Foxes off to Portugal, Bulgarians at Tottenham - UEFA Europa League 26 November 2020

CSKA Sofia vs. BSC Young Boys

The Swiss champions need to make sure to win this game as well after convincingly beating CSKA at home already. They need the three points from this match to be able to put CFJ Cluj under pressure for a spot in the knockout stages in spring. They will travel to Bulgaria with Trade Air instead of Helvetic Airways:

TDR700 BRN xxxx-1300 SOF F100 (25/11/20)

CFR Cluj vs. AS Roma

Roma are the favourites in their pool and made this tell so far. Cluj definitely need more points and may see a chance against a side that may just take the foot off the gas for this midweek fixture. Roma will travel to Romania with Alitalia:

AZ8950 FCO 1500-xxxx CLJ A319 (25/11/20)

FK Molde vs. Arsenal

Arsenal are one of the few teams yet to have won every single game in this group stage. They traveled to Molde with Titan Airways, using one of the Boeing 757-200s:

AWC783 LTN 1430-1745 MOL B752 G-ZAPX (24/11)

AWC784 MOL 2330-xxxx(+1) LTN B752 G-ZAPX (26/11/20)

Dundalk vs. SK Rapid Wien

The Austrian team are not traveling with Austrian Airlines for once, but count on Croatia Airlines to do the job from Vienna to Dublin, where they will play against Dundalk:

OU8491 VIE xxxx-1110 DUB A319 (25/11/20)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Many would have thought that Bayer Leverkusen should have nine points by now. They only have six and sit in second position. It seems obvious that they would want to get a maximum haul againt Be'er Sheva, which so far has managed to beat Slavia Prague, but lost in Nice and at home against Bayer. Hapoel will arrive at Cologne with El Al:

LY251 TLV 1600-1930 CGN B738 (24/11/20)

LY252 CGN 0230-0730 TLV B738 (27/11/20)

OGC Nice vs. Slavia Prague

Rather surprisingly, Slavia Prague are in a formidable position, leading the group at the half-way point, while Nice are sitting in third position, desperate for a win to maintain their chances. Slavia will arrive from Prague with Smartwings.

QS4364 PRG xxxx-1920 NCE B738 (24/11/20)

QS4365 NCE 1100-xxxx PRG B738 (27/11/20)

Standard Liège vs. Lech Poznan

Standard and Lech are the two bottom teams in Pool D and this will not change after this fixture. The leaders are too far away. If Standard lose the game, their hopes of European football will be dashed already. Lech will travel from Poland with Enter Air, using a Boeing 737-800:

ENT689 POZ xxxx-1225 LGG B738 (25/11/20)

ENT690 LGG 2330-xxxx(+1) POZ B738 (26/11/20)

Granada vs. Omonia Nicosia

The Cypriot team are off to one of the surprises in this season's competition in Granada. Not many would have expected Granada to make the Europa League at all. But here they are, hosting Omonia in a clash of European lightweights:

AEE4990 LCA xxxx-1500 GRX A320 (25/11/20)

AZ Alkmaar vs. Real Sociedad San Sebastian

LAV5283 EAS 1030-xxxx AMS B738 (25/11/20)

SC Braga vs. Leicester City

Along with an impressive run of form in the domestic arena, Leicester City are also motoring along in the Europa League, as one of just four teams to have won all three group stage games so far. A win in Portugal will put them almost certainly into the knockout stage. They will travel to Porto with Air Horizont, on a Boeing 737-400.

HAT2030 EMA 1100-1325 OPO B734 9H-MPW (25/11/20)

HAT2031 OPO 2300-0130(+1) EMA B734 9H-MPW (26/11/20)

HAT2031 OPO 1230-1500 EMA B734 9H-MPW (27/11/20)

Air Horizont Boeing 737-400 at Berlin-Schönfeld for the 2015 Champions League Final

Linzer ASK vs. Royal Antwerp FC

Three teams have six points each in Pool J, with LASK being one of them. Royal Antwerp are the surprise package so far, even scoring a 1-0 win over group favourites Tottenham in the second round. The Belgians will travel to Austria with TUI Belgium, on one of the EMB-190s that were acquired specifically for flights from and to the small airport of Antwerp.

TB9333 ANR 1000-1130 LNZ E190 (25/11/20)

TB9334 LNZ 1130-1300 ANR E190 (27/11/20)

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Ludogorets Razgrad

Spurs were rated as the big favourites for this group, if not for the competition. Their away defeat in Belgium against Royal Antwerp may have come as a surprise, but they will look to book in another three points at home against Ludogorets, who do not look quite as strong as in past seasons. In fact, the Bulgarians have lost all three games so far.

BUC1945 VAR 1010-xxxx STN A320 (25/11/20)

BUC1946 STN xxxx-0600 VAR A320 (27/11/20)

Sparta Prague vs. Celtic Glasgow

After three matches, Celtic are desperate for points. Ideally, they need to win in Prague to keep their hopes alive. They will travel there with Jet2.

LS6128 GLA 1430-1755 PRG B738 (25/11/20)

LS6129 PRG 2315-0045(+1) GLA B738 (26/11/20)

Glasgow Rangers vs. SL Benfica

Benfica will travel to Ibrox with TAP Air Portugal, though the exact type of aircraft is not clear just yet.

TP9102 LIS 1600-xxxx GLA (25/11/20)

UEFA Europa League Group Stage Round 3 - 5 November 2020

Time is at a premium for me at the moment, so for a few weeks, I had to leave aside any following of Europa League charter traffic. Well, almost. There was of course plenty going on last Thursday night, and with less air traffic in our skies than usual, charter flights are a lot more visible, especially late at night after the 21.00h kickoffs across the continent. So here is a non-comprehensive report of what was out and about, flying for various teams for the Europa League games of 5 November 2020:

5 November 2020

Lech Poznan vs. Standard Liège

The two bottom teams of pool B met for the first of two meetings within four weeks. Host Lech came out the better, beating the Belgian visitors by 3-1 goals. Still, Lech are sitting four points behind joint leaders Benfica and Rangers, so advancing to the knockout stages will prove to be difficult.

TB9120 LGG 0945-1115 POZ B738 OO-TUX (04/11/20)

TB9130 POZ 2337-0048(+1) LGG B738 OO-TUX (05/11/20)

SK Rapid Wien vs. Dundalk FC

Dundalk are representing the Republic of Ireland in the competition, and while they are still without points this time round, at least they gave the more fancied Rapid a good run for the money. Rapid won 4-3, but Dundalk will be hot for the revenge on 26 November up at the Aviva - unfortunately without Rapid's usually numerous travelling support.

ENT54WN DUB 1004-1321 VIE B738 SP-ESG (03/11/20)

ENT57UE VIE 0015-0122 DUB B738 SP-ESG (06/11/20)

Slavia Prague vs. OGC Nice

Nice had a night to forget away in the Czech Capital, losing 2-3 against Slavia. Still, they will get revenge soon, on 26 November at home against the same opposition. Having Bayer Leverkusen and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the same group will not help much though. A trip to the knockout stages will require a lot of hard work.

VOE9286 NCE 0915-1034 PRG A319 EC-NHP (04/11/20)

VOE9287 PRG 2322-0043(+1) NCE A319 EC-NHP (05/11/20)

AS Roma vs. CFR Cluj

Roma are sitting pretty in pool A, after an away win in Bern, a dull 0-0 against CSKA Sofia at home and now an absolute spanking of CFR Cluj. Several high-profile players were not even required against a very average Cluj team that count themselves lucky to have four points on the counter already.

VBB3277 CLJ 1054-1138 FCO B733 LZ-MVK (04/11/20)

VBB3278 FCO 2359-0237(+1) OTP B733 LZ-MVK (05/11/20)

Cluj returned to Bucharest and not their home town, because they will play their next league fixture in Bucharest, against FC Voluntari.

BSC Young Boys vs. CSKA Sofia

It is not often that a small airline would cover both games within one pool. But within pool A, both matches were covered by ALK Airways, with two Boeing 737-300s. LZ-LVK took CSKA Sofia from Sofia to Basel-Mulhouse and back, with the rest of the journey from Basel to Berne undertaken by bus. CSKA had a nightmare start to the game, shipping three goals with some schoolboy errors to say the least. Surely they will blame the plastic pitch in Berne for this, as does pretty much every team as well.

VBB3273 SOF 0930-1041 BSL B733 LZ-LVL (04/11/20)

VBB3274 BSL 1043-1348 SOF B733 LZ-LVL (06/11/20)

Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Former Champions League finalists Tottenham are plying their international trade in the Europa League this season. Away in Bulgaria, they won 3-1 at Ludogorets, which for once is one of two teams in international competition for Bulgaria this season.

BRO20 STN 1530-2049 VAR B733 G-TGPG (04/11/20)

BRO20 VAR 0030-0142 STN B733 G-TGPG (06/11/20)

Arsenal vs. FK Molde

Norwegian champions Molde may have fancied their chances away in London, and they even took the lead, right on track for a third win in three games in their pool. Arsenal had other ideas however and put away the game 3-1 in the end.

WX9366 MOL 1000-1112 LTN CRJ EI-GEA (04/11/20)

WX9367 LTN 0005-0357 MOL CRJ9 EI-GEA (06/11/20)

AC Milan vs. OSC Lille

It was a memorable night for OSC Lille. Not many French teams go the mighty San Siro and just win a game 3-0. Of course, the place was entirely empty. But yet not many UEL group stage games have the potential to even half fill a stadium that seat comfortably more than 80'000 spectators.

WH823 MXP 0150-0259 LIL E190 D-ACJJ (06/11/20)

Celtic Glasgow vs. Sparta Prague

QS4382 PRG 0945-1100 GLA B737 OK-SWT (04/11/20)

QS4383 GLA 0030-0330 PRG B737 OK-SWT (06/11/20)

Villarreal CF vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv

6H175 TLV 1000-1330 CDT A320 4X-ABI (04/11/20)

6H176 CDT 0415-0930 TLV A320 4X-ABI (06/11/20)

Zorya Lugansk vs. AEK Athens (in Zaporozhye)

AEE4028 ATH 1000-1230 OZH A320 SX-DGD (04/11/20)

AEE4029 OZH 0230-0445 ATH A320 SX-DGD (06/11/20)

Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. CSKA Moscow

SU7004 SVO 1000-1130 RTM A320 VQ-BCM (04/11/20)

SU7005 RTM 1500-2000 SVO A320 VQ-BCM (06/11/20)

PAOK Saloniki vs. PSV Eindhoven

HV7013 EIN 1100-1430 SKG B738 PH-HXB (04/11/20)

HV7014 SKG 1100-1245 EIN B738 PH-HXB (06/11/20)