The England goalkeeper was sent to hospital after injuring his shoulder against Aberdeen, with his manager fearing the worst. Sean Dyche said he was “really disappointed” to have lost goalkeeper Nick Pope to injury in Burnley’s 1-1 Europa League draw against Aberdeen, admitting the problem looks serious. Pope was withdrawn after just 14 minutes at Pittodrie, receiving a knock to his shoulder and forcing Dyche to send on Anders Lindegaard in his place. Lindegaard was on the field for just five minutes before Gary Mackay-Steven gave Aberdeen the lead from the penalty spot, but Sam Vokes rescued Burnley with a goal 10 minutes from time to level the tie at…

The two French stars will be team-mates at the World Cup, but they will both be competing for European honours in Lyon on Wednesday Marseille captain Dimitri Payet will look to upset compatriot Antoine Griezmann as l’OM take on Atletico Madrid in Wednesday’s Europa League final.  The ex-West Ham man wears the armband for his side and will sit just behind sole striker Valere Germain in a 4-2-3-1 line-up.  He is joined by Lucas Ocampos and Florian Thauvin in Marseille’s creative axis, while former Bayern man Luiz Gustavo starts at centre-back tasked with keeping Griezmann under wraps. Article continues below Editors' Picks Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played…

No less than 12 years have passed since the Londoners last managed a victory on Spanish soil Arsenal’s woeful record on Spanish soil continued on Thursday as the Gunners were eliminated from the Europa League at the hands of Atletico Madrid.  Tied 1-1 going into the semi-final second leg, Arsene Wenger’s men needed either a victory or to draw having scored at least twice to advance.  But they came up against a formidable Atletico, who even with coach Diego Simeone banished to the bench shut out the visitors to make the final.  Article continues below Editors' Picks Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for…

The Rojiblancos have conceded only 20 in La Liga and 33 in all competitions compared to Marseille’s 66. It could give them the edge on Wednesday The art of defending is being lost. These days, football is largely dominated by attacking teams and that trend is proved by the presence of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the Champions League final later this month. However, there is one team in Europe that still knows how to master the discipline of defending and that is Atletico Madrid. And it has helped them reach a European final of their own as they meet Marseille in Wednesday’s Europa League showpiece in Lyon. Atletico were…

After overcoming Osijek in the last round, Steven Gerrard’s team are hoping to continue their European adventure when they host the Slovenian side Rangers can take another step towards the Europa League this week when they host Maribor for the first leg of their third round qualifying tie on Thursday. Steven Gerrard has had a bright start at Ibrox after his side beat Croatian side Osijek 2-1 on aggregate in the previous round before starting their Scottish Premiership campaign with a 1-1 draw at Aberdeen, having a man sent off 12 minutes in and conceding a late equaliser. The Gers have already made it two rounds further than they did under…

With a two-goal lead to take to Macedonia on Tuesday, the Light Blues start as hot favourites to progress Steven Gerrard’s career as a manager got off to a positive start last Thursday as Rangers beat Shkupi 2-0 to carry a significant advantage to Macedonia on Tuesday. Goals from Jamie Murphy and James Tavernier have given the Ibrox side a strong platform for which to progress into the Europa League second qualifying round. Their opponents were competitive enough last week to suggest that this will not be a walkover for the Glasgow side, who were beaten by Progres Niederkorn at this stage last season. Article continues below Editors' Picks Juve…

The Armenian has been left out of Unai Emery’s squad for the game in Baku amidst diplomatic tensions Arsenal were ‘too scared’ to bring Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Azerbaijan to face 60,000 local fans, according to FK Qarabag coach Gurban Gurbanov. Speaking ahead of the sides’ Europa League meeting in Baku on Thursday, the Qarabag number one suggested that the decision to leave out the Armenian was down to the reception he would likely have received from a hostile crowd in the Azerbaijan capital. Mkhitaryan was left out of Borussia Dortmund’s squad to face Azeri side Qabala in 2015 owing to ongoing tensions between the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the…

Brendan Rodgers’ side are looking to complete a fine run of Europa League form by ending the Austrians’ perfect with a win at Parkhead Celtic will secure a place in the last 32 of the Europa League if they can take a point against Red Bull Salzburg at Parkhead on Thursday. Brendan Rodgers’ side have nine points from their five matches to date, with victories over RB Leipzig and Rosenborg clawing them back into a healthy position after an uncertain start to the campaign. Their opponents have a perfect record of five wins from five matches, and brushed the Hoops aside 3-1 when they met in Austria in October. Article continues below Editors'…

The left-back will not be moving to Germany, according to Ralf Rangnick, as the two sides prepare to meet in the Europa League Red Bull Leipzig manager Ralf Rangnick has hailed the talents of Celtic wonderkid Kieran Tierney, as well as his team-mates Callum McGregor and Odsonne Edouard. A number of young British talents have headed to the Bundesliga in recent months, including Jadon Sancho, who joined Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City, and Reiss Nelson, who moved to Hoffenheim on loan from Arsenal. Rangnick does not expect Tierney, who has been linked with moves to the likes of Everton and Manchester United, to follow in their footsteps, however, as he…

The two youngsters have travelled with their club in the Europa League outing, with the Blues having already sealed qualification George McEachran and Jamie Cumming are among the youngsters who are travelling to Hungary for Chelsea’s Europa League match against MOL Vidi,  Goal understands. Manager Maurizio Sarri is unlikely to name the duo on the bench for the encounter in Budapest, except for goalkeeper Jamie Cumming perhaps, despite there being nothing to play for yet in the group.  Sarri is set to ring the changes for the Blues’ final Europa League group-stage match with one eye on the Premier League clash with Brighton at the weekend. Article continues below Editors' Picks…