Mixed bag of results in the Europa League

Germany and Die Mannschaft were widely represented in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League last 32 first-leg ties and there was plenty of dramatic across the continent. It was a largely successful night for those associated with the Bundesliga or Joachim Löw’s side, with many holding realistic hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition.

Schalke’s trip to Lviv to face Shakhtar Donetsk had it all – a disallowed goal, an indirect free kick from within the six year box and a number of great chances. The Royal Blues were unable to net a crucial away goal, but will be happy with their position going into the return fixture. Andre Breitenreiter’s men played out a goalless draw in Ukraine. Leroy Sané , Max Meyer , Leon Goretzka and Johannes Geis all featured in the match but were unable to inspire their side to victory.

Klopp returns, Reus is at the double

FC Augsburg will be quietly confident of reaching the next round after drawing 0-0 with Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool on Thursday evening. The Swabians put in a great performance at the sold out SGL Arena and could even have stolen a win late on against their illustrious opponents.

“We’re very happy. It was an intense game and we were strong. We had a couple of good chance. If Alexander Esswein netted before the break or if Ji converted late on, we’d be in dreamland,” explained head coach Markus Weinzierl after the final whistle had been blown.

Earlier on in the evening Borussia Dortmund beat Porto 2-0 at home to put themselves in a commanding position in the tie. Lukas Piszczek opened the scoring after just six minutes, with Germany star Marco Reus wrapping up the victory with less than 20 to play. The sides meet again in Portugal next Thursday (21:05 CET).

“We were the better side and were comfortable throughout, however, I think we could have scored a couple more goals. It would have been good to net a third or fourth, as Porto are a totally different side in front of their own fans,” remarked BVB sporting director Michael Zorc.

Bayer 04 triumph in Portugal

Karim Bellarabi was the star of the show as Bayer 04 Leverkusen beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 on Thursday night. The Germany winger grabbed the only goal of the game midway through the first half. Leverkusen, who currently sit third in the Bundesliga table, are favourites to progress and will be looking to see the tie out in the BayArena next week.

Shkodran Mustafi’s Valencia side beat Rapid Vienna 6-0 in Spain to give head coach Gary Neville a birthday he’ll never forget. The DFB Team wasn’t involved in the match but his teammates but on a show in Spain and they now have one foot in the next round of the competition.

There was plenty of German interest in Istanbul tonight as Lukas Podolski’s Galatasaray hosted Miroslav Klose’s Lazio. The former completed the 1-1 draw, with the latter replacing Alessandro Matri with 20 minutes to play. The tie is finely balanced going into the second-leg – the Rome side’s away goal could prove crucial.

Bastian Schweinsteiger wasn’t involved as Manchester United lost 2-1 to FC Midtjylland in Denmark. The Red Devils took the lead through Memphis Depay’s first half strike but goals from Sisto and Onuachu turned the game around.