As boos rang out at Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, a dismal week for Premier League sides in Europe came to a close.
Nine English sides were in action midweek, with only one coming out on top, Aston Villa beating Lille 1-0.
“We respect this competition because we know the difficulties of each match in Europe, away, and how it is for the English teams, like yesterday in the Champions League, how they were struggling,” said Villa boss Unai Emery after his side won away from home.
Elsewhere, across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, three English side managed to secure draws. The other five all fell to defeat.
What happened in the Champions League?
The midweek action started on Tuesday when Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham were all in action.
Spurs’ meltdown away to Atlético Madrid will live long in the memory, thanks in large part to interim manager Igor Tudor’s decision to haul off goalkeeper AntonÃn Kinsky inside the first 15 minutes.
Liverpool also came out on the wrong side of a defeat as they lost 1-0 away to Galatasaray.
Newcastle did at least manage to end on even terms with Barcelona, albeit Lamine Yamal’s equaliser did hand the Spanish side an advantage with the second leg to come back in Catalonia.
On Wednesday, Arsenal needed a late Kai Havertz penalty — a soft enough decision to give the foul as Noni Madueke ran into the box — to rescue a draw away to Bayer Leverkusen.
Chelsea and Manchester City were both also away from home but suffered big defeats to PSG and Real Madrid, Federico Valverde starring for the Spanish side with a first half hattrick.
Newcastle 1-1 Barcelona
Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool
Atlético Madrid 5-2 Tottenham
Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Arsenal
Real Madrid 3-0 Man City
PSG 5-2 Chelsea
What happened in the Europa League and Conference League?
Ollie Watkins struck for Aston Villa to hand them victory over Lille on Thursday, the only English victory in Europe all week.
Nottingham Forest lost at home to FC Midtjylland, a Danish side who came third in the competition’s league phase.
Crystal Palace were booed at home after failing to trouble the scorers during a goalless draw with Cypriot side AEK Larnaca.
Lille 0-1 Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest 0-1 FC Midtjylland
Crystal Palace 0-0 AEK Larnaca
What does each team need to do to qualify?
On paper, Spurs, Chelsea and Man City are all but out of Europe thanks to the three goal deficit facing each of them in next week’s second leg.
The one saving grace is that all three sides are at home — they will at least have the crowd on their side as they seek to launch famous comebacks.
There is precedent, Liverpool beating Barcelona 4-0 in the second leg back in 2019 to wipe out a 3-0 deficit.
Newcastle, Arsenal and Palace just need to win next week given their ties are all square, albeit Eddie Howe’s side are up against it travelling to the Nou Camp, likewise Oliver Glasner and co travelling to Cyprus. Arsenal are at home in the second leg courtesy of their top seeding from the league phase.
Liverpool can take some confidence in their bid to turn around a 1-0 deficit against Galatasaray given they are returning to Anfield.
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According to Opta, Arsenal are the best placed of the English Champions League sides with a 78.1% chance of progressing. Liverpool are on 51.4% with Newcastle on 31.9%.
Somewhat surprisingly given the 3-0 scoreline, Man City still have a 17.1% chance of turning things around. Chelsea and Spurs are both under 10, with Opta giving them a 7% and 3.3% chance respectively.
Away from the Champions League, Aston Villa in the Europa League return home to Villa Park with a crucial advantage — the only English side currently ahead in their tie — leaving them as favourites to knock out Lille.
Nottingham Forest need to overturn a one-goal deficit in Denmark while Crystal Palace will be looking for a victory to break the deadlock in Cyprus.
Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are all back in European action next Tuesday. Newcastle, Liverpool and Spurs wait until Wednesday while Palace, Forest and Aston Villa are all lining out on Thursday.
