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It’s worth flagging that Rangers are bottom of the Europa League standings – 36th of the 36 teams. They are three games into the eight-game league phase and if the Glasgow side have any chance of clawing their way to the top 24 by the end of it, which would mean they would enter a play-off round to reach the knockout stages, they badly need a result against Roma tonight, no small task.
Rangers were heavily beaten by Brann in their last European game – Danny Röhl’s first game in charge – and also lost to Celtic at the weekend in the Scottish League Cup, although that was with 10 men and in extra time.
Barney Ronay
The man moved on by the police for “breaching the peace” is the 17 year old YouTuber Young Bob. It’s not exactly clear but they seemed to be trying to move him on from broadcasting near the main pro Palestine demonstration using special powers in place for the duration. He was heard talking animatedly to police as they tried to get him to leave the area. He has now been escorted away.
“The best name on the pitch at Villa Park has got to be Roy Revivo, the son of Israeli legend Haim Revivo,” emails Peter Oh. “Arguably even better than Roy of the Rovers.”
Revivo is playing at left back for Maccabi, with Jadon Sancho expected to be his opposite number on the right wing for Villa.
Nine further Europa League matches kicked off at 5.45pm GMT, so those matches are ongoing and into the second half. There are some notable scores:
Bad news for Martin O’Neill and co: Celtic are being battered 3-0 by Midtjylland, who are on course to maintain their 100% record in the Europa League this season. Braga and Lyon, due to kick off at 8pm GMT, are the only other teams that could feasibly stop the Danish side from topping the table come the end of the night.
Nottingham Forest are being held 0-0 by Sturm Graz, the Austrian side that Celtic beat a couple of weeks ago.
Unbeaten in the Portuguese league and top of the table with nine wins and one draw from their first 10 games, Porto on course for another European defeat at Utrecht (following their loss at Forest last month), but former Norwich man Borja Sainz has just scored to make it 1-1 in the Netherlands.
There are about 20 minutes to go in each of these fixtures.
Nick Ames
Just over an hour until kick-off at Villa Park and the scene is relatively calm, although not without a distinct undertone. The police presence here – more than 700 officers from 10 different forces – is vast, a large semi-circle of them stationed in the parkland behind Trinity Road. One woman was led away by police after carrying an Israel flag through the crowds outside; she was targeted by chants from among the numerous pro-Palestine protesters present, although there was no suggestion of any violence. A handful of other Israel flags have also been spotted. Police have been using dispersal orders when faced with the few minor altercations that have arisen so far. The insistent presence of YouTubers and influencers seems to be occupying as much of their time as anything.
Team news (selected)
Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Aston Villa: Martinez, Lindelof, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Bogarde, Onana, Sancho, Rogers, Guessand, Malen.
Subs: Bizot, Oakley, Cash, Barkley, McGinn, Tielemans, Elliott, Buendia, Watkins, Digne, Kamara, Broggio.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv: Mishpati, Asante, Shlomo, Camara, Revivo,
Madmon, Sissokho, Noy, Varela, Peretz, Davida.
Subs: Gerafi, Melika, Heitor, Andrade, Jehezkel, Gropper, Ben Harush, Lederman, Abu Farkhi, Shahar, Ben Hamo, Nicolaescu.
Rangers v Roma
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Raskin, Meghoma, Moore, Gassama, Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Wright, Diomande, Aasgaard, Cornelius, Cameron, Antman, Miovski, Fernandez, Rice, Curtis, Danilo.
Roma: Svilar, Mancini, Hermoso, N’Dicka, Celik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Tsimikas, Soule, Pellegrini, Dovbyk.
Subs: De Marzi, Gollini, Rensch, Kone, Ziolkowski, Wesley, Romano, Pisilli, Ghilardi, El Shaarawy.
Real Betis v Lyon
Real Betis: Valles, Ruibal, Llorente, Natan, Gomez, Roca,
Fornals, Antony, Lo Celso, Ezzalzouli, Bakambu.
Subs: Adrian, German Garcia, Bellerin, Bartra, Altimira, Avila, Amrabat, Riquelme, Deossa, Hernandez, Ortiz, Pablo Garcia.
Lyon: Greif, Maitland-Niles, Kluivert, Niakhate, Abner Vinicius, de Carvalho, Tessmann, Karabec, Merah, Molebe,
Satriano.
Subs: Descamps, Konan, Tagliafico, Sulc, Afonso Moreira, Mata, Morton, Barisic, Goncalves.
Bologna v Brann
Bologna: Skorupski, Holm, Heggem, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Moro, Ferguson, Bernardeschi, Fabbian, Cambiaghi, Castro. Subs: Ravaglia, Pessina, Pobega, Orsolini, Rowe, Casale, Zortea, Odgaard, Dallinga, Miranda, Vitik.
Brann: Dyngeland, De Roeve, Helland, Sery Larsen, Dragsnes, Kornvig, Sorensen, Gudmundsson, Mathisen, Finne, Haaland.
Subs: Bramel, Knudsen, Boakye, Hansen, Castro, Soltvedt, Pedersen, Sande, Laegreid, Remmem.
Stuttgart v Feyenoord
Stuttgart: Nubel, Jeltsch, Jaquez, Chabot, Mittelstadt, Andres,
Stiller, Assignon, El Khannous, Tomas, Undav.
Subs: Bredlow, Hellstern, Hendriks, Vagnoman, Fuhrich, Karazor, Leweling, Zagadou, Bouanani, Nartey, Catovic, Jovanovic.
Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Read, Ahmedhodzic, Watanabe, Smal, Timber, Larin, Valente, Hadj Moussa, Ueda, Borges.
Subs: Berger, Bossin, Nieuwkoop, Sauer, Tengstedt, Diarra, Lotomba, Sliti, Plug, Kraaijeveld, van den Elshout.
Preamble
We are here because we love association football, but sport does not exist in a vacuum. Sometimes it can be caught in the crosshairs of something larger and that is certainly the case tonight.
This is a football liveblog, and we have nine Europa League 8pm GMT kick-offs to follow, of which Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv is one. My focus is on the football but I will also bring you any notable developments around the fringes of Villa Park, should there be any.
In case you are catching up on the controversy around Villa v Maccabi, and the ban on the visiting fans, here is some useful reading, in rough chronological order.
Despite the ban and Maccabi not accepting any tickets, tensions around the match remains high. Villa have warned supporters against displaying political symbols, messages or flags during the match. Protesters stood at the entrance of Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground this week displaying a Palestine flag and a rally scheduled on Thursday in support of Palestine and calling for Israel to be suspended from Uefa and Fifa. Residents local to Villa Park have expressed their anxiety before the match.
On Wednesday evening West Midlands police confirmed section 60 powers will be in place from midday on Thursday until 3am on Friday. Police horses, police dogs and a drone unit will be in use. Schools in Birmingham are closing early amid fears of unrest.
Away from Villa Park, there is eight other late kick-offs to be excited about: especially Rangers v Roma and Real Betis v Lyon. I only have two hands to type but I’ll do my best to keep you abreast of all the goals from around the continent.
