 year old Albanian striker Ernes Muci won the game for Warsaw with his second goal of the game. Both were great finishes, the first smashed past Emi Martinez in the Villa goal and the second a deft finish under the keeper and in off the post.
Villa will recover but this was a disappointing start, though Muci could also take Legia Warsaw a long way.
After four seasons out on loan to Foggia, Ascoli, SPAL and last season at Salernitana, Fiorentina’s 24 year old defender Luca Ranieri is back at his host club and looks every bit the Serie A player. At 6ft 2in tall he is a commanding figure at the back but likes to get forward and he scored both La Viola’s goals in a handy 2-2 draw away to Genk. Fiorentina have made a good start to their Serie A campaign, with seven points from their first four games and qualified for the Conference by beating SK Rapid Wien in a two leg play-off. Ranieri is a player to keep an eye on.
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