#Europa League

#Europa League

"I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday," Edvardsen said on Thursday. "Things were said and done between us that do not belong on a football pitch."

Eventually falling to a worrying 4-2 loss at home against Nijmegen, it appears that Robin van Persie has some serious pressure mounting on his shoulders at De Kuip. Heading into November's fortnight interval with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Go Ahead Eagles, the former Arsenal skipper has seen his downbeat squad lose all of their previous three appearances across all competitions by an aggregate score of 8-3.

With respect to Hibs, who played well in those two games losing only to a stunning Junior Brumado bicycle kick with little more than a minute left of extra time at Easter Road, the Danes looked pretty ordinary in July. They haven't looked back since though, losing once all season as they powered their way through the rest of the qualifiers, battering Fredrikstad 5-1 and KuPS 6-0, to reach the league stage.

The Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Issouf Sissokho urged his teammates to make their supporters smile against Aston Villa, after away fans were banned from the politically charged Europa League match on Thursday. The Israeli club's fans were prohibited from attending on public safety grounds but, despite the ban, West Midlands police have been granted section 60 stop-and-search powers and plan to deploy more than 700 officers around Villa Park to cope with protests and potential unrest.

When Maccabi Tel Aviv were drawn to face Aston Villa in the Europa League, the fixture immediately stood out. The prospect of an Israeli team travelling to play a club based in a predominantly Muslim area prompted concerns from those in charge of ensuring the fixture passes off safely. Six weeks ago, there was even a chance the game might not go ahead, with calls for Israeli teams to be removed from international competitions because of the Israel-Gaza war.

A first-team debut came in November 2020, when he replaced Joe Hart for the closing stages of a Europa League match against Ludogorets Razgrad. That would prove to be his only senior appearance for Spurs, but the home-grown 27-year-old was a part of the club's Europa League-winning squad last season, earning himself a winners' medal following the victory over Manchester United in the final.

We've been very, very successful but it's because of hard work. There's no shortcut. The reason why we've been successful is because we're willing to fight and stick together and be a team. It's time for everyone to step up a level. I've still got no doubt that we're a good team and it will click. We just have to click maybe quicker than what it looks like at the minute.