UEFA Europa League - League Phase MD4 - 6/7 November 2024

Will a new manager have taken over Manchester United by the time they play PAOK Saloniki at home? And will they fare better than the three points from three draws they managed so far? How many of the twelve unbeaten teams will have their series ended on matchday no. 4 and who will take the lead on the league table? These questions will all be answered on the fourth match day of the UEFA Europa League 2024/25.

6 November 2024

Besiktas JK vs. Malmö FF

16.30h (17.30h local time), Inönü Stadium, Istanbul

27th/3pts vs. 25th/3pts

Just three goals separate these two teams who will not be happy with the way they started into the league phase. Malmö travels to Istanbul in hope to create an upset and come away with some points to show.

JTD045 MMX 0930-xxxx IST B738 (05/11/24)

7 November 2024

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Slavia Prague

18.45h, Waldstadion, Frankfurt

6th/7pts vs. 16th/4pts

Compared to the UEFA Champions League, even 12 teams are still unbeaten after three matches in the league phase. One of them is Eintracht Frankfurt with seven points, looking to replicate European heroics from past seasons. They should also be able to beat Slavia Prague and therefore challenge leaders Lazio, Tottenham and Anderlecht for the top spot in the league table.

QS4586 PRG 1730-1840 FRA B738 (05/11/24)

QS4587 FRA 1130-1240 PRG B738 (08/11/24)

OGC Nice vs. Twente Enschede

18.45h, Allianz Riviera, Nice

32nd/1pt vs. 28th/2pts

Two teams from the bottom third of the table meet in Nice. Both will be desperate for points to still remain in contention for a knockout spot after half the league phase games. Nice should have a rather smooth run-in after games against big opponents such as Lazio and Ferencvaros. Similar things go for Twente who played against Manchester United, Lazio and Fenerbahçe in the first three games.

ENT533 FMO xxxx-1315 NCE B738 (06/11/24)

ENT536 NCE 1400-xxxx FMO B738 (08/11/24)

PFC Ludogorets vs. Athletic Bilbao

18.45h (19.45h local time), Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad

33rd/1pt vs. 8th/7pts

After two wins and a draw, Athletic are flying high in the competition. Their opponents Ludogorets however are absolutely desperate for points, having just recorded the solitary point from a draw against Viktoria Plzen so far.

YW8005 BIO 0900-1340 VAR CRJX (06/11/24)

YW8006 VAR 1000-1255 BIO CRJX (08/11/24)

Elfsborg vs. SC Braga

18.45h, Borås Arena, Borås

22nd/3pts vs. 26th/3pts

The home team are really just outsiders in this competition while Braga have already tasted a final in the past. But is this really how to compare the two? With both teams sitting at one win and two defeats, both will have a reason to improve from the previous games.

5M641 OPO xxxx-1415 GOT (06/11/24)

Bodø/Glimt vs. Qarabag Agdam

A long trip up North for the team from Azerbaijan who will arrive in Bodø two days before the game takes place.

AHY4029 GYD xxxx-2100 BOO (05/11/24)

AHY4030 BOO 2215-xxxx(+1) GYD (07/11/24)

Manchester United vs. PAOK Saloniki

21.00h (20.00h local time), Old Trafford, Manchester

21st/3pts vs. 30th/1pt

Manchester United and their (former) manager Erik ten Hag were much of the talk of town in recent weeks. His sacking was widely anticipated, although many experts would have expected it to come even sooner. A successor has not yet been named at the time of writing. It can be expected that a caretaker will look after the team until the next national team break. Three drawn matches can not be United's standard, even if the games were highly entertaining and filled with suspense. For the game against PAOK Saloniki, visiting supporters will fly up to Manchester in large numbers with Enter Air and Electra Airways. The team will travel with SKY Express.

GQ2019 SKG 1800-1935 MAN A20N SX-TEC (05/11/24)

ENT561 SKG xxxx-0745 MAN B738 (06/11/24)

3E302 SKG xxxx-0820 MAN A320 (06/11/24)

3E503 MAN 0005-xxxx SKG A320 (08/11/24)

ENT562 MAN 0100-xxxx SKG B738 (08/11/24)

GQ1926 MAN 1400-xxxx SKG A20N (08/11/24)

A SKY Express Airbus A320neo
seen arriving at Copenhagen in July 2022

Viktoria Plzen vs. Real Sociedad San Sebastian

21.00h, Doosan Arena, Plzen

20th/3pts vs. 17th/4pts

Real Sociedad will look to improve their European form and beat Viktoria away in the Czech Republic. Very similar to the already mentioned Manchester United, Plzen started with three draws and will look to improve from that.

PVG1909 PNA 1500-xxxx PRG A321 (06/11/24)

LAV1446 PRG xxxx-1425 PNA B738 (08/11/24)

PVG2009 PRG xxxx-1430 PNA A321 (08/11/24)

Ajax Amsterdam vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv

21.00h, Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam

4th/7pts vs. 34th/0pts

Maccabi are seriously up against it in this year's Europa League. Zero points from three matches are a clear sign of a club that is struggling at this level. Ajax however are flying high, having beaten Qarabag and Besiktas as well as drawing with Slavia Prague.

LY5425 TLV xxxx-1455 AMS B738 (06/11/24)

LY5426 AMS 0915-xxxx TLV B738 (08/11/24)

A full load of action - UEFA Europa League MD2 3 October 2024

3 October 2024

RFS vs. Galatasaray Istanbul

18.45h (19.45h local time), Daugava Stadium, Riga

They seem to like a big plane for their away games at Galatasaray, so why change the plan? An Airbus A330-300 of Turkish Airlines will take the team to Latvia for their away game at RFS.

TK3235 IST 1500-1810 RIX A333 (02/10/24)

TK3236 RIX 0015-0330 IST A333 (04/10/24)

Qarabag Agdam vs. Malmö FF

18.45h (20.45h local time), Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku

It is a long away trip for Malmö against Qarabag. Neither team had a victorious start into the league phase. Malmö lost at home against Rangers while Qarabag were beaten 3-0 away at Tottenham.

JTD045 MMX 1400-2025 GYD B738 OY-JYA (01/10/24)

ENT555 GYD xxxx-1450 MMX B738 (04/10/24)

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. FC Midtjylland

18.45h, Partizan Stadium, Belgrade

One of the teams to play in exile this season is Maccabi Tel Aviv, due to the tumultuous situation in the Middle East. They chose Belgrade as their home away from home and will host FC Midtjylland from Denmark there. Beaten in the first game against SC Braga, Maccabi will look to strike back right away. Midtjylland drew 1-1 in their opener against Hoffenheim from Germany.

FRO924 MMX 0915-1000 BLL SB20 OY-FSE (02/10/24, ferry flight)

FRO24 BLL 1135-1410 BEG SB20 OY-FSE (02/10/24)

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. SC Braga

18.45h (19.45h local time), Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Former finalists of the competition, Braga travel to Greece to face Olympiacos. The Conference League winners of last season got beaten 2-0 by Olympique Lyonnais in the first round and will look to get first points on the board while Braga enjoyed a winning start against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

MLM712 GRO 1310-1400 OPO B735 9H-MAC (01/10/24, ferry flight)

MLM712 OPO 1535-2145 ATH B735 9H-MAC (01/10/24) 

Slavia Prague vs. Ajax Amsterdam

18.45h, Fortuna Arena, Prague

Two winners from the first round face off at the Fortuna Arena in Prague. Ajax beat Besiktas 4-0, while Slavia had a 2-0 away win in Bulgaria against Ludogorets.

QS4342 AMS 1400-1525 PRG B738 OK-TVM (02/10/24)

QS4343 PRG 1500-1630 AMS B738 (04/10/24)

TSG Hoffenheim vs. Dynamo Kyiv

18.45h, Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim

Life is definitely not easy for Dynamo Kyiv at the moment. They can not play at home and they lost their first match of the league phase 0-3 against Lazio. Hoffenheim for their part were also misfiring in the draw in Denmark against Midtjylland, but at least they have a point to show for.

QS4588 LUZ 1445-1645 FKB B737 OK-SWT (01/10/24)

QS458F FKB 1745-1850 PRG B737 OK-SWT (01/10/24, ferry flight)

FC Porto vs. Manchester United

21.00h (20.00h local time), Estadio Dragao, Porto

This might be the biggest clash in the second round of the league phase. Two clubs that would usually hope to be in the Champions League face each other. United already have ground to make up after the disappointing draw at home against Twente Enschede. Porto are even worse off, having lost their first match away in Norway against Bodø/Glimt.

EZE586 LBA 1200-1225 MAN E170 G-CMPI (02/10/24, ferry flight)

EZE9301 MAN 1400-1630 OPO E170 G-CMPI (02/10/24)

FI1340 KEF 0850-1205 MAN B752 TF-FIA (02/10/24, ferry flight)

FI1340 MAN 1530-1750 OPO B752 TF-FIA (02/10/24)

AP1641 MAN 0750-xxxx OPO B738 (03/10/24)

AP1642 OPO xxxx-0150(+1) MAN B738 (03/10/24)

FI1341 OPO xxxx-1625 MAN B752 (04/10/24)

EZE9302 OPO xxxx-1710 MAD E170 (04/10/24)

Elfsborg IF vs. AS Roma

21.00h, Borås Arena, Borås

After a home draw against Athletic Bilbao, Roma face the trip up North to Borås for the game against Elfsborg. The Swedish runners-up from last season only got beaten 3-2 rather late in the game against AZ Alkmaar the week before. 

AZ8950 FCO 1530-1830 GOT A20N EI-HOM (02/10/24)

AZ8951 GOT 0100-xxxx FCO A320 (04/10/24)

Rangers FC vs. Olympique Lyonnais

21.00h (20.00h local time), Ibrox Park, Glasgow

Both these teams won their first matches of the competition 2-0. Rangers did the job away in Malmö while Lyon beat Olympiacos 2-0 at home. 

EUP421 LYS 1015-1115 GLA E145 F-HBPE (02/10/24)

Real Sociedad San Sebastian vs. RSC Anderlecht

21.00h, Anoeta, San Sebastian

Anderlecht may seem lucky to travel to Spain only on Wednesday this week. After all, a major strike went on at Brussels Airport which may have disrupted their departure to the Basque Country. They will fly in and out of Bilbao instead of San Sebastian.

SN1183 BRU 1000-1155 BIO A320 OO-SNK (02/10/24)

SN1184 BIO 1100-1300 BRU A320 OO-SNQ (04/10/24)

Athletic Bilbao vs. AZ Alkmaar

21.00h, San Mamés, Bilbao

Another Benelux team to travel to the Basque Country is Alkmaar. They will enjoy the luxury of a KlasJet Boeing 737, once again flying under an AirExplore callsign.

ED8101 AMS xxxx-1240 BIO (02/10/24)

ED8102 BIO 1100-xxxx AMS (04/10/24)

Besiktas JK vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

21.00h (22.00h local time), Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul

Traditionally a club with a big follower base, Eintracht Frankfurt continue that tradition and travel to Istanbul not by themselves. The team will be joined by two plane loads of supporters on the trip to Istanbul.

XQ6698 FRA 1040-1425 IST B738 TC-SPM (02/10/24)

DE9198 FRA 1345-1735 IST A20N (02/10/24)

DE9298 FRA 0600-0945 IST B753 (03/10/24)

DE9299 IST xxxx-0620 FRA B753 (04/10/24)

DE9199 IST xxxx-1340 FRA A20N (04/10/24)

XQ6699 IST xxxx-1640 FRA B738 (04/10/24)

Viktoria Plzen vs. Ludogorets Razgrad

21.00h, Doosan Arena, Plzen

It is Czech opponents for the second time in this league phase for Ludogorets. The first time up, they lost 0-2 against Slavia Prague. Will they fare better away at Viktoria?

BUC1945 VAR xxxx-1200 PRG A320 (02/10/24)

BUC1946 PRG 1505-xxxx VAR A320 (04/10/24)

Union St-Gilloise vs. Bodø/Glimt

21.00h, Stade Roi Beaudoin, Brussels

Flying high after a home win over the big FC Porto, Bodø will look to continue their great streak and beat Union St-Gilloise in Brussels. The home team is using the bigger Roi Beaudoin stadium as their own ground is not fit for UEFA competitions.

ENT589 BOO xxxx-1505 BRU B738 OM-HEX (02/10/24)

ENT590 BRU 1200-xxxx BOO B738 SP-ESF (04/10/24)

Ajax, Porto and Inter on the road - Europa League 20 February 2020

20 February 2020

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Arsenal

Arsenal travelled to Greece on a widebody plane, Boeing 767-300/ER ZS-NEX, which has seen quite some use on behalf of Premier League teams in the past. The rather private nature of these flights made it difficult to track them however.

ARN219 STN 1421-1916 ATH B763 ZS-NEX (19/02/20)

FC Brugge vs. Manchester United

Manchester United are playing the UEL once again and at least have made it through to the  round of 32 in what otherwise looks like a very difficult season. They face a trip to Belgium, where they will play against FC Brugge:

GDA**** MAN 1000-xxxx OST E190 (19/02/2020)

GDA**** OST xxxx-2215 MAN E190 (20/02/2020)

Info courtesy of AlphaFive from Manchester.

VfL Wolfsburg vs. Malmö FF

Malmö are a team that is capable of anything and for once they made it to the round of 32 in the UEL, where they will face a Wolfsburg team that sits right in the middle of the table in the Bundesliga.

DW769 MMX 1100-xxxx BWE E195 (19/02/20)
DW769 BWE xxxx-0200 MMX E195 (21/02/20)

Shakhtar Donezk vs. SL Benfica

Benfica has a long trip on hand to face Shakhtar at their exile in Kharkov. They will travel there on 18 February 2020 already, with two planes.

MLT892 LIS 1455-xxxx HRK B735 9H-VOX (18/02/20)
PVG7885 LIS 1515-xxxx HRK EC-ISY (18/02/20)

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Espanyol Barcelona

In a clash between two sides not very used to international football, Espanyol will travel to Wolverhampton first up. Espanyol will use a KlasJet B737-500 for this trip. There will be a charter flight for the supporters as well, on a Privilege Style B757-200.

KLJ3270 BCN 1030-xxxx BHX B735 (19/02/20)

PVG1900 BCN 0900-xxxx BHX B752

KLJ3271 BHX xxxx-0245 BCN B735 (21/02/20)

PVG2000 BHX xxxx-0335 BCN B752 (21/02/20)

APOEL Nicosia vs. FC Basel

The Swiss vice-champions are back to European Football in spring and are up for a long trip right away. Helvetic Airways is going to take the team to Larnaca and back with an Embraer EMB-190:

2L1362 ZRH xxxx-0700 BSL E190 (19/02/20, ferry flt)
2L8362 BSL 0800-xxxx LCA E190 (19/02/20)
2L8365 LCA xxxx-1720 BSL E190 (21/02/20)
2L1365 BSL 1820-xxxx ZRH E190 (21/02/20, ferry flt)

Sporting Lisbon vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

A very late goal away at Borussia Mönchengladbach earned Erdogan's young favourite club a spot in the last 16 of the Europa League. Now it seems that they got a little upgrade for their upcoming trip to Lisbon for what will be a true challenge for them.

TK3381 IST 0940-1130 LIS A333 (19/02/20)

TK3382 LIS 1300-2030 IST A333 (21/02/20)

FC Getafe vs. Ajax Amsterdam

The Dutch champions dropped out of the Champions League at a very late stage in the sixth round of the group stage, while Getafe finished the Europa League group stage in second place behind FC Basel. There will be two rather normal charters from Amsterdam to Madrid for this first leg match, with TUI Netherlands and Transavia.

OR7347 AMS xxxx-1535 MAD B738 (19/02/20)

HV6019 AMS xxxx-0930 MAD B738

OR7358 MAD 2300-xxxx(+1) AMS B738

HV6020 MAD 0000-xxxx AMS B738 (21/02/20)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. FC Porto

This 19 February 2020 will be special in Porto, for there will be two HiFly A340s taking football teams to different destinations. One of them will fly to Cologne, right next to Leverkusen, where FC Porto will face Bayer Leverkusen. 

HFM631 OPO 0945-1315 CGN A343 (19/02/20)

HFM652 CGN 0150-0320 OPO A343 (21/02/20)

CFR Cluj vs. Sevilla CF

Sevilla has enjoyed a lot of success in past seasons in the Europa League, notably winning the trophy three times from 2014 to 2016. Their knock-out journey will start a long way from home, with a trip to Cluj.

ZT5071 SVQ 0900-xxxx CLJ A321 (19/02/20)

ZT5072 CLJ xxxx-1230 SVQ A321 (21/02/20)

AZ Alkmaar vs. LASK Linz

Currently Austria's next best team, LASK have earned themselves a trip to the Netherlands to face Alkmaar. LASK's European journey this season is quite long already, having played a number of rounds in the Champions League qualifiers in summer last year.

VK111P VIE 1130-1210 LNZ A320 (Ferry flt)

VK4444 LNZ 1300-1430 AMS A320

VK4445 AMS 1210-1340 LNZ A320

VK122P LNZ 1430-1510 VIE A320 (ferry flt)

Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Inter Milan

Inter are chasing after Juventus domestically, but still present in European competition as well. They will visit Ludogorets, who like many other times in recent years are the only competitive outfit from Bulgaria:

AZ9018 MXP xxxx-1710 VAR (19/02/20)

AZ9019 VAR 1100-xxxx MXP (21/02/20)

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FC Salzburg

Seemingly overtaken by their "in-house" competition from Leipzig, Salzburg made it to the Champions League for the first time ever this season. They are back into their more familiar territory of the Europa League now, up for a trip to Frankfurt with Condor.

DE9336T FRA xxxx-1310 SZG A320 (19/02/20)

DE9337 SZG 1400-xxxx FRA A320 (19/02/20)

DE9336 FRA xxxx-1215 SZG A320 (21/02/20)

DE9337F SZG 1305-xxxx FRA A320 (21/02/20)

FC Kopenhagen vs. Celtic Glasgow

Celtic is known for a big traveling fan base and their tie in the round of 32 against Copenhagen looks nicely poised. One thing that seems certain is that there will be plenty of atmosphere at the Parken, as always when Copenhagen plays at home.

ENT561 GLA xxxx-1230 CPH B738 (19/02/20)
LS6035 GLA xxxx-1750 CPH B738 (19/02/20)

Glasgow Rangers vs. SC Braga

The other A340 of HiFly to leave Porto on 19 February 2020 will go to Glasgow, where SC Braga will face Rangers FC at Ibrox Park. Rangers have had some troubles in recent years, but they are firmly back on the European stage now.

HFM731 OPO 1030-xxxx GLA A332 CS-TQP (19/02/20)

HFM752 GLA xxxx-1630 OPO A332 CS-TQP (21/02/20)