Wolves in Europe: A Recap of Their Recent Climb in to the Europa League
The Recent Surge of Wolverhampton Wanderers
Back in the 1950s, Wolverhampton Wanderers were involved in arguably the most important match in the history of European football. Wolves were the champions of England at this point and later on that year they invited Hungarian side, Honved to their ground where they would partake in a flurry of friendly matches. Honved were a top side back then and the fixture was set up to be a juicy occasion with two top teams battling it out. Wolves just about came out as winners by winning 3-2, however, more importantly, this acted as the catalyst to create some form of European competition. There was such an intense mood of celebration after Wolves had beaten Honved and it just didn’t feel right that it was a friendly. Not long after this, the European Cup was created and has now molded into what we now know as the Champions League.
The match program of Wolves vs Honved
Fast forward 70 years or so later, Wolves have finally climbed their way back to the top where they are competing in Europe again, and it is mostly thanks to Nuno Espirito Santos. He arrived in May 2017 and had a very solid reputation as a goalkeeper through being a European Cup winner himself. In the Championship with Wolves, he broke the record of the highest ever points total with a stunning 99 tally. The style of football he played was exciting and they seemed to be a perfect fit for the Premier League.
In the 2018-2019 season, Nuno boosted the team, bringing in an array
of players, the most prominent of which from his native Portugal and turned out to be valuable
signings. Nuno’s side displayed excellent unity and proved that he had some
extremely talented players to his dispatch including the likes of Ruben Neves
and Raul Jimenez. His side enjoyed some spectacular wins against Chelsea and
Arsenal as well as going on an FA Cup run which saw them reach the semi-finals.
Along the way, they knocked out Liverpool and Manchester United. The season
concluded with Wolves sitting in an exceptional 7th place, which meant that
they had just about qualified for the Europa League.
These were exciting times for Wolves fans as they were
finally back playing in Europe. They had to compete in a series of qualifying rounds
before they locked their position in the Europa League proper. They cruised past Northern
Irish side, Crusaders, and then went out to smash Pyunik 4-0, both home and
away.
In the playoffs Wolves were matched against Torino, their
toughest test yet, however, they managed to secure a 5-3 win on aggregate. In
the group stages, they were matched up against Besiktas, Slovan Bratislava, and
Braga.
Nuno and his men went on to win 5 out of 6 of these, easily
topping the group and drawing Espanyol in the last 32. Wolves’ 4-0 triumph in
the first leg allowed them to sit back and field a weaker side in the second
leg, which they lost 3-2.
Heading into the round of 16, Wolves were matched up against
the Greek side, Olympiacos. Wolves managed to clinch an important 1-1 draw away
from home. This turned out to be the final game before the Coronavirus
interruption for Wolves in the Europa League therefore their destiny in the tournament will be decided in August, in Germany.
There was, until yesterday so much for Wolves to play for but last nights away defeat to Sheffield United now means they are likely to miss out on a Champions League spot, but following on from their consistency from last season, some may say Wolves are now an established Premier League side.
An article by Callum Mcbain
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