Roundup of the opening matchweek in the Group Stage of 2023-24 UEFA Europa League.
Liverpool, Rangers and West Ham looked to make winning starts to their campaigns after various lengths of absence from Europe’s second-tier competition.
Brighton meanwhile were handed a difficult lesson on their European debut as Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls came up against AEK Athens.
Group A
Second half goals from Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek saw West Ham defeat TSC 3-1 at London Stadium to top Group A, having equalised through Nemanja Petrovic’s own goal after Petar Stanic gave the Serbian team a shock lead.
Maximilian Phillip struck a 86th minute winner as SC Freiburg survied Olympiacos’ fightback to win 3-2 in Piraeus, having been pegged back twice by Ayoub El Kaabi’s brace for the Greek club.
Group B
Ezequiel Ponce struck a 84th minute winner for AEK Athens in a dramatic 3-2 win away at Brighton, after Joao Pedro had twice equalised for the Seagulls from the penalty spot.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s brace rescued Marseille a dramatic 3-3 draw away at Ajax, who initially had taken a 2-0 lead through Carlos Borges and Steven Berghuis before Johnathan Clauss and Aubameyang pulled the French club level prior to Kenneth Taylor restoring Ajax’s lead.
Group C
Ladislav Krejci’s brace and Martin Vitik’s goal saw Sparta Prague top Group C with a 3-2 home win over Aris Limassol, who had led through Aleksandr Kokorin’s 11th minute penalty and eventually netted a second consolatory goal through Shavy Babicka.
Abdallah Sima poked in a scrappy 67th minute rebound winner as Rangers scraped past Real Betis at Ibrox.
Group D
Second half goals from Charles De Ketelaere and Ederson saw Atalanta beat Rakow Czestochowa 2-0 to top Group D.
Late goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Sebastian Coates saw Sporting Lisbon come from behind to beat Sturm Graz, who had taken a 58th minute lead through William Bøving.
Group E
Comeback second half goals from Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool top Group E with a 3-1 win at LASK, after having conceded a surprise opening goal in the 14th minute to Florian Flecker.
Mohamed Amoura cancelled out Thijs Dallinga’s penalty as Union Saint-Gilloise fought back to draw 1-1 against Toulouse.
Group F
Goals from Ludovic Blas, Adrien Truffert and Bertug Yildirim saw Rennes cruise past Maccabi Haifa to top Group F.
Pananthinaikos sit second after Fotis Ioannidis and Andraz Sporar netted in a surprise 2-0 home win over Villarreal.
Group G
Slavia Prague went top of Group G after Lukas Masopust and Igoh Ogbu netted in a 2-0 away win over Servette.
Romelu Lukaku netted a 65th minute winner for AS Roma in a 2-1 victory at Sheriff Tiraspol, after Leandro Paredes’ opening goal was cancelled out by Cristian Tovar’s equaliser.
Group H
Florian Wirtz, Amine Adil, Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann fired Bayer Leverkusen past BK Hacken in a 4-0 win to top Group H.
Leandro Andrade struck a 55th minute winner as Qarabag edged past Molde in Baku.
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