Author: Soorya G
The first round of the third edition of the UEFA European Conference League ended with many exciting matches. Several Brazilian stars also showed their talent on the European stage, where their teams competed in Europe’s third biggest club competition.
Legia – Aston Villa – 3:2
In Group E, Aston Villa started with a defeat against Legia. The Poles opened the scoring in the 3rd minute – the British replied in the 6th. The home side took the lead again after 26 minutes, and the visitors equalized again before the break. But Birmingham were unable to respond to Moochie’s goal at the start of the second half.
Brazilian veteran Diego Carlos missed the game through injury and Douglas Luiz had little impact as a substitute. The central midfielder came on in the 61st minute, after all the goals had already been scored. It’s true that he had a chance to level the score. In injury time, he shot high over the penalty line.
Note that in the parallel group match, AZ were leading after the first half – 3-0, but Bosnia and Herzegovina’s champions Zrinjski Mostar scored four goals in the second half to win 4-3.
Genk – Fiorentina – 1:1
Luca Ranieri managed to score twice for Fiorentina in the 24th minute. Among his goals, Zekeri scored for the home side. It looked like the Italians would take a narrow victory from Belgium, but in the 85th minute Mackenzie leveled the score – 2:2. Former Barcelona player, Brazilian Arthur Melo, played the entire match for Fiorentina. Meanwhile, his countryman Dodo didn’t get a chance to play, spending the entire match on the bench, presumably preparing for the Serie A clash against Udinese.
Fenerbahçe – Nordsjaelland – 3:1
Brazilian veteran Fred’s incredible performance for Fenerbahce brought victory for his club. In the 30th minute, the midfielder provided two assists – 2-0. In the second half, the opponents exchanged goals.
Ludogorets – Spartak Trnava – 4:0
Bulgarian club Ludogorets, which has five Brazilians in its squad, won a fantastic victory over Slovakian club Spartak Trnava. All four goals were scored in the second half. Brazilian striker Ruan Seko came on in the 59th minute and scored a late goal.
At the same time, left-back Caio played 73 minutes, and midfielder Pedrinho came on for the last 15 minutes, taking part in the start of his team’s European campaign.