Brendan Rodgers on Thursday admitted he does not know what the UEFA Europa Conference League is after Leicester City’s 3-2 defeat at SSC Napoli condemned them to a place in the unheralded competition.
Napoli sent Leicester crashing out of the UEFA Europa League as the Italian side advanced to the knockout stages in a dramatic conclusion to Group C.
Leicester were top of the group going into the final round of matches, but the defeat in Naples dropped them to third place, meaning they enter UEFA’s third-tier tournament in the knockout playoff round in February.
Photo: Reuters
“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t even know what the competition is,” Rodgers said of the Europa Conference League. “I was focused on the Europa League and winning this group, or at the very least finishing second. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m sure we will find out soon enough.”
Napoli had blown a two-goal lead as Leicester hit back to level by halftime, but Eljif Elmas’ second goal of the game won it for the hosts after the interval.
Spartak Moscow finished top of the group after a 1-0 win at Legia Warsaw, secured by Zelimkhan Bakaev’s 17th-minute goal.
Leicester, beset by COVID-19 cases and other illnesses, would have salvaged their Europa League place if Legia’s Tomas Pekhart had not missed a stoppage-time penalty.
Napoli ended in second place, two points ahead of Leicester, and are to feature in the Europa League knockout round playoffs in February.
Injury-hit Napoli took the lead in the fourth minute as Adam Ounas marked his first start for the club since 2019 with a clinical low strike from just inside the penalty area.
Napoli struck again in the 24th minute when Andrea Petagna beat Leicester’s offside trap and squared his pass to Elmas, who slotted past Kasper Schmeichel with ease.
Jonny Evans gave Leicester hope when he fired home after Napoli failed to clear James Maddison’s 27th-minute free-kick.
Evans’ first goal in Europe for eight years was followed in the 33rd minute by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s maiden goal for Leicester.
Maddison’s free-kick was only cleared to the edge of the penalty area, where the 23-year-old midfielder smashed a superb volley into the bottom corner.
However, Napoli won it in the 53rd minute when Elmas lashed home from Giovanni di Lorenzo’s cross to continue a disappointing season for the FA Cup holders.
Rodgers could face his former club Celtic in the Europa Conference League as they finished third despite a 3-2 win over second-placed Real Betis Balompie in Group G.
However, Celtic’s Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi suffered a hamstring injury, with manager Ange Postecoglou saying: “It’s not good. We will just wait and see what the assessment is.”
Second-placed Dinamo Zagreb advanced to the knockout playoffs as Mislav Orsic’s long-range curler in the third minute clinched a 1-0 victory at Group H winners West Ham United, who fielded a largely inexperienced team.
Olympique de Marseille, already destined for the Europa Conference League, beat Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 in Group E, which was won by Galatasaray, who settled for a 0-0 draw with second-placed SS Lazio.
Real Sociedad secured second place in Group B with a 3-0 win against PSV Eindhoven, who drop into the Europa Conference League.
Mikel Oyarzabal netted a 43rd-minute penalty and scored again in the 62nd minute, before Alexander Sorloth struck in the final moments after Ibrahim Sangare’s red card for PSV.
Group A winners Olympique Lyonnais lost their 100 percent record in this season’s competition after a 1-1 draw against second-placed Rangers.
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