The top Europa League play-off match tickets to buy
The Europa League has reached the play-off stage which is one of the most important times in the competition when the Champions League third-place teams meet with the team that finished second in their Europa League group.
These games are sometimes considered as losers' play-offs, but it does not mean the teams are low quality.
When the group stage of both European competitions ends, teams could get better and they may recover some of their players who were unavailable to play in the previous stage.
This is why the playoff games could spring some upsets, with most teams who didn’t do well in the Champions League going on to win the competition or reach the finals.
With the Europa Conference League now a similarly interesting competition, Europa League teams want to impress us every Thursday night.
In the playoff round, every club knows the importance of winning the home leg, so both fixtures will be very important.
Fans who buy the Europa League tickets of their beloved clubs are expecting cracking encounters and we have previewed the tickets you should buy.
Feyenoord vs AS Roma
AS Roma reached the final of the Europa League last season and Jose Mourinho remains one of the best managers in the world when it comes to European football.
Roma won the Conference League under him and they feel they were robbed of the Europa League at the final stage last year.
It is a surprise that they finished second in their Europa League group and must fix that by beating Feyenoord here.
The Dutchmen finished third in their Champions League group, but we knew it would be hard for them to do better in a group that had Lazio and Atletico de Madrid.
They will feel the Europa League is at their level and need to get a result in this fixture, which makes Roma’s visit to the Netherlands a very difficult one for Mourinho and his boys.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Olympique Marseille
Shakhtar Donetsk has remained one of the finest clubs outside the top European leagues despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Clubs took advantage of the conflict to sign some of their fine players, but Shakhtar has retained most of its talented stars, which helped them to remain competitive.
They finished third in their Champions League group below Barcelona and FC Porto which has landed them in this competition and Olympique Marseille stands in the way between them and the next round.
The Ligue 1 side could not finish at the top of the group ahead of Brighton, but they will take some credit for finishing above Ajax.
Their second-place finish has landed them this space in the play-off draw against Shakhtar and it will be a tough game.
OM played in the Champions League qualifiers and faced some quality opponents, so they will fancy their chance of beating the Ukrainians in this game, but that would be easier said than done.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still banging in the goals, especially in Europe, OM has a real chance to eliminate Shakhtar at this stage and this first leg in Ukraine is a game to watch.
AC Milan vs Rennes.
AC Milan seemed to be out of European football before they faced Newcastle United in their final Champions League group game because of their poor form in previous games.
However, that group was undecided until the final game and Milan took their chance to defeat Newcastle in England and eliminate the Premier League side.
Their reward is this match against Rennes and it is a game that they know will be tough as Rennes has some very fine young players in their squad.
They are traditionally a team that grooms a lot of players for the top sides in Europe and were second to Villarreal in their group with a difference of just a point.
Milan has struggled with consistency domestically and in Europe and that is connected to the amount of players they have lost to injuries.
If most of their injured stars return before this game, we expect a full-strength side to defeat Rennes, especially at home, but it will be a terrible mistake to underestimate what the Frenchmen can do.
They are currently in mid-table in France as combining European and domestic football has affected them, but most clubs will enter the new year stronger and Rennes will not be under pressure to win.
Young Boys vs Sporting Clube
Young Boys stood almost no chance of making the knockout stage of the Champions League after being drawn in the same group as Manchester City and RB Leipzig.
However, they will feel the Europa League is a competition that is at their level and they can do much better in it.
They will face a Sporting Clube side that has been one of the exciting teams to follow in Europe, thanks to their young manager and several top youngsters.
Sporting supplies Europe with top talents, making them one of the best homes for budding stars on the continent.
Young Boys may have played in the Champions League this term, but they still do not have the pedigree of Sporting Clube and this game will show that.
Ruben Amorim’s side plays in the Portuguese top flight, which is a tougher competition and they are the leaders after 15 league matches.
It would not be easy for them to beat Young Boys, but it is hard to see the Swiss team topple the Portuguese side in this leg.
Benfica vs Toulouse
Benfica struggled in the Champions League group stage as Inter Milan and Real Sociedad blew them away with much better football.
However, they remain one of the finest European clubs outside the top leagues on the continent.
They will face a Toulouse team that now has confidence after beating Liverpool in one of their group games.
The Frenchmen finished below the Reds to set up this game, and we expect Benfica to get better results in the Europa League.
They are battling to become the champions of Portugal, but their fans will feel the team should not lose to Toulouse because of that.
This makes this game an exciting one to watch. Can Toulouse repeat their heroics against Liverpool in this game?
The Europa League play-off phase will be exciting and give fans one more European night to enjoy games over both legs. Time will tell which team will make the next round.
