Argentine Stars Shine in Europa League: Emiliano Martínez and Exequiel Palacios

Emiliano Martínez and Exequiel Palacios

This Thursday the definitions of the round of 16 keys in the Europa League and the Conference League took place and there was great Argentine participation, since the world champions recorded fundamental contributions to consolidate the triumphs of their teams, as was the case of Emiliano Martínez at Aston Villa and Exequiel Palacios with Bayer Leverkusen.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN 3-2 QARABAG

He saved the undefeated record and avoided failure in the Europa League. Led by Exequiel Palacios, Bayer Leverkusen had a heart-stopping duel at the BayArena because the German team, which had tied 2-2 in the first leg, was 11 against 10 and 0-2 down against a lowly opponent. hierarchy coming from Azerbaijan, but Xabi Alonso’s cast showed that they are serious with an epic comeback at the end.

The goals from Abdellah Zoubir (58′) and Juninho (67′), the latter after the expulsion of defender Elvin Jafarguliyev (62′), had created a panorama of uncertainty with the Bundesliga leader, who put the record at stake of not having lost all season. At its worst, character came to the fore because Jeremie Frimpong scored in the 72nd minute and in the third added minute came the long-awaited goal from Patrik Schick to tie the tie.

With that result, the story led to the extra time until the talent of the former River Plate man appeared to provide a masterful assist in the agony of the match. Already in time, Palacios elevated a cross to the far post connected by Schick himself, who took advantage of the weak response from the goalkeeper, Andrey Lunev, to score the final 3-2 with which he took over the key in regular time and qualified. to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

* Bayer Leverkusen’s agonizing victory against Qarabag

Pala achieved his fourth assist and adds to the five goals scored in 26 games this season spread over a total of less than 2,000 minutes on the field. It is his first assist in the current edition of the European competition and marks the best season since he emigrated to Bayer Leverkusen at the beginning of 2020. He could play again this Sunday as a visitor to Freiburg from 11:30 (Argentine time) at date 26 of the Bundesliga, where they are first with 67 points, 10 away from their second team, Bayern Munich.

ASTON VILLA 4-0 AJAX

Unlike the midfielder, Emiliano Martínez did not have much work with the Villanos in the comfortable classification by a win against a very weakened Ajax in the last meters of the field compared to other years. The goalless first leg in the Netherlands had left the series open, but those led by Unai Emery took the lead in the first half of the match at Villa Park with a goal from Ollie Watkins and settled the proceedings in the second half with goals from Leon Bailey. Jhon Durán and Moussa Diaby.

At that moment, the Mar del Plata hierarchy appeared to contain the discount and strengthen their confidence with a new undefeated record in the run-up to the FIFA double date with the Argentine team. At 87 minutes, Martínez saved in time against Brian Brobbey’s advance in one-on-one. The attacker tried to stretch the ball to the side, but the goalkeeper read the intention and left him no room to maneuver: he rushed against the round and removed it from his power, deactivating the defensive alarms.

Dibu Martínez achieved his 12th clean sheet so far this season and it is the fourth achieved in the Conference League, with one in the Qualification, another in the group stage and the remaining two in the round of 16 against Ajax. His team will return to the ring this Sunday against West Ham at the London Stadium starting at 11 (Argentine time) on matchday 29 of the Premier League, where they are in fourth place with 55 points, in the Champions League qualification zone. League 2024/25.

* The summary of Aston Villa’s win over Ajax

It should be noted that Bayer Leverkusen will meet their next rival in this Friday’s draw, which will begin at 9 (Argentine time), while Aston Villa will have to wait a few minutes because the Conference League will reveal its pairings an hour later.

2024-03-15 01:19:27
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