In the Europa League play-offs, the only gimmick is to see which giants will be defeated by the dark horses of the Europa League. Of course, there are also situations where the strength of the third place in the Champions League group is not as good as the second place in the Europa League group, such as Bern Young People, in terms of heritage and absolute strength, it is really inferior to Sporting Portugal. But for the most part, the Champions League teams still take a top-down stance against the Europa League play-offs. AC Milan's 3-0 win over Rennes is the best manifestation of this situation, and it can be said that Milan have reached the last 16 of the Europa League with little doubt.
But there were also some games that were a big surprise. One of the most exciting was Braga's 2-4 home defeat to Karabakh. Although Braga is not as good as the traditional top three in the Portuguese Super League, they are the team that participated in the Champions League this season, they are in the same group as Real Madrid and Napoli, and their performance is not bad, and they also squeezed out the Bundesliga powerhouse Union Berlin to get the Europa League place. Karabakh, on the other hand, is a little-known team in European football, and they are themselves marginal players in European football by coming from the Azerbaijani League. Perhaps, most fans have not even heard of this name.
Of course, the popularity of these two teams is not high, so this so-called upset is not worth writing about. However, if we further sort out the relevant background of the two teams in European competition this season, we will find that this Champions League play-off, which has nothing to do with Leverkusen, can actually confirm the strength of Leverkusen from the side.
In the eyes of many, Bayer Leverkusen's six-game winning streak in the Europa League group stage this season is watery. After all, the three opponents in the same group are all from the third-tier European leagues, and most fans may not have even heard of it. Leverkusen's double defeat of these three opponents is not a big deal. And Karabakh can finish second in the group, which only means that they are slightly stronger than the other two belly, and that's it. You know, they were beaten 5:1 by Bayer Leverkusen away.
However, in the Europa League play-offs, the little-known Qarabagh was able to defeat the Champions League team Braga 4-2 away, which shows that they are by no means the fish belly we imagined. Of course, Braga still has a chance to turn the tables in the second leg, but we can see from the first leg that it is very difficult.
The team that deigned to participate in the Europa League play-offs from the Champions League lost 2:4 to the team that was defeated by Bayer Leverkusen 5:1, is this a proof of Leverkusen's strength? Qarabagh proved their strength with a 4:2 game, and at the same time, it also proved the strength of Leverkusen from the side.
In this season's Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen has the quality to win the title. At the moment, their biggest opponent is Liverpool, and of course, AC Milan have also stepped into the last 16 with one foot. Let's look forward to the showdown between them.