Ticked: Clip summary of the day's sports events, 20.9/Sport1
After the grand opening of the Champions League, the group stage of the Europa League got underway tonight (Thursday). At home to Maccabi Haifa, Villarreal suffered an away defeat to Panathinaikos, Liverpool started the campaign on the right foot by beating Lusk. Later, Ajax meet Marseille in a match between two tricky teams.
Group A
West Ham United vs Baczka (22:00, Sport2)Olympiacos FC vs Freiburg (22:00)
Ajax start their European campaign at a tricky time/Getty Images, Peter Lous/BSR Agency
Group B
Ajax vs Marseille (22:00, Sport4)
Although these are two teams that were European champions in the past, in the present each will come with its own problems for the encounter. Ajax have won just once this season in the Dutch league and have picked up just two points in the last three matches, while Marseille are in a serious crisis over the alleged death threats received by president Pablo Longoria from the Ultras chiefs, which has led to the temporary resignation of senior management members and probably the resignation of coach Marcelino, even if the Spaniard is on the sidelines - something that is unclear if this will happen as of this writing.
Brighton vs AEK Athens (22:00)
Group C
Sparta Prague vs Aris Thessaloniki (22:00)Betis vs Rangers (22:00)
Group D
Sturm Graz vs Sporting CP (22:00)Atalanta vs Rakov (22:00)
A turnaround and three points for Liverpool. Núñez celebrates/Reuters
Group E
Lusk Linz vs Liverpool 3:1
Liverpool returned to the Europa League eight seasons after losing to Sevilla in the 2016 final, in Jurgen Klopp's debut season at the club, and the German manager's secondary team fell behind after Florian Felker's superb kick from just outside the area (14). However, in the second half Darwin Núñez equalised with a successful penalty (56) and Bayern Munich acquisition Ryan Grafenberch provided a debut assist for Luis Diaz who completed a turnover (63) and Mohamed Salah, who came off the bench, poked a close-range (88) between the goalkeeper's legs towards the end. The Austrians snapped a run of seven games without defeat and Liverpool, who got Virgil van Dijk back who didn't play for several weeks due to a Premier League suspension, can shift their focus to the tough game against West Ham at Anfield on Sunday (16pm on Sport00).
Union Saint-Gilloise vs Toulouse 1:1 (match in progress)
For Toulouse: Thijs Dalinge (1, penalty). For Saint-Gilloise: Mohamed Amora (43).
Group F
group Games Victories Even Losses Gates Points 1 sing
1 1 0 0 0-3 3 2 Villareal
0 0 0 0 0-0 0 3 Panathinaikos
0 0 0 0 0-0 0 4 Maccabi Haifa
1 0 0 1 3-0 0
Panathinaikos vs Villarreal 0
:2
Pacheta beat Almeria in his debut game as Villarreal manager, but for the opening round of the Europa League the winner from 2021 lined up with a line-up of substitutes and the Greek league leader took advantage to collect three points and cling to Rennes at the top of Maccabi Haifa's group. Giannis Kutsiras cooked up a deep ball to Fotis Ioannidis who bounced superbly over veteran Pepe Reina (38), Andrez Sporar doubled (78) and Panathinaikos recorded a third consecutive win in all competitions.
Opened with her right foot. Panathinaikos/Reuters
Group G
Servette vs Slavia Prague 2:0
Slavia: Lukasz Mesopust (32), Igo Ogbo (59)
Sheriff Tiraspol vs AS Roma 2:1
Renato Sanchez had just returned from injury and started for the Giallorossi, but within 28 minutes he suffered another muscle injury and had to make way for Leandro Paredes, who in extra time of the first half scored Roma's first with a free kick that created confusion in the host defence. Christian Tovar equalised temporarily for Sheriff (57), but Romelu Lukaku continued to show signs of acclimatizing to the team from the Italian capital, sealing a superb team move (65) with a beautiful individual effort wide that set up the final result.
Bayer Leverkusen continues to score in bunches/Reuters
Group H
Bayer Leverkusen - Haken 0-4
Xabi Alonso's hot
side provided another goal celebration and remained unbeaten in all competitions. After losing their perfect record in the German league last week with a 2-2 win over Bayern Munich, Leverkusen have scored three or more goals for the sixth time in their last seven games (!). Florian Wirtz scored (10) and cooked for Jonas Hofmann who scored the fourth (70), Amin Adli also registered a goal (16) and an assist (66) for Victor Boniface who set up the first for Wirtz and found the net himself for the third.
Servette vs Slavia Prague 2:0
Slavia: Lukasz Mesopust (32), Igo Ogbo (59)
- More on the subject:
- Villareal
- Panathinaikos
- Liverpool
- Ajax
- Marseilles
