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UEL and UECL Liveblog: Roma-Brighton, Milan-Slavia Praha, M Haifa-Fiorentina

Byfbadmin

Mar 7, 2024 19:56

Football Italia Live Blog
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22:03 That is all for the Liveblog

The Italian teams all win. Not necessarily the best performances, but we’ll take them…

22:03 Fiorentina report

 

22:02 Milan report

 

21:57 FT: Maccabi Haifa 3-4 Fiorentina

Phew.

21:55 Maccabi Haifa 3-4 Fiorentina: Antonin Barak!

Long passing move, Barak gathers just inside the box and the reason his left-foot strike took such a weird looping direction is the deflection off a defender. Into the top corner!

21:53 FT: Milan 4-2 Slavia Praha

They need to be a LOT better than that in the second leg.

21:50 Fiorentina pushing

They want a win, but shot charged down, then Mandragora balloons into the stands. The pitch in Budapest is now largely mud.

21:47 Milenkovic booked

Milenkovic booked for climbing all over a defender and will be suspended for the second leg. Sottil replaces Ikone.

21:46 UEFA give it to Pulisic

An Inzaghi-esque goal robbery from 30cm out.

21:43 Milan 4-2 Slavia Praha: Christian Pulisic!

That’s what he can do in the mood! Rafael Leao is already grinning as he twists and turns, sends defenders mad, dinks it from the tightest of angles and did Pulisic get the final touch? He might’ve done…

21:42 Milan chance

Leao springs the offside trap, pulls it back for Jovic, who fires wide from 12 yards.

21:42 Fiorentina sub

Barak replaces Mandragora

21:40 Maccabi Haifa down to 10 men

Cafumana sent off! Already on a yellow, literally just booted Bonaventura in the back of the leg. Madness.

21:38 Milan subs

Okafor and Bennacer on, Giroud and Reijnders off.

21:37 Slavia Praha chance!

San Siro crowd is starting to panic now and with good reason, Milan almost gift Slavia an equaliser! Kjaer is absolutely spent, kicks it onto his own shin in the six-yard box, series of shots charged down.

21:35 Fiorentina subs

Belotti and Bonaventura on, Nzola and Duncan off

21:33 Maccabi Haifa 3-3 Fiorentina

Rolando Mandragora equalises! What a game this is! Biraghi gets down the left after a give and go with Nico Gonzalez, rolls it back across for Mandragora to just side-foot into the far bottom corner from 12 yards with the inside of the right boot!

21:32 Milan card

While that was happening, Calabria booked for Milan.

21:31 Fiorentina chance!

Argh, Biraghi free kick, rather clumsy Beltran header, but still skimmed the far post.

21:30 Wow

Cafumana absolutely smashes Nico Gonzalez in the face with a forearm. That’s horrible. Yellow card eventually shown, but that was just violent.

21:27 Maccabi 3-2 Fiorentina

Fiorentina just threatened to score with a Nico Gonzalez header that almost turned into an assist for Mandraogra at the far post. Instead, Maccabi go on the counter with Khalaili down the right, beats Ranieri and then everyone assumes he will cross for Pierrot, but instead an angled drive nestles into the far bottom corner.

21:25 Milan sub

Jovic on, Loftus-Cheek off

21:24 Milan 3-2 Slavia Praha : Schranz

We caused that, didn’t we? Sorry, Milan fans. Slavia Praha free kick ends up at the feet of Schranz at the back post, who hits a ferocious strike across Maignan into the far top corner! That’s another great goal.

21:23 Worth remembering

Slavia Praha finished top of Roma‘s group and won all but one of their Europa League games this season. This is a good team.

21:21 Fiorentina chance

Duncan breaks into the box, finish with the inside of the left foot parried by the goalkeeper, Nzola cannot take advantage!

21:19 Maccabi Haifa 2-2 Fiorentina: Lucas Beltran!

Nico Gonzalez cross, Nzola with his back to goal lays it off with the chest for Beltran, who runs into the box and toe-pokes it into the far bottom corner!

21:18 Fiorentina appeal

Appeals for a potential handball, rejected.

21:14 Tomori nods wide

Tomori header is off target from a Milan corner.

21:12 Fiorentina chance

Long cross fingertipped off the head of Ranieri at the back post.

21:10 Maccabi Haifa threaten

Nzola error sparks a counter, Pierrot curls wide.

21:07 Leao chance

Rafael Leao onto the Theo Hernandez pass, flashes a shot across the face of goal with the inside of the right boot, inches wide!

21:06 2nd half kicks off: Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Fiorentina

21:04 2nd half kicks off: Milan 3-1 Slavia Praha

21:03 Milan subs

Calabria replaces the carded Florenzi, Tomori on for Gabbia.

20:58 The Reijnders goal

 

20:57 The Slavia Praha goal

 

20:51 Half-Time: Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Fiorentina

Fiorentina doing Fiorentina things.

20:49 Oof

Ouch. Nico Gonzalez went up to head a cross and ended up smashing his face into Seck’s shoulder.

20:48 Half-Time: Milan 3-1 Slavia Praha

That is an awfully generous result for Milan, who have been really poor against 10 men.

20:46 Milan 3-1 Slavia Praha: Ruben Loftus-Cheek!

Free header on a corner from six yards on the Florenzi corner!

20:46 Milan chance!

Leao bursts down the left, rolls across for the Giroud tap-in, crucial Zima interception!

20:44 Milan 2-1 Slavia Praha: Tijjani Reijnders!

Corner taken short to the edge of the area, where Reijnders – to use a technical term – hits it as hard as humanly possible with his right foot.

20:42 What a save!

Woah! Gabbia header on the corner, fingertipped off the line at the back post!

20:41 Save on Leao

A rare Leao header is palmed away for a corner. From that set play, Loftus-Cheek turns and his shot is deflected for another corner.

20:37 Milan 1-1 Slavia Praha: Doudera!

Absolutely deserved, Slavia have been the better team so far. Poor Reijnders clearance on the corner and then a simply spectacular Doudera volley with the right boot that flies into the far top corner!

20:36 Kjaer to the rescue

Gabbia error sparks a dangerous counter-attack from Slavia Praha, Kjaer rushes across for the decisive block!

20:34 Milan 1-0 Slavia Praha: Olivier Giroud!

Rafael Leao gathers down the left, cuts inside to make a defender do the splits and whips the cross to the back post for the Giroud header!

20:33 Duncan wide

Alfred Duncan drills well wide for Fiorentina.

20:30 Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Fiorentina

Kinda on target! Mohammad slide-rule pass releases Kinda, he turns Kayode and blasts it across Terracciano from a tricky angle!

20:28 Maccabi Haifa chance

Pierrot springs the offside trap and Terracciano parries the shot at the near post!

20:26 SLAVIA PRAHA DOWN TO 10 MEN

Straight red card for Diouf, who went in late, studs up on Christian Pulisic’s ankle! That’s…. it looks a lot worse in slow motion, but the referee made the decision in the moment. It was really late… But a straight red? Hmm.

20:24 Luckily for Milan

Dudera can’t seem to hit the ball properly, because that’s another promising situation he wastes.

20:22 Milan are really sluggish

It’s mainly Slavia Prague at San Siro.

20:19 Slavia threaten

Slavia doing all their attacking down the left, Diouf rolls a ball across the face of goal, nobody there to meet it.

20:15 Slavia Prague chance

Milan defence looking rather shaky! Doudera was in a very good position and shinned it wide! Before that, Diouf had also mis-kicked from a promising spot.

20:13 Maccabi Haifa 1-1 Fiorentina

Abdoulaye Seck with the tap-in from six yards after a corner is flicked on. Slight problem – that was never a corner, as there was a visible offside position first.

20:12 Maccabi Haifa card

Mohamed booked for tripping Nico Gonzalez from behind.

20:10 Milan close

Florenzi free kick from the edge of the area lands on the roof of the net.

20:09 Oh boy

Kinda probably offside anyway from the assist – definitely, in fact – but Khalaili managed to scuff it horribly wide as well. Maccabi Haifa are not starting well.

20:07 Milan threaten

Theo Hernandez fouled, then cross to the back post plucked off the head of Giroud.

20:03 Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Fiorentina!

M’Bala Nzola! He has barely started in 2024, he’s able to miss sitters, but he is in the right place at the right time there! Kayode floats a cross from the right and Nzola doesn’t even need to jump, just steers it in from six yards!

20:02 Seriously?

Florenzi booked after 90 seconds. That’s awfully harsh. It was a foul, fine, but come on…

20:01 We have kick-off!

20:00 Maccabi moment of silence

For Zion Bitton, who worked for the club for over 50 years and died on Monday, aged 74.

19:57 Unusual

Slavia Praha kit is… pale mint green with gold accents. Choices were made. They look like a high-end dessert.

19:57 Out come the teams

In both stadiums.

19:53 Budapest

Raining very heavily in Budapest. There are circa 400 Fiorentina fans present. 1,500 Maccabi Haifa supporters. It is played on neutral turf for fairly obvious reasons.

19:47 Milan vs. Slavia Praha line-ups

Milan: Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud

Milan bench: Sportiello, Mirante, Calabria, Bennacer, Jovic, Okafor, Kalulu, Chukwueze, Tomori, Thiaw, Terracciano, Musah

Slavia Praha: Stanek; Vicek, Holes, Zima, Diouf; Dorley, Masopust; Doudera, Provod, Zmrzly; Chytil

Slavia Praha bench: Mandous, Sirotnik, Ogbu, Wallem, Tijani, Van Buren, Jurecka, Boril, Schranz, Tomic, M Jurasek, Konecny

Ref: Meler (TUR)

19:45 Maccabi Haifa vs. Fiorentina line-ups

Maccabi Haifa: Keouf; Kandil, Simic, Seck, Gershon; Cafumana, Mohamed, Cornud; Khalaili, Pierrot, Kinda

Fiorentina: Terracciano; Kayode, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi; Duncan, Mandragora; Ikoné, Beltran, Gonzalez; Nzola

Ref: Rumsas (LTU)

19:44 Serie A is not boring

Only two Italian teams had previously managed to beat an English side 4-0 in UEFA competitions, Milan with Manchester United in the 1957-58 European Cup and Milan against Arsenal in the 2011-12 Champions League.

19:41 FT: Roma 4-0 Brighton

 

19:40 Roma

 

19:36 Added time

Into 5 minutes of added time.

19:33 Roma subs

Azmoun and Zalewski on, Lukaku and El Shaarawy off.

19:31 Ouch again

Baleba catches Cristante in the face with a flailing arm.

19:29 Ouch

Accidental, but Pellegrini really got an elbow in the face there. That’s gonna hurt.

19:27 Roma sub

Diego Llorente on, Spinazzola off.

19:27 Brighton subs

Ferguson and Baleba on, Gilmour and Welbeck off.

Brighton chance again as Dunk blasts over.

19:26 Pioli speaks

 

19:25 Brighton corner

Shot charged down by Mancini, corner given.

19:24 Brighton chance

Lamptey bursts down the right and flashes a ball across the six-yard box, but nobody is ready to tap in.

19:20 Brighton subs

Estupinan and Veltman on, Igor and Buonanotte off. Brighton move to 4 at the back.

19:20 Brighton chance

Buonanotte fires wide after good work from Ansu Fati, who wanted the return pass instead.

19:18 Mancini goal

 

19:17 Roma subs

Baldanzi and Bove on, Dybala and Paredes off

19:16 Tammy’s pumped

Tammy Abraham in the stands excitedly gabbling to Huijsen. He’s loving this!

19:14 Roma 4-0 Brighton: Bryan Cristante!

There’s a fourth! Again worked down the left, El Shaarawy completes a give and go with Spinazzola, pulls back from the by-line and there are TWO Roma players unmarked at the back post, Cristante gets there first for the diving header!

19:12 Yellow card

Oof, Lamptey booked for going in late on El Shaarawy.

19:11 It’s OK!

That absolutely looked offside, not going to lie, but VAR says it’s fine!

19:10 Roma 3-0 Brighton: Gianluca Mancini!

Fabulous goal! Roma corner is cleared, El Shaarawy whips a cross back into the box, Mancini miiiiiiiight be offside, but at full stretch he steers it in from four yards on the volley. Waiting for VAR…..

19:07 Prediction

Between the yellow card and visible fatigue, we assume Spinazzola will make way for Angelino very soon.

19:07 Spinazzola booked

Shirt tug on Buonanotte.

19:03 POLL

 

19:02 As mentioned

Adingra excellent to gather an Igor pass, gives it to Welbeck, who blasts over.

19:00 Horrible Welbeck cross

Welbeck good with his head. Not his feet.

19:00 Stop it, Roma fans

Was the stabbing not enough? Behave yourselves!

 

18:58 Adingra effort

Adingra remains comfortably the best Brighton player, cuts inside and the angled drive is smothered.

18:54 Save on Lukaku!

Spinazzola cross again, Lukaku header again, Steele makes the save at the back post!

18:54 Maccabi Haifa vs. Fiorentina

 

18:53 Brighton chance

After a free kick, Celik does enough to put Ansu Fati off and the finish is straight at Svilar.

18:51 Maccabi Haifa vs. Fiorentina line-ups

Maccabi Haifa: Keouf; Kandil, Simic, Seck, Gershon; Cafumana, Mohamed, Cornud; Khalaili, Pierrot, Kinda

Fiorentina: Terracciano; Kayode, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi; Duncan, Mandragora; Ikoné, Beltran, Gonzalez; Nzola

Ref: Rumsas (LTU)

18:50 2nd half kicks off: Roma 2-0 Brighton

18:49 Brighton sub

Ansu Fati on, Enciso off

18:49 Milan vs. Slavia Praha

 

18:46 Milan vs. Slavia Praha XI

Milan: Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud

18:45 Paredes on song

Two passes, two goals.

 

18:41 Attendance for Roma-Brighton

64,877

18:37 For the Americans

 

18:35 Half-Time: Roma 2-0 Brighton

Dybala and Lukaku on target. Nicely done!

18:34 Lukaku goal

 

18:33 Milan arrive

 

18:32 Silvar save!

Adingra is the danger, the big danger, and his cross finds the head of Welbeck, Svilar flies to fingertip it over the bar!

18:31 Dunked

That really was a gift from Lewis Dunk. You need a lot more skill to try a control like that with Lukaku breathing down your neck. And he ain’t got it.

18:29 Roma 2-0 Brighton: Romelu Lukaku!

Dunk caught NAPPING on a ball over the top, horrible first touch and Lukaku just goes clear on goal to surprise Steele at the near post when he was preparing to save at the far!

18:24 Yellow card

Pellegrini gets to the ball first and is brought down by Van Hencke for a yellow card.

18:23 Roma corner

Promising Roma counter sparked by Dybala back-heel flick, Pellegrini strike inside the box deflected for a corner.

18:22 Pellegrini overhit pass

Another overhit Roma pass, Lukaku was not expecting it there.

18:19 Lamptey danger

Cross goes beyond Welbeck, but Lamptey can’t steer it on target at the back post.

18:18 Pellegrini effort charged down

On that resulting corner.

18:16 Good idea

Divine Dybala through ball to release El Shaarawy, Lamptey has to sprint back and make the desperate tackle for a corner.

18:15 Celik again

Celik shows skill in defending too, as he robs the impressive Adingra.

18:14 Celik skill

Lovely bit of Celik skill to control the long ball, as the move continues, Spinazzola cross and Lukaku header over.

18:11 Chance for Brighton!

Svilar with a big save using his leg on Welbeck’s header, lovely cross from the left by Adingra. He’s a danger, that lad.

18:08 Brighton corners

A pair of Brighton corners in a row and a lot of pushing and shoving. In the end, foul on Pellegrini, who got a knock to the head.

18:06 Spinazzola tracks back

Spinazzola somehow ended up tracking back to block an Enciso counter on the complete opposite flank. That’s a hard-working left-back.

18:04 The Dybala goal

 

18:02 Oh dear

Roma counter for Lukaku, but the pass was very, very overhit.

18:00 Roma 1-0 Brighton: Paulo Dybala!

IT WAS NOT OFFSIDE. Loooooooong Paredes ball over the top, Dybala runs onto it, controls, draws out the goalkeeper and deposits into an empty net. It all counts!

17:59 Dybala goal ruled offside!

Was it, though? That is very tight…. Not at all convinced that’s offside. Not. At. All. Waiting for VAR.

17:57 They’re quite similar teams

Both aggressive, attacking, like to play out from the back. Should be a cracking game.

17:53 Brighton off the post!

Adingra dribbles inside down the left, attempted cross takes a big deflection off Ndicka and thumps the upright. Roma counter on the corner, but El Shaarawy scuffs it into the arms of Steele at the near post.

17:52 Svilar wobbly too

Svilar clearance hits Buonanotte, but Brighton can’t take advantage.

17:51 Lukaku again

Roma high press wins it back in the final third, Lukaku scuffs the finish wide.

17:50 Dybala slips

Corner knocked down, eventually by Mancini for Dybala, who slips trying to pull it back from the by-line.

17:49 Big save on Lukaku!

Spinazzola cross, Lukaku leaps and the header is too central, palmed over the bar!

17:49 That is indeed Igor

So if you remember him at Fiorentina…

17:46 We have kick-off in Roma vs. Brighton!

Roma: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka, Spinazzola; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy

Brighton: Steele; Igor, Dunk, van Hecke; Lamptey, Gilmour, Gross; Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte,; Welbeck

Ref: Letexier (FRA)

17:45 Roma anthem plays

The acapella singing is a lovely moment, always. Banner says: “Bravely for Europe your colours flew”

17:44 Big hug

They’re buddies. Their daughters are buddies. De Rossi and De Zerbi – nothing but love.

17:43 Bentornato, Roberto!

 

17:43 Out come the teams!

Sold out at the Stadio Olimpico – as usual.

17:42 POLL

 

17:41 Line-ups

Roma: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka, Spinazzola; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy

Roma bench: Rui Patricio, Boer, Karsdorp, Smalling, Llorente, Azmoun, Renato Sanches, Aouar, Baldanzi, Bove, Zalewski, Angelino

Brighton: Steele; Igor, Dunk, van Hecke; Lamptey, Gilmour, Gross; Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte,; Welbeck

Brighton bench: Verbruggen, McGill, Webster, Lallana, Moder, Baleba, Ferguson, Estupinan, Fati, Veltman, Peupion, Baker-Boaitey

Ref: Letexier (FRA)

17:36 POLL

 

17:35 Warmed up

 

17:29 De Rossi comments

 

17:28 Mou who?

 

17:16 Leonardo Spinazzola (Sky)

“We have to run harder than them, play better, that’s how you win. Every match is important, Angelino and I are alternating well at left-back and that’s good for the team, we keep the quality level high. I am focused only on this season and then we’ll see what happens next year.”

17:14 Brighton fans

 

17:08 Roma warming up

Running out to the sounds of Maneskin (Roma fans themselves, of course).

17:04 De Rossi

 

16:56 Brighton

Former Fiorentina defender Igor is in defence, while Billy Gilmour is available because his three-match ban only applies to the Premier League.

Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March, James Milner and Jack Hinshelwood are injured.

Veteran Danny Welbeck leads the attack after he was rested for the defeat to Fulham, with support from Facundo Buonanotte, leaving Barcelona-owned talent Ansu Fati on the bench.

16:55 Roma

Rasmus Kristensen is injured anyway, while Dean Huijsen and Sardar Azmoun are also ineligible for the Europa League, and Tammy Abraham a long-term absentee.

Rick Karsdorp is not fully fit either, so Zeki Celik starts at right-back, while Lorenzo Pellegrini and Leandro Paredes support Dybala, Lukaku and Stephan El Shaarawy.

16:46 Potential news for Roma

Brighton fans seem awfully upset that Jason Steele is starting in goal. Might be a weakness to exploit.

16:41 Roma arrive

 

16:39 POLL

 

16:37 POLL

 

16:34 Team news

 

16:33 Roma vs. Brighton line-ups

Roma: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka, Spinazzola; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy

Roma bench: Rui Patricio, Boer, Karsdorp, Smalling, Llorente, Azmoun, Renato Sanches, Aouar, Baldanzi, Bove, Zalewski, Angelino

Brighton: Steele; Igor, Dunk, van Hecke; Lamptey, Gilmour, Gross, Adingra; Buonanotte, Enciso; Welbeck

Brighton bench: Verbruggen, McGill, Webster, Lallana, Moder, Baleba, Ferguson, Estupinan, Fati, Veltman, Peupion, Baker-Boaitey

Ref: Letexier (FRA)

16:30 Stadio Olimpico scenes

 

16:27 Welcome to Rome

 

Join us for all the build-up and action as it happens from the Europa and Conference League Round of 16, as Roma host Brighton, Milan face Slavia Praha and Fiorentina take on Maccabi Haifa.

We begin at 17.45 GMT at the sold out Stadio Olimpico, where Daniele De Rossi’s Roma go head to head with Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

At 20.00 GMT, Milan aim to get back on track with Slavia Praha and Fiorentina resume their Conference League campaign in Budapest against Maccabi Haifa.

Atalanta already got us started on Wednesday with a 1-1 draw away to Sporting CP.

 

Byfbadmin

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