Which clubs over and under performed in the Europa League?

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Tottenham most valuable 

©TM/IMAGO

The Europa League doesn’t carry the prestige or financial rewards of the Champions League but it remains a fantastic competition. The second biggest European club competition features some heavyweight clubs this season with Manchester United, Tottenham and Galatasaray amongst those aiming to reach the final in Bilbao.

Matchday eight was full of jeopardy on Thursday night as clubs battled out to secure automatic qualification for the last 16, while others had to settle for a place in the play-offs next month – you can view that draw here. But which clubs overachieved and underachieved in the league phase? Using Transfermarkt’s market values, we’ve compiled an alternative table based on how clubs are performing in the league phase table in relation to the market value of their squad.

Using the aforementioned criteria, BodoGlimt were the best performing team in the Europa League league phase when their final position was compared to their market value position. The Norwegian club finished ninth in the standings but they only had the 30th most valuable squad in the Europa League. FCSB rank second with Rangers’ impressive campaign earning them third spot. The Scottish club finished in eight despite having the 22nd most valuable squad in the competition and they impressively faced four of the other top seven clubs. As the graphic below illustrates, Lazio were the only club from the top five leagues to feature in the top ten overperforming clubs.

The clubs that underperformed the most makes for bad reading for Turkish clubs. Jose Mourinho’s  Fenerbahce sneaked into the play-off places in 24th place, despite having the tenth most valuable squad in the Europa League – Besiktas ranked fourth bottom. Statistically, Nice were the worst performing club in the competition as they finished second bottom overall despite having the 12th most valuable squad. Tottenham and Manchester United both slightly underperformed against their market value but both secured automatic qualification to the last 16.