Strasbourg storm back to deny Mainz; Shakhtar, Palace and Rayo joy
Racing Strasbourg's Julio Enciso celebrates scoring his side's third goal during the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter final second leg soccer match between Racing Strasbourg and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Stade de la Meinau. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa Racing Strasbourg flew past Mainz 4-0 at home on Thursday and 4-2 on aggregate to land in the Conference League semi-finals after a special comeback in their stadium made of aircraft parts.
Shakhtar Donetsk, despite the war still raging in Ukraine, also progressed after a 2-2 draw at AZ Alkmaar secured a 5-2 aggregate success. The 2009 UEFA Cup champions will next face Crystal Palace, who finished off Fiorentina 4-2 on aggregate following a 2-1 defeat in Italy. Rayo Vallecano lost 3-1 at AEK Athens but clinched a 4-3 overall victory and next take on Strasbourg over two legs on April 30 and May 7.
Germans Mainz were 2-0 up from last week's home leg against Strasbourg but hit serious turbulence at the Stade de La Meinau, famously rebuilt using discarded planes. Sebastian Nanasi prodded in from close range for the French side, owned by Chelsea backers BlueCo, and Abdoul Ouattara's powerful header levelled the overall tie at half-time. Emmanuel Emegha missed a penalty to give Mainz brief hope but Julio Enciso's easy finish and an eventual goal for Emegha settled matters.
Mainz have only previously been to one semi-final in their history, losing in the German Cup last four to Bayer Leverkusen in 2009, and the statistic will stay that way for now. The club famously once coached by Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel were bottom of the Bundesliga in December when former Union Berlin boss Urs Fischer took over. Now they are looking safe in the German top-flight and have given their fans a thrilling European ride, which ended with a nasty bump and fisticuffs among both sets of players after full-time.
Racing Strasbourg's Abdoul Ouattara (L) celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter final second leg soccer match between Racing Strasbourg and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Stade de la Meinau. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa Racing Strasbourg's Sebastian Nanasi (L) celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter final second leg soccer match between Racing Strasbourg and 1.