It’s possible that Mkhitaryan will not play with Gabala because of political reasons

As a midfielder of Borussia Dortmund Henrikh Mkhitaryan could miss the guest match of UEFA Europe League with Azerbaijani Gabala for political reasons. The game will be held in Baku on 22nd of October.

The problem is the visit of Mkhitaryan to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2011 which Azerbaijan considered as occupied territory. It is noted that in case of arrival to Baku Mkhitarian can be arrested because of the article of the Criminal Code called illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Mancini: We want to get back into the Champions League

Head coach of Inter Roberto Mancini made it clear that he prefers to win in the Europa League third place in the standings in Serie A at the end of the current season, solving the problem of return of the club from Milan in the Champions League. Starting this season, we recall, victory of the Europa League will get a place in the main European club football tournament.

“We want to get back into the Champions League and we know what to do. What would you choose? Well, Europa League would be preferable on the third place in Serie A, as it would mean that we have raised over his head trophy after only six months” - said Mancini.

As a reminder Inter got the right to participate in the playoffs at the end of the UEFA Europa League group stage, while in Serie A standings on 11th place after 13 rounds.

Michel Platini: I'm not talking about the Elimination of the Europa League

UEFA President Michel Platini has refuted reports that he is going to eliminate Europa League in favor of the expansion of the Champions League with 32 to 64 teams.

«I only said that in 2014, we will take a decision on the format of the European Cup in 2015 to 2018 year. I'm not talking about the Elimination of the Europa League. This is a tournament involving the top clubs in Europe, and everyone has a chance to win it. Need to understand what we can do to improve the tournament. The matter we are discussing,» - Platini said.

Huub Stevens: "Not all the players Schalke 04 today gave it 100 percent"

The head coach, Schalke 04 Huub Stevens said the players Cobalt in a match 1/4 finals of the League of Europe against the Athletics (2:4) did not play at full strength.

"We wanted to score a third goal. But I think at that point in the game we had to actsmarter. I hope this match will be a lesson to us. Not all players today gave it 100 percent "- quoted by Stevens Kicker.

Marcelo Bielsa: "We had a great game in terms of attack“

The head coach, Athletics Marcelo Bielsa after the victory over the Schalke (4:2) in the first leg quarter final of the Europa League spoke about the difficulties faced by his team and said attacking the actions of their subordinates. 

"Everything went pretty well for us. We've done that and should have been. Of course, in some episodes we have not played well in defense. But the attack Schalke very difficult to neutralize. This was a problem. 

But in terms of attack we had a great game. The team worked well with the ballwell, and in the second half we were able to spend three goals in the end. Hisreplacement, we conducted with an eye on it. 

In the first hour of the match we had no balance in the game. We allow the opponent to create the dangerous moments, not all succeed. They knew that Schalke will attack a large force, so plan to pay more attention to defensivefunctions. This is an outstanding striker! "- Quotes Marcelo Bielsa official site of UEFA.

Diego Simeone: "At this stage of the Europa League play is always interesting"

The head coach, Atletico Diego Simeone spoke about the upcoming match quarter final of the League of Europe against the Hannover. 

"Playing at this stage of the tournament is always interesting. Our players have toshow themselves. I hope they forget about fatigue and show their best qualities. We studied the style of play well Hanover. They attack the flanks well, they have fast and technically skilled forwards. Also, this team is good in the power struggleand the horse, like all German clubs "- quoted by Simeon official site of UEFA.

Sir Alex Ferguson: “It has been a disappointing year”

The Red Devils dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, but went down 5-3 on aggregate to Athletic Bilbao at the last-16 stage. The Red Devils won just three of their 10 games in UEFA competition and suffered a hat-trick of losses for the first time since 2004. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted it has been a disappointing year in Europe for Manchester United after their continental involvement came to an end, but he will not get too downhearted as attention turns to the Premier League. Bilbao ran out 2-1 winners in the second leg at San Mames after producing an impressive performance, and only Wayne Rooney's late consolation prevented United suffering the worst two-legged European defeat in Ferguson's entire time as manager. 

It represents a startling fall from grace for a team that had reached three of the last four Champions League finals and Ferguson admitted he has some work to do to find out where it all went wrong. 

"Trying to analyse this season against others is a bit difficult," he said. "There is a route in terms of some of the goals we have lost in these tournaments. They have been pretty poor. "It has been a disappointing year." "Feeling sorry for myself is not an issue for me," he said. "There is a disappointment but analysing the performances is more important and we have an important game on Sunday." 

The Scot admitted that Bilbao had been superior to United, saying: "I don't think we can complain at the result. In the second half in particular, Bilbao were the better team. Ferguson confirmed his decision to replace Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs in the second half was purely to keep them fresh for the trip to Molineux. 

Ferguson praised Athletic Bilbao for their performances over the two games and admitted he hoped they now went on to win the competition. "Athletic could do very well," he said. "What we have seen, tonight and last Thursday, is a team whose work rate is higher than anyone I have seen in Europe. "That takes you a long way but it is not just about their work rate. They have some fantastic qualities also. "Their first goal was a bad one for us to lose. You can't believe an English team would lose a goal like that to a long ball. Ours was too late to do anything about it." 

"I would like to wish them well. I hope they do win it because it is a testament to the hard work they all put in, from their coach right through. "They have created a cause. Such energy and determination to win football matches is an incredible thing to see. They deserve to win it." 

However, having assumed the Premier League leadership last weekend and knowing they will open the gap on nearest challengers Manchester City to four points if they win at Wolves on Sunday, Ferguson realises this is no time to dwell on the negatives.

Manchester City rallied to claim a 3-2 victory on the night

The Blues paid the price for a poor first-half showing on Thursday, with Sporting Lisbon able to snatch two priceless away goals. Roberto Mancini refused to point the finger of blame at his players after seeing Manchester City bow out of the Europa League at the last-16 stage. City rallied to claim a 3-2 victory on the night, but it was not enough to see them into the quarter-finals. 

"It is not his fault that we lost this game. I am the manager and it is my fault, not Mario's fault. The players did everything on the pitch." Mancini was at a loss to explain City's slow start, with a disjointed showing in Portugal having forced them to enter the second leg playing catch-up. 

He said: "The first half was very strange. We left a lot of space for them to counter attack. We didn't play as a team in the first half." "I am disappointed because there were mistakes. I feel sorry for our supporters because they deserved to go to the next stage." "I was disappointed with him because he conceded the free-kick," the Italian told ESPN. 

Asked why City left themselves so exposed to counter-attacks, Mancini added: "We expected this, but we were too long with the players, with the defenders too long from the midfielders, from the wingers. Mancini conceded afterwards that he must shoulder responsibility for the exit, despite admitting to being disappointed at Mario Balotelli for conceding a needless free-kick that led to Sporting's opener. 

"We didn't do a good job in the first half, we conceded two goals. The second half changed everything, we scored three goals and had chances to score a fourth goal." Mancini's half-time team talk brought the desired response from his players and City must now take that form with them into their Premier League title challenge. Pressed on what he had said at the interval, the City coach added: "I said to go and attack. It is football and you never say never. Anything can happen and we scored two goals in 20 minutes. The second half was fantastic.

Europa League: Besiktas 0 – 3 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid completed a convincing aggregate victory over Besiktas thanks to a 3-0 win in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in Turkey. Diego Simeone's men passed up a number of chances on the counter-attack in the second period but did eventually double their lead when Besiktas keeper Cenk Gonen barely challenged for a deflected cross from the right and Radamel Falcao was able to nod in his sixth European goal of the campaign.

And in stoppage time substitute Eduardo Salvio added a third for the Spanish visitors with an accurate low drive from the edge of the area. Already leading 3-1 from the first leg the Spaniards were rarely troubled and took the lead on 26 minutes as Juanfran's through-ball found Arda Turan and he squared for Adrian Lopez to slot into the empty net. 

Prior to kick-off Arda had warned his team-mates of the hostile reception that lay in store for them but despite the encouragement of a vociferous home support the only threat from Besiktas came from a Hugo Almeida effort on five minutes which Thibaut Courtois easily held. Falcao also saw an effort curl just wide before Adrian tried his luck again but was denied by a smart stop by Gonen at his near post. Thereafter Atletico were quite happy to be patient and keep possession and eventually they carved open the Turkish defence as Arda left Gonen prone on the ground with a clever spin and fed Adrian to roll home the opener. 

Adrian was the main threat after the break as well as he fired a shot just over the bar and then guided a Filipe Luis cross just beyond the far post. By this point the home crowd had turned on their side and Besiktas' misery was complete when Salvio raced through in the final minute of stoppage time to score his third goal of the tie and secure a fully merited 6-1 aggregate win for the 2010 Europa League winners. 

However, when the second goal did arrive the goalkeeper was most certainly at fault as Falcao simply outjumped him to head home the simplest of finishes from two yards.

Europa League: Olympiakos 1 – 2 Metalist Kharkiv

Olympiakos had kept 10 consecutive clean sheets before the game but wilted in the closing stages as goals from Cristian Villagra and Marko Devic sent them crashing out. The Greek champions had looked to be coasting when Ivan Marcano's first-half header added to their 1-0 advantage from the first leg. Metalist Kharkiv scored twice in the final ten minutes to claim a 2-2 aggregate draw with Olympiakos and progress to the last eight of the Europa League on the away goals rule. But they imploded late on as Metalist, who could even afford a saved Sebastian Blanco 77th-minute penalty before their goals, somehow squeezed through to the next round.

Olympiakos could have had even more with Rafik Djebbour seeing a shot saved by the legs of Metalist goalkeeper Vladimir Disljenkovic before Vassilis Torosidis headed Mirallas' corner against a post. The visitors somehow managed to remain in touch and it paid dividends when they finally rallied late on. Olympiakos had completely dominated the first hour and, after hitting the woodwork twice in the first half, should have been out of sight. They had not tested Balazs Megyeri until the 64th minute, when he tipped away Taison's 12-yard shot, but suddenly they sparked into life. 

Kevin Miralles first rattled the frame of the goal after just four minutes when he got everything behind a 30-yard shot. Jose Holebas tricked past a couple of defenders down the left flank before curling a cross to the back post where Marcano outjumped his marker to power in a header. 

Villagra pulled the first goal back on 81 minutes when he beat the onrushing Megyeri to Juan Manuel Torres' cross before heading the loose ball in from barely a yard. Metalist could hardly have imagined that the miss would not cost them as they roared to victory in the closing stages. Blanco hit a post from close range before the same player saw his penalty saved after Francois Modesto handled in the area. 

Substitute Devic then scored the crucial winner from the same distance when Megyeri failed to come and claim Sosa's corner and, while he initially saved the first effort, Devic poked home with an improvised backheel finish.