It was a compelling day of Europa and Conference League football, with 3 of the 4 home sides taking goal-advantages in the 1st leg of the semifinals.

Braga strengthened their case as the UEL's team of destiny, delighting their fans with a stoppage-time winner over Freiburg, while Forest edged past Villa 1-0 thanks to Chris Wood penalty.

In the UECL, Rayo Vallecano rode a confident 2nd-half display to take a narrow lead into Strasbourg next Thursday, and Crystal Palace impressed with a brutally efficient 3-1 display over Shakhtar.

We discuss how each victor earned their results, our level of concern for each loser, and what we think will be different in the 2nd legs.

Plus, everyone's favorite – a contentious and bitter takedown of VAR! Hooray!

Cheers Oliver Glasner!

It was another scintillating showcase of Europa and Conference League football Thursday, with more goals abounding.

The headline of the night is of course Braga's wild comeback in Seville, where they shocked Real Betis with four consecutive goals to advance. How has Braga become such a resilient group? And what went wrong for Betis?

Nottingham Forest squeaked through Porto thanks to a very silly red card and a deflected shot. Are they the 2024-25 Tottenham of this year's competition? Meanwhile, Aston Villa and Freiburg took care of business in impressive fashion. Are they our new favorites to meet in next month's final?

Over in the Conference, we witnessed two brilliant comeback attempts, with Strasbourg overwhelming Mainz and AEK Athens falling just short to Rayo Vallecano despite Zine's career night.

We also discuss Crystal Palace managing Fiorentina and Shakhtar extinguishing AZ Alkmaar.

Finally, we close with some brief thoughts on each eliminated team. What does each club need to do to replicate their European journeys and to go a step further?

Cheers to Carlos Vicens (and sub-cheers to Gary O'Neil)!

We're back for the 1st legs of the Europa and Conference League quarterfinals and we got a jam-packed Thursday full of goals!

We tackle all the best action from both competitions, from Forest's improbable draw in Porto to Freiburg's demolition of Celta Vigo, from Fiorentina's humiliation in South London to Shakhtar's shocking late rout of AZ Alkmaar.

Plus we answer all of your most pressing questions: How has Urs Fischer turns Mainz around so dramatically, and how did he out-maneuver Gary O'Neil's injury-riddled Strasbourg? What went wrong for Bologna after a promising opening against Villa, and is Jonathan Rowe an emerging star? Could Braga actually upset Betis in Sevilla, and why is Max always so mean to them?

All that, a lookahead to the 2nd legs, and of course, a pitstop at David's Coefficient Corner.

Cheers to Urs Fischer!