Forest Dismantle Fenerbahçe & Celtic Face Massive Task Away From Home - Europa League Playoff Review

Forest Dismantle Fenerbahçe & Celtic Face Massive Task Away From Home - Europa League Playoff Review

Following on from the pandemonium that engulfed yesterday's playoff first-leg fixtures in the Champions League, we had yet another instalment of European madness this evening with the first-leg games in the Europa League.

And, just like its superior family member, the competition did not disappoint, with eight games each producing their own little pocket of supreme entertainment.

So, without further ado, this is Football Park's review of the Europa League playoff round first legs and everything that happened throughout the evening.

Forest Breeze Through Away Leg: Fenerbahce 0-3 Nottm Forest

Nottingham Forest got off to the best start they could have asked for in the first leg, with a monumental 3-0 away victory over Turkish club Fenerbahce.

The new manager bounce was in full effect for the English club, with Pereira's first European fixture. going exactly as he would have planned in a controlled performance much more astute than almost anything shown by Forest all season.

Murillo opened the scoring on 21 minutes following one of his signature marauding runs, which ended in delirium when a left-footed strike hammered its way into the bottom-right-hand corner of Ederson's net.

Some more pressure from Forest preceded a Fenerbahçe penalty shout which was denied by VAR just two minutes before Igor Jesus doubled the Forest lead with a glancing header from a corner that took his tally to seven in this season's Europa League.

Fenerbahçe began the second half on the front foot, but the hosts were soon once again pegged back with a quick succession of chances resulting in the talismanic figure of Morgan Gibbs-White regaining a momentary loss of balance to slide the ball under the onrushing Ederson and put the score out of sight on 50 minutes.

The home side could find no way through and spent a lot of the half frustrated before the final whistle eventually put an end to a miserable night for the hosts, but one that sends Forest to the home leg with what seems an unassailable lead.

Bologna Professional in Away Win: Brann 0-1 Bologna

It would be a rather uneventful game in Norway as Bologna opened the scoring early doors before putting in a professional showing and seeing out the game to take a valuable lead back to Italy.

Santiago Castro was the scorer of the only goal when he fired into the far corner from a difficult angle on the left-hand side of the box after just nine minutes.

Brann would struggle to mount any sort of creativity throughout the rest of the game despite their significantly greater possession statistics throughout.

In fact, Bologna will perhaps feel they could have a more convincing advantage with their pressure-absorbing system working well and still creating chances that could well have seen a greater scoreline.

Genk Better Zagreb & Take A Convincing Lead to Belgium: Dinamo Zagreb 1-3 Genk

Genk made the most of some Zagreb finishing struggles and put on a clinical display as they notched three times from just six shots on target to stun the Croatian side on home turf.

The Belgian club got off to a fast start and had some early chances before Bryan Heynen met a Karetsas corner with a header that nestled into the bottom right-hand corner of the net on 15 minutes to put the away side in front.

It would be just six minutes before Genk put Zagreb to the sword once again; this time, Zakaria El Ouahdi latched onto the ball following a stunning fast break from Genk and slotted it into the net.

Some back and forth would follow with both sides having half chances and looking to sustain pressure before Zagreb finally pulled one back in the stroke of half-time. Dion Beljo stabbed home from close range to give the hosts hope ahead of the second half.

The second half would be less eventful than the former, with the 1-2 scoreline seeing Genk cautious not to lose their coveted lead. and Zagreb well aware of the dangers posed by the visiting side.

But, at 90 minutes, the deadlock would once again be broken, this time by the visitors once more when El Ouahdi got his second of the game and created a healthy advantage heading into the home leg, giving Zagreb a mountain to climb if they are to overturn the deficit.

Celta Vigo Hand PAOK Their First Home Loss of the Season: PAOK 1-2 Celta Vigo

Celta began the game very much on the front foot despite PAOK's excellent home record, with Aspas, Swedberg and Mingueza all frustrated through a mix of Tsiftsis heroics and some poor finishing.

Celta would make the most of their pressure when, shortly after the half-hour mark, Miguel Roman deftly flicked the ball over Magomed Ozdoyev's head, allowing Aspas to sneak in and finish calmly to give the away side the lead.

It would then take the visitors just nine minutes to double their lead when Roman again sparked creativity before Swedberg connected with an Aspas cross to make it 2-0 on 43 minutes.

PAOK would continue to struggle in front of goal before Alexander Jeremejeff halved the deficit with an excellent volley which survived a tight offside goal to bring the home side back within touching distance.

Some late Celta nerves were curbed late on as they shored up at the back to hold onto their lead and take a positive result back home ahead of the second leg.

Stuttgart on Smoke & Celtic Left in Shock: Celtic 1-4 Stuttgart

Stuttgart created clear daylight and more between themselves and Celtic as they put on a ruthless display to come away 4-1 winners at Celtic Park in a game which was initially delayed in the wake of some fan disturbance.

The visitors got off to an excellent start, going 1-0 up inside 15 minutes when Bilal El Khannouss made the most of some lacklustre defending from the home side to fire home.

It didn't take the home side long to find some fight and respond, though, with a Nygren leveller on 21 minutes putting the tie back in the balance.

El Khannouss would follow the trend of quick-fire goals again just seven minutes after the Celtic equaliser, with Khannouss getting his second of the game by beating Schmeichel at his near post and ensuring the away side went into the break with their noses in front.

Celtic looked to right the wrongs of a poor first half with some high-intensity play at the beginning of the second, but it wouldn't be long before the German outfit once again found the net, with a Jamie Leweling effort beating a very suspect Schmiechel at his near post once again.

Stuttgart would have another disallowed before their fourth found the onion bag, with Tomas scoring in injury time to take any hope that Celtic had left and crush it there and then.

Going away to Germany and winning by at least three goals feels an almost insurmountable task given the poor performance by the Scots here.

Lille Fall to Disappointing Home Defeat: Lille 0-1 Red Star Belgrade

Lille and Red Star played out what can only be considered a forgettable game in which Lille failed to show any sort of fight and were easily dispatched by the Serbian champions in a boring 1-0.

Lille managed merely a single shot on target in the entire 90 minutes, and the game could well have been a much more convincing deficit in favour of the away side had they taken any of the plethora of chances they had to extend their lead.

A goal just before the half was all that separated the sides at the final whistle, with Uchenna bundling a chaotic corner over the line for a scrappy but welcomed goal for the travelling faithful.

Lille now face a massive task to bring back the deficit away from home in Belgrade in what will undoubtedly be an electric atmosphere.

Ludogorets Better Than Ferencváros on Home Turf: Ludogorets 2-1 Ferencváros

Ludogorets will undoubtedly be thrilled that they managed to sneak away with a victory in the home fixture, as the scoreline could well have been different had the away side taken their chances.

Ludogorets opened the scoring 23 minutes into the tie when Kwadwo Duah fired into the top corner following a Pedro Naressi ball, making it 1-0 to the home side against the run of play.

It would be merely four minutes later when the away side struck back, with a Yusuf Bamidele strike beating Bonmann at his near post and putting the game back on level terms.

Ferencváros's pressure would be the most prominent factor in the game all the way until the 67th minute, at which point Spanish fullback Son would unleash a belter of a strike which crashed its way into the top left corner of the net past helpless David Grof.

The game would continue in a similar vein till the full-time whistle, with a collective sigh of relief among the Ludogorets faithful who just about escaped with their lead ahead of a tough second leg away in Hungary, which promises to be an exciting affair.

Panathanaikos & Plzen Play Out Barnstorming Draw: Panathanaikos 2-2 Viktoria Plzen

Plzen came through the league phase as the only side unbeaten and continued that sort of form in the early stages of this one with some front-foot football that paid dividends before the game could even get going.

In the 11th minute, Plzen went ahead through the clinical finish of Denis Visinsky, who converted Lukas Cerv's lay-off on the edge of the box to notch his very first goal of the campaign.

Plzen continued on the front foot but were unable to convert chances to double their lead and were eventually made to pay just before the 30-minute mark when Andrews Tetteh guided home a header into the far corner to put the game on even terms once more.

The attacking start would only grow more prominent with chances squandered for both sides as the game headed into the final half an hour of the first leg.

But, as the clock ticked past 61 minutes, the deadlock would finally be broken once more when Tetteh scored his second of the evening following some quick feet to beat Karel Spacil, which enabled a driven strike to find the corner of the Wiegele goal and put the home side a goal to the good for the first time in the game.

Alban Lafont would unfortunately steal the headlines of an exciting game as the final 15 minutes approached when he clumsily parried Bakasetas' long-range attempt into his own net, tying the score up at 2-2 once again.

The goal allowed Plzen to continue their unbeaten run in the competition and take a respectable draw back to the Czech Republic for a home 2nd leg; they will be confident about it given their excellent record on home turf this season.