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EUROPA LEAGUE: Top five talking points - Delia disappoints as Bilbao put down marker

1) “Small details” mean big problems for Delia

Norwegian manager Ronny Delia has struggled to completely win over the Celtic fans since his surprise announcement as the new boss in June last year.

Sure they won the Scottish Premiership and League Cup in his first season, however in a league shorn of former rivals Rangers that would be expected at the very least.

They gave a good go of it in last season’s Europa League before going out to Inter Milan in the last 32, but have limped out feebly from this year’s group stages.

Group A is strong, in fairness to Delia, with Ajax, Fenerbahce and Molde competing too yet the nature of their three defeats and two draws is extremely worrying for the Glasgow giants.

Needless defensive errors, profligate finishing and shocking lapses of concentration late on have all combined to leave them rock bottom with one game left to play.

Afterwards, Delia talked of tweaking “small details” to get them ready for a Champions League push next season but the task looks a great deal bigger for the former Strømsgodset boss who could be lucky to still be in the dugout when that rolls around.

2) Bilbao can pose a threat in knockout stages

Spain has an enviable track record in the Europa League and Bilbao are no strangers to going deep after finishing runners-up to Atlético Madrid in 2012.

They were blown away by Radamel Falcao’s brace inside 34 minutes in the Bucharest final three years ago therefore will be fired up to go one better this season.

Group L has been a curious beast with Bilbao battling hard to progress alongside Partizan Belgrade, AZ Alkmaar and German upstarts FC Augsburg.

Athletic pulled away from the rest last time out with a 5-1 home thrashing of Partizan, their thrilling 3-2 victory at Augsburg last night sealing their place.

Susaeta gave them an early lead, only for Augsburg to hit back for a 2-1 lead until veteran goal poacher Aritz Aduriz struck twice late on to nick the win.

Boss Ernesto Valverde has fashioned a Basque side full of endeavour and, with the likes of Raúl García, Beñat Etxebarria and Iñaki Williams to call on too, you would not bet against them striding out in Basel come May.

3) Lazio are living on borrowed time

Dnipro reached the 2015 final earlier this year where they came up against a striker in the form of Sevilla’s prolific Carlos Bacca who was hell bent on lifting silverware.

They have been brought down to earth with a bump in this season’s competition thanks to an eclectic Group G packed with established European teams and old throwbacks.

Norwegians Rosenborg are a shadow of the enterprising side seen in Champions Leagues past, as opposed to Lazio and St Etienne who both won through last night.

Much travelled Lazio boss Stefano Pioli cannot call upon stars such as former greats Alessandro Nesta, Juan Sebastián Verón, Paul Gascoigne, Alen Boksic and Beppe Signori.

Instead, he has had to try and concoct a potent side from a squad largely full of Italian journeymen and international misfits looking for redemption.

Argentine skipper Lucas Biglia, Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij and Brazilian attacker Felipe Anderson are undoubtedly class acts, however Pioli still seems unsure of his best XI.

The fact that he has managed to seal a knockout place so early must be applauded, but you get the feeling a side reliant on 37-year-old Miroslav Klose and Antonio Candreva for goals will struggle to go much further.

4) Gutsy Krasnodar will be no pushovers

Borussia Dortmund rattled the woodwork three times on their trip to Russia last night, but ended up travelling back to Germany with nothing to show for their efforts.

In fact, they could even finish Group C behind FC Krasnodar after the Russians scored an early goal through Pavel Mamayev’s second-minute penalty and held on to top the standings.

Third in last season’s Russian Premier League behind Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow, the unheralded team founded just seven years ago could become a regular fixture in European competition based on their displays this season.

Manager Oleg Kononov has a Swedish captain in Andreas Granqvist, the usual sprinkling of Brazilians commonplace in Russia and home internationals Fyodor Smolov and Mamayev.

They have certainly shown no fear on mixing it in Europe with PAOK and Qabala both acccounted for and the other knockout teams suddenly aware that they could be tricky opponents if picked out the hat.

5) English sides toying with Champions League loser spots

When the draw for the knockout stages of the Europa League is unveiled, Spurs and Liverpool could be lining up alongside fellow Premier League sides.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea are all leaving it to the final game in their respective Champions League groups as to which level of European competition they will continue in.

Arsene Wenger’s side are the most likely of the three to drop down with a trip to Olympiacos needing a comprehensive victory to avoid an embarrassing exit.

United, meanwhile, need a positive combination of results from their visit to Wolfsburg and PSV’s home clash with CSKA to ensure they book Group B progress.

Chelsea look better set with a Group G home tie against Porto leaving it in their own hands, however Jose Mourinho’s side could yet slip to a surprise elimination against his old team.

Elsewhere Valencia, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen also face a nervous wait to see if they will be handed a second chance to win silverware after falling short at the first moneyed hurdle.

Join me on 10th December for the next round of reflection.

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