The second round of the main phase of the Europa League is knocking on the door, and the tension in the second strongest European club tournament is gradually starting to rise. After the opening matches, it is becoming increasingly clear that every mistake can now have a huge impact in the battle for advancement. Curious clashes await us on the fields of the Old Continent, with the focus of Bulgarian football fans undoubtedly being directed towards the Netherlands.
The most important match for the Bulgarian audience pits Levski against NEK Nijmegen at the "Goffertstadion" stadium. Both teams started the tournament with defeats – "the blues" lost 0:1 at home to RB Salzburg, while the Dutch team was beaten 0:5 away to Juventus. Levski enters the match on a good run in the championship after a 2:0 victory over Cherno More, but now Julio Velasquez's players will have to carry their strong performance from the efbet League to the European stage in order to win their first points in the tournament.
The match between RB Salzburg and Milan is also shaping up to be extremely complicated. The hosts are in excellent form and entered the tournament with a win over Levski in Sofia, while the "rossoneri" lost 0:2 at home to Benfica at the start. The Italian giants are under serious pressure and are definitely looking for a first win, but the Austrians showed solid organization and will not give up easily in front of their own fans.
Another intriguing clash pits Lyon against Crystal Palace in France. The French team won their first match in the Europa League 2-1, while the English started impressively after a decisive 4-0 victory. Since both teams have dangerous lineups in the front positions, the match promises a lot of emotions and open football.
Benfica hosts Celtic at the "Estadio da Luz" in a clash with great history. The Portuguese giants demonstrated their class in the first round, prevailing over Milan as a guest with 2-0. At the same time, the Scottish champion suffered an unpleasant 1:3 home defeat by Ferencváros and will seek revenge, although visiting Lisbon is always an extremely difficult test.
The Marseille - Olympiacos match is also of interest. The French team started the tournament with a heavy 1:4 defeat and urgently needs to correct its defensive mistakes. The Greek team, for its part, started with a 2:1 victory. This match is also of direct importance for Bulgarian football, as Marseille are among Levski's future rivals in the main phase.
The highlight of the program in the second round is undoubtedly the clash between Celta and Juventus in Vigo. The transformed Juventus squad topped the provisional standings after the resounding 5:0 against NEC Nijmegen at the start and enters the match with high self-confidence. Celta, however, suffered a minimal 0:1 loss to AZ Alkmaar in their first match and will be fighting hard for their first points against the Italian giant in front of their fans.