By Yossi Medina and Eden Roitfarb
The wait is over. The Europa Conference League is back with the first leg of the play-off round.
Here are the best moments from the matchday.
Ajax provide a stunning comeback
Things have been seeming very gloomy for Ajax in their Europa Conference League debut.
At home, against the experienced Bodø Glimt, they were down 2-0 following a couple of great Albert Grønbæk goals.
It looked like more misery was being piled on the Amsterdam side’s miserable season.
But somehow, in stoppage time, the story changed its course.
Brian Brobbey managed to secure a penalty, and a red card for Odin Bjørtuft, in the 90th minute, and Branco Van den Boomen converted from the spot.
Over? Not quite. Seven minutes later, after a scramble at a corner, Steven Berghuis audaciously chipped goalkeeper Kjetil Haug from inside the box to make it 2-2.
A great game ends with big disappointment for Bodø Glimt, and a glimpse of hope for Ajax.
The equal contenders
Eintracht Frankfurt were one of the biggest favorites to win the tournament, but they failed to finish in first place in their group - and now they have to face a tough opponent, Union St. Gilloise.
The Germans began the match with two goals in the first 10 minutes - from Fares Chaibi and Sasa Kalajdzic.
But nothing is ever easy in the Conference League.
Union started their comeback in the 31st minute with a goal from Mathias Rasmussen. Another Scandinavian scorer, Gustaf Nilsson, equalized just after the hour mark.
With a 2-2 draw, both teams will have to wait for the return leg to see who will advance.
Advantage Maccabi Haifa
The Greens from Haifa - who return to the Conference Leg after appearing in the group stage in the very first edition - hosted Gent in Budapest.
That game took place at a neutral venue as a result of the ongoing war at home.
However, that did not prevent them from gaining an important 1-0 win against the Belgians, who also lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the group stage in an ‘away’ game in Serbia.
Frantzdy Pierrot, the Haitian striker, scored the only goal of the game, after a VAR check ruled him onside.
That was Pierrot’s sixth European goal of the season - all of the previous five were in the Champions League qualification rounds.
Next week, Gent will host behind closed doors, due to fears from the club’s management that the game will be used as a platform for political agendas.
Two Maccabi Haifa players, Kenny Saief and Rami Gershon, have played for Gent in the past, and even won the Belgian title with them in 2015.
Sadly, they will not be able to receive a proper homecoming from the local fans.
A home game away from home. Maccabi Haifa faithfuls arrived in numbers in Budapest, to support their team in the Europa Conference League playoff knockout clash against Gent. (Photo courtesy: Maccabi Haifa official website)
Drama in Norway
Molde have one of the best home advantages in Europe, and this round they host Legia Warsaw.
And they really made the most of that at the start of the game - Fredrik Gulbrandsen scored twice inside the first twenty minutes, before Markus Andre Kaasa added his one five minutes later.
3-0 down after 25 minutes, Legia didn’t give up.
It looked like a second half comeback was on - with goals from Josue and Rafal Augustyniak closing the gap to one with 20 minutes to play.
But they couldn’t get another.
While Molde will see this as a missed opportunity to all but progress after the first leg, they will travel to Poland next week with a 3-2 lead.
Spain’s struggles continue
The Conference League has not been a welcoming place for Spanish teams.
Villarreal crashed out last season in the round of 16, and this season Osasuna couldn’t make it through the last qualifying round.
Enter Real Betis, who dropped down from the Europa League with big expectations and a star-studded squad.
But perhaps the curse is too powerful for them as well.
A Bruno Petkovic penalty saw them lose 1-0 at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday.
That goal made Petkovic the top-joint goalscorer of the competition so far, with five goals.
Not all is lost, however, and Betis have the quality to recover - but winning in Zagreb is a very tough task.
Dinamo, who started their European season poorly, suddenly feel very good about themselves.
Sturm Graz are back
More than 20 years have passed since the last time that Sturm Graz made it out of a group stage.
eThis year they are joining the Conference League from the Europa League, and their opponent in the play-off round is one of the most experienced clubs at this stage, Slovan Bratislava.
From the start it seemed that the game would be quite balanced.
Mika Biereth scored for Sturm Graz after four minutes, with a Gerson Rodrigues equaliser a few minutes later.
But then the Austrians started to dominate.
Goals from Jon Gorenc Stankovic, Otar Kiteishvili and Amady Camara gave Sturm Graz a 4-1 victory.
Olympiacos win at home
Olympiacos have had some bad years in European football, but now they have a chance to succeed in the Conference League. On Thursday they hosted Ferencvaros.
Only one goal was scored in the match, and it took a long time to come - Ayoub El Kaabi slotted home in the 81st minute. It was the Moroccan’s sixth goal this season in eleven European matches.
The Greek side are now 90 minutes away from qualifying for the last 16.
And elsewhere: Servette and Ludogorets saw out a 0-0 draw in Switzerland.
In a nice day in Pireus, Olympiakos can see the Europa Conference League last 16. (Photo courtesy: Olympiakos official X account)
