European Highlights: Five Europa League matches that stand out in the first round
Wednesday, September 25th
Manchester United vs Twente - 21:00 CET
A club of Manchester United's status should be making the UEFA Champions League. However, the Red Devils have been unable to find a way out of the crisis for years. Even in 2024/25, manager Erik ten Hag's team have failed to fully convince.
On Saturday, they only managed a goalless draw at Crystal Palace. Although they dominated the game for long stretches and created numerous goalscoring opportunities, a lack of efficiency cost United an important away win.
The issue is in attack. New signing Joshua Zirkzee has only scored once in five league games. In the Premier League, United have only scored five goals in total - with an xG value of 10.21.
A successful result against Twente would be good for the entire club. However, the Dutch side are travelling to Old Trafford with their chests out. On Sunday, they dispatched Almere City 5-0, with Sem Steijn scoring a brace. The 22-year-old is the top scorer in the Eredivisie (six goals) and the home side will have to keep a close eye on him on Wednesday.
Thursday, September 26th
The young Italian Francesco Farioli has taken over as coach of Ajax after their disastrous 2023/24 season. The 35-year-old is extremely well-versed in tactics and knows how to deal with promising talent - of which there is no shortage at the Dutch record champions.
However, Faiorli has not yet been able to pull the cart out of the mud. On Saturday, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Go Ahead Eagles, with the Ajax offence proving frighteningly harmless. Centre-forward Wout Weghorst hardly saw any action, failing to score in 70 minutes of action.
The 32-year-old Dutchman will face his former club on Thursday. He scored nine goals in 18 competitive matches for Besiktas. The club from Istanbul is still unbeaten in the current season. They are hot on the heels of city rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super Lig, picking up 13 points in five games. Ciro Immobile is Besiktas' top scorer with four goals.
AS Roma vs Athletic Bilbao - 21:00 CET
Coach Ivan Juric's debut was a success as AS Roma celebrated a convincing 3-0 home win over Udinese Calcio on Sunday. A few days earlier, club legend Daniele De Rossi had been sacked after a poor start to the season. The 41-year-old had tried in vain to give Rome a new look. His successor Juric is much more pragmatic than the former midfielder.
Against Udinese, the Giallorossi favoured a no-frills, direct passing game. Offensive players Artem Dovbyk and Paulo Dybala both scored and gained fresh confidence. Nevertheless, they made a number of mistakes in defence and were reliant on luck.
Athletic Bilbao are currently much more consistent than Roma. The Basque club are currently third in the LaLiga table and celebrated their third win in a row this weekend (3-1 against Celta Vigo). Ohian Sancet is Bilbao's top scorer with three goals, while Inaki Williams already has four assists to his name.
Olympique Lyon vs Olympiacos Piraeus - 21:00 CET
Lyon once dominated Ligue 1, becoming French champions seven times in a row between 2002 and 2008. Those days are over. US billionaire John Textor and his group of investors took over the club two years ago, but the new owners have not yet succeeded in restoring the club's former stability.
On Sunday, they lost 3-2 against arch-rivals Marseille, the third defeat of the season for Lyon. The logical consequence arose with coach Pierre Sage being criticised. But the 45-year-old was not impressed. After the final whistle, he went on the offensive and criticised the unbalanced composition of the squad. As the former head of the club's own academy, Sage would like to see more youth players.
A home win against Greek record champions Olympiacos would certainly calm the situation at OL. Olympiacos have been weak recently. After a strong start to the season with three wins in a row, they suffered two surprising slip-ups, a draw against Panetolikos (0-0) and a loss to Aris Saloniki (2-1). The visitors are coached by Spaniard Jose Luis Mendilibar, who won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2023.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Qarabag Agdam - 21:00 CET
Tottenham are of course the clear favourites in their home match against Azerbaijani representative Qarabag. Manager Ange Postecoglou's team play very respectable football, with numerous stars adorning the Londoners' squad: Son Heung-Min, Richarlison, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur are just a few examples.
However, Qarabag should not be underestimated. Founded in 1951, the club is an extremely tough opponent on the European stage. In 2017/18, they qualified for the group stage of the Champions League. Last year, they celebrated great success in the Europa League. They finished second in the group phase and then eliminated Braga from Portugal in the subsequent knockout round.
Of course, Spurs are still the clear favourites on Thursday. Especially as they put in a strong performance in their 3-1 win over Brentford on Saturday. Centre-forward Dominic Solanke scored the first goal for his new employers, having been brought in from Bournemouth by Tottenham in the summer for a basic transfer fee of €64 million.