The UEFA Europa League group stage kicked off on Thursday with 24 matches which featured three Premier League club, including two of the Big Six in Arsenal and Spurs, as well as Italian giants AC Milan and Portuguese giants Benfica. Below you'll find Thursday's slate with live updates, takeaways and top goals of the day. Highlights include Bayer Leverkusen dominating Nice, a perfect run for Premier League teams and an upset for Napoli.
Arsenal were supposed to be the better team on paper, but no one apparently told the English club of this prior to their Thursday match against Rapid Wien. A scoreless first half revealed that while the Gunners had the more talented players, it was their Austrian opponents who looked better on the field. There was more control from Wien and they threatened for frequently than Mikel Arteta's men -- at least to the extent that either defense was threatened during the opening 45 minutes. This led to a situation where it was Wien who scored the opener thanks to a baffling mistake from Arsenal's defense. That concession, however, was exactly what Arsenal needed to wake up. The attacking was turned up, leading to a David Luiz header to equalize less than 20 minutes after Wien broke the deadlock. Then came super sub, but typical starter, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang to tap in the second so that Arsenal could take a 2-1 lead, and total control of the match, with the remaining minutes taking place like they should have on paper. A win is a win, but if Arsenal are going to rely on this playing possum routine to succeed in Europa League, they'll find their favorited path to a title in the competition a lot more precarious than it should be.
These two renowned clubs have met one another 11 times in European competitions, but it'd be a stretch to call this a rivalry. Only once has the Scottish side come away with three points during all of their encounters, and it seemed like Wednesday was going to be no different with Milan just overwhelming Celtic with their superior talent. Somewhere in the second half Milan took their foot off the pedal, allowing Mohamed Elyounoussi to get one back for the champions of Scotland, and for the club to actually provide some threatening waves of offense that forced the Italian club into some frantic defending. But such threats only have so much value when they don't result in any goals, as was the case for Celtic on Thursday. Where this really becomes a problem is late in the game, when a talented team like Milan are able to pounce on one of the few opportunities given to them to score a back-breaking injury time goal that seals the match -- which is what Jens Petter Hauge did to make it 3-1 in the second minute of extra time. Celtic's record against Milan is now one win, three draws and seven losses.
Napoli's 4-1 defeat over Atalanta this past weekend Serie A served as a foil for each club's eventual performance in European competition this week. After being on the wrong end of that trouncing, Atalanta bounced back with a dominant 4-0 win over Midtjylland in their opening match of their Champions League campaign. Napoli, meanwhile, were incapable of turning their high-scoring victory into any meaningful momentum during their Europa League match on Thursday against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. They suffered a cagey 1-0 defeat against their opponents. It would have been fine had AZ pulled out the victory thanks to their best players competing at a higher level, and their manager developing masterful tactics, but that wasn't exactly the case. In fact AZ were at an extra disadvantage due to a COVID wave that hit the club earlier this week. According to reports, 13 players were infected with the respiratory disease, which include four that had tested positive before a Dutch league game last weekend. Napoli should consider outplaying the team decimated with a disease that has caused a global pandemic next time.
The outright winner of the evening's best goal comes from Kemar Roofe of Rangers F.C. The absolute golazo came in injury time with Standard Liege sending everyone forward, and the keeper being off his line. Roofe recognized the situation and blasted a shot from around midfield, which floated right into the net from all the way down there.
AN ABSOLUTE SCREAMER 🚀 pic.twitter.com/t8McXmmRo3
— Champions League on CBS Sports (@UCLonCBSSports) October 22, 2020
The @EuropaLeague is @carlos7bacca territory! 💛
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
Another goal tonight against @SivassporKulubu which takes his total to 22 in this competition! 💥⚽ pic.twitter.com/AA4pteMTcl
💭 "We have to know where to take the risk and when... We've been successful doing it and we have to keep doing it because it's our model." @m8arteta speaks on building from the back and our #UEL victory 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 22, 2020
These 4 sides were relentless in attack. Who entertained the most? 🍿#UEL
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 22, 2020
Maddison ⚽️
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 22, 2020
Barnes ⚽️
Iheanacho ⚽️
Enjoy tonight's goals back right here ⤵️
Your debut with your new club is always special, but even more so if it's with a win! 💛 Congrats, @gerorulli! 💪 pic.twitter.com/rFcS3DovUY
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
👉 Full Match
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 22, 2020
👉 Highlights
👉 90 in 90
👉 Goals
📺 Relive all the action from Thursday's victory on RangersTV now: https://t.co/ahZvc6bsLX pic.twitter.com/QgyvmmdF6S
Goodnight, Foxes fans! 🌙 pic.twitter.com/UfAxhSNX97
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 22, 2020
Which of these eye-catching North London signings impressed most? 🧐
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 22, 2020
⚪️ Carlos Vinícius
🔴 Thomas Partey#UEL pic.twitter.com/EVKYjDX0dy
🔝 Top scorers after matchday 1...#UEL
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 22, 2020
WOW! What a debut for @JuanMFoyth! 💛
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
👉 A goal with a special dedication
👉 An assist for @paco93alcacer
👉 100% pass completion rate (75 out of 75) pic.twitter.com/fF2U6sj3gm
“A clean sheet was important for us. Fundamentally, that's your base. And so, I thought defensively we had to work very, very hard against a good team." 💪#UEL #LeiZrl
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 22, 2020
Check out the full post-match reactions 👉 https://t.co/EJD50dgt32
— AC Milan (@acmilan) October 22, 2020
Le parole del Mister e di @simonkjaer1989 al termine di #CelticMilan 👉 https://t.co/8MZ9IWNzlU#SempreMilan #UEL pic.twitter.com/QmiwFCWOlt
✅7️⃣ games
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 22, 2020
🅰️4️⃣ assists @HectorBellerin in 2020/21 👏 pic.twitter.com/seSbC6o9ZQ
Congratulations on your first-team debut @santos_yeremy! 💛 pic.twitter.com/KXsCDFMukL
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
"It's nights like these that you dream of." ✨ - @Madders10#UEL #LeiZrl
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 22, 2020
Delighted to have made my debut for @SpursOfficial tonight. The hard work continues!💙#COYS pic.twitter.com/0xCxhcfV9s
— Jack Clarke (@JackClarke09) October 22, 2020
🎶 Yup, in my white tee.
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 22, 2020
Call up Hype Williams for the hype please. 🌵 pic.twitter.com/tQ3VsUq3OT
Spurs debut: ✔️#UEL ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/CMsw5S2L1G
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 22, 2020
Who gets your vote? 🔥
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 22, 2020
⭐️ Darwin Nuñez
⭐️ Yusuf Yazıcı
⭐️ Kelechi Iheanacho
⭐️ Takefusa Kubo@hankookreifen | #UELPOTW | #UEL
🔥 PACO is ON FIRE 🔥
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
A brace in his first @EuropaLeague game with #Villarreal! 💛 The Yellows striker has scored six goals in seven games! 😱 @paco93alcacer pic.twitter.com/U8Rbtn0WV5
#UEL | #Villarreal pick up their first win in the 2020/21 @EuropaLeague after a real goal fest at the #EstadioDeLaCerámica!
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) October 22, 2020
Here's the match report! 📝https://t.co/So9DJ3mk5Z
Europa league please to wear the shirt #GodisGreat 🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/wqdnmkcjZO
— Calvin Bassey (@CalvinBassey) October 22, 2020
Great way to start the new season of @europaleague 💪🏼 Solid perfomance from the team and 3 points away from home. 💙 There’s no better way to celebrate my birthday 🎉 Thank you all for the birthday wishes. #RangersFC #UEL pic.twitter.com/YT8NHn3xxm
— Ianis Hagi (@IanisHagi10) October 22, 2020
🟡 Villarreal win an eight-goal thriller against Sivasspor! 😅
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 22, 2020
⚽️ Takefusa Kubo
⚽️ Carlos Bacca
⚽️ Juan Foyth
⚽️ Paco Alcácer
⚽️ Paco Alcácer#UEL pic.twitter.com/WBy2lz3ZLr
Solid start 👊🏼 @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/5g81Ooawyl
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) October 22, 2020
Good battle. 3 points. Clean sheet👏🏿
— Ryan Sessegnon (@RyanSessegnon) October 22, 2020
Start as we mean to go on🙌🏿 #TSG@EuropaLeague pic.twitter.com/DsjKs13KXY
📱 @LucasMoura7's post-match message...@HPE ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/ZZDaRKPmIj
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 22, 2020
📸📸📸
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 22, 2020
Enjoy our selection of images from #LeiZrl ⏬#UEL
📊 Who was your @libertex_europe Man of the Match today?#UEL ⚪️ #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 22, 2020
🎙 | #Gattuso: "The overall performance was good but we need more intensity in attack"
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 22, 2020
👉 https://t.co/7eVPtM5LYX
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/cn41VIzavT
