While not always the best football, the Europa League is, if nothing else, always entertaining. Thursday nights on the continent seem to produce as many bloopers as they do belters, as many howlers as they do highlights, and more than anything just the outright wacky. In other words, every time we think we've seen it all in football, the Europa League seems to be quick to remind us that we actually haven't. That brings us to Thursday's Europa League tie between FC Zurich and AEK Larnaca.
After an hour of goalless football, FC Zurich is awarded a penalty, which Kosovo international Benjamin Kololli deposits into the back of the net to break the deadlock. So impressed with his finish and eager to celebrate with the travelling fans, Kololli hops the advertisement boards lining the field and approaches the crowd. That's when it suddenly all goes horribly wrong for our friend Mr. Kololli.
Ahora Caigo pic.twitter.com/YfTsT9kf4E
— Mr. Portadas ⚽️ (@MrPortadas) September 20, 2018
Ouch! It turns out Kololli didn't realise how just how big a drop lay behind the wall that separated him from the fans, resulting in a tumble that took the FC Zurich goal scorer -- who stands 1.84 meters, or 6 feet, tall -- entirely out of view. Kololli will probably be too embarrassed to admit it, but judging from the drop, that fall had to have hurt.
The good news is that he came out of this fall no worse for wear, the midfielder finishing the game and helping Zurich hold onto an important victory to open their Europa League campaign. The moral of the story here is always know your surroundings and use caution when celebrating.
Luckily for Kololli, this time the only thing he damaged was his ego...