New Europa League season kicks off tonight. It is sort of disappointing that there are no huge match ups but that does not mean it will not be interesting.Attention pullers could be the clash between West Ham and last-year’s Tottenham Europa League executioners Dinamo Zagreb, meeting of Leicester City and Napoli and match between teams with strong ultras support groups Galatasaray and Lazio.Kane might start against the most talented French team, Mourinho wants to win the Conference LeagueMost probably, it will be a close-fought encounter in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The Hammers achieved automatic qualification after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season, while their hosts fell short in the qualifying rounds for the Champions League.West Ham were not passive during the transfer period and their summer signings Alphonse Areola, Kurt Zouma, and Alex Kral could be handed their debuts for the club.Two teams have never faced previously in European competition. Zagreb have faced English opponents on 17 previous occasions in Europe and lost 11 of these games. But their latest memory is one of the greatest in the history of the club – they defeated Jose Mourinho and Tottenham 3-0 in last season’s Europa League.##EDITORS_CHOICE##West Ham haven’t competed in major UEFA European competition since the 2006-07 UEFA Cup and haven’t won any of their last four such games, all in the UEFA Cup between 1999 and 2006.London club manager David Moyes hasn’t managed in European competition since 2013-14 as Manchester United manager, leading them to the UEFA Champions League quarter-final before losing to Bayern Munich.Hammers captain Mark Noble is happy to see his bellowed club embark on an European adventure.”It’s an amazing occasion. We did fantastically well last year to get to this point, even being three points off Champions League at the end of last season. It’s been three or four months of excitement and looking forward to who we drew in the group stages.”We’ve got a full squad – everyone ready to go and play. We’ve got four signings ready and used to this football, so we’re well prepared and we’re really excited about everything.”Naši lavovi predvidjeli su ishod današnje utakmice Dinamo – West Ham 😃😃🦁⚽️💪🏻😎💙 #dinamozagreb #UEL@EuropaLeague📷 Tomislav Miletić/Pixsel pic.twitter.com/CtKK1xTVUE— GNK Dinamo (@gnkdinamo) September 16, 2021 Group H, in which these two compete for proceeding to the knock out stage, is completed by Austrian side Rapid and Belgian Genk.Far east, at the edge of the European continent, Turkish giants Galatasaray will welcome their opponents from the Italian capital. Istanbul will host the a football match but there is a huge probability the ‘battle’ will be greater at the stands as both clubs are famous for their passionate supporters.But let’s return back to the pitch action. After trying and failing to book their place in the Champions League, Galatasaray booked their Europa League ticket while Lazio qualified based on their sixth-placed league finish in the Italian top flight last term.A club of Galatasaray’s stature are more used to the bright lights of Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the Champions League, but the 22-time Turkish champions (who prevailed against Arsenal in the 1999-2000 final of Europe’s second-string competition) must now battle Lazio, Marseille and Lokomotiv Moscow as part of group E.😎 Thursday night football is BACK! Pick 2 teams to win 🔮👇#UEL pic.twitter.com/4FyPYlyTUq— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) September 16, 2021 Lazio returned to the Champions League last season and had a respectable run but were eliminated in the 1/8 finals by Bayern Munich. New manager Maurizio Sarri will try and push the Sky-Blues from Rome to the top of the second-best European club competition and for him to win it for the second time (won it with Chelsea in 2019).Last time these two locked horns in Europe was the last-32 stage of the same competition in 2015-16 season.Let the games begin and let’s hope they will bring us the excitement we all expect.EUROPA LEAGUE – GROUP STAGE – ROUND 1WednesdaySpartak Moscow – Legia 0-1 (0-0)/Kastrati 90+1/Thursday19:45: (3.60) Galatasaray (3.50) Lazio (2.15)19:45: (3.70) Lok.Moscow (3.40) Olympique Marseille (2.15)19:45: (2.35) Crvena Zvezda (3.35) Braga (3.30)19:45: (1.87) Midtjylland (3.70) Ludogorets (4.50)19:45: (1.25) Leverkusen (6.75) Ferencvaros (13.0)19:45: (1.70) Betis (3.80) Celtic (5.70)19:45: (3.35) Dinamo Zagreb (3.40) West Ham (2.30)19:45: (2.60) Rapid (3.40) Genk (2.85)22:00: (2.90) Brondby (3.25) Sparta Praha (2.65)22:00: (2.70) Rangers (3.35) Olympique Lyon (2.80)22:00: (1.45) Monaco (4.50) Sturm (8.50)22:00: (2.50) PSV (3.40) Sociedad (3.00)22:00: (2.40) Leicester (3.40) Napoli (3.15)22:00: (1.75) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.80) Fenerbahce (5.20)22:00: (1.70) Olympiakos (3.80) Antwerp (5.70)
