After the first leg of the quarterfinals was completed on Thursday night, Olympiacos forward Ayoub El Kaabi is still tied for the most goals in the UEFA Europa League (UEL).
According to reports, Rangers held Athletic Club to a scoreless draw, Bodø/Glimt defeated Lazio 2-0, Tottenham Hotspur lost to Frankfurt 1-1, and Premier League powerhouse Manchester United drew 2-2 with Lyon.
This season’s top scorer in the Europa League is presently shared by El Kaabi and Kasper Høgh of Bodø/Glimt.
Going into next week’s second leg of the quarterfinals, both players have seven goals apiece.
The Europa League’s top goal scorers right now are listed below:
Kasper Høgh and Ayoub El Kaabi scored seven goals.
Six goals: Malick Fofana (Lyon), Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahçe), Barnabás Varga (Ferencváros), Václav Černý (Rangers), Samu (Porto), and Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray).
Five goals: Rasmus Højlund (Manchester United), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Yunus Akgün (Galatasaray), Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club), and Kenneth Taylor (Ajax).
Next Thursday is the date of the Europa League quarterfinals’ second leg.
In the meanwhile, Declan Rice’s first free-kick goal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal versus Real Madrid did not seem particularly noteworthy to former Arsenal defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Bronckhorst maintained that if Real Madrid had correctly set up their defense, Declan Rice’s free-kick goal would not have been scored.
In a Ziggo Sports discussion, Bronckhorst echoed former Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder’s assessment that Rice’s goal was “quite routine for a right-footed player.”
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Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was expecting a free-kick from left-footer Bukayo Saka, and Sneijder pointed out that Real Madrid’s wall was not in the proper position.
Due to this blunder, Rice was able to successfully shot around the wall from a position that normally would have required strong defense.
For the first goal, the wall wasn’t positioned correctly, he clarified. Courtois shifted the wall too far to the right because he thought Saka would take it. From that angle, a right-footed player shouldn’t be able to shoot around the wall.
In support of Sneijder’s analysis, Bronckhorst said, “I agree with Wesley.” A avenue to score was found by Rice since the wall was too far to the right. A guy in those position should have little trouble making a shot like that.
