Credit: Fabrizio Carabelli - IPA via ZUMA Press - ISIPhotos.com
AC Milan leads in Europa, Real Betis trails in Europa Conference
It’s the first-legs of the knockout round playoffs in the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. The Europa and Europa Conference hold playoffs between the group stage runners-up and the 3rd-place teams that dropped from the competition above them. That’s how AC Milan ended up in the Europa League knockout round.
Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah’s AC Milan beat Rennes 3-0 at home in the opening leg of that Europa League playoff series, with Pulisic subbing out in the 81st minute. Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored for AC Milan in the 32nd and 47th with Rafael Leao adding a goal in the 52nd minute.
In the Europa Conference League playoff round opening legs, Johnny Cardoso’s Real Betis lost 1-0 at home to Dinamo Zagreb to a 75th minute penalty. Timmy Chandler was on the bench for Eintracht’s 2-2 draw at Union Saint-Gilloise. Fares Chaibi scored for Eintracht in the 3rd and Sasa Kalajdzic doubled the lead in the 10th. Union Saint-Gilloise pulled a goal back in the 31st and equalized in the 68th. They played a man down from a 78th minute red card.
Moving to the Concacaf Champions Cup, Brandon Vazquez subbed on in the 66th minute of Monterrey’s 3-0 home win on the night and 7-1 on aggregate over Comunicaciones. Hector Moreno scored for Monterrey in the 10th, Jesus Corona doubled the lead in the 31st, and Vazquez added another goal in the 79th minute.
Photo by Fabrizio Carabelli – IPA via ZUMA Press – ISIPhotos.com
