Europa League matchday 1 preview: Milan host Benfica, Leverkusen and Juventus begin at home, and Sunderland's first European night since 1973

Thirty-six clubs, eighteen matches, two evenings. The league phase of the Europa League opens on Wednesday with AC Milan against Benfica at San Siro — Milan unbeaten in Serie A, Benfica on a six-match winning run with V. Pavlidis already on five goals from the qualifying rounds — and continues on Thursday with Juventus hosting NEC Nijmegen and Real Sociedad hosting Bournemouth. Twelve of the thirty-six came through the play-offs a fortnight ago; nine dropped down after losing in Champions League qualifying, among them Lyon, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb. And Sunderland play their first European tie since the 1973–74 Cup Winners' Cup.

Wednesday

Ararat-Armenia v Sparta Praha (16:45 UTC, Yerevan). The Armenians beat Universitatea Craiova 2–1 on aggregate in the play-offs and won 3–0 on Friday. Sparta beat Jablonec 2–0 and put five past Viktoria Žižkov in the cup last week; before that they lost at Hradec Králové and 3–0 at home to Slavia. These two met a year ago in Conference League qualifying, and Sparta won both legs, 4–1 and 2–1.

Omonia Nicosia v Celta Vigo (16:45 UTC, GSP Stadium). Omonia lost the play-off first leg 1–0 at St. Truiden and won the return 4–2; they have won one of four domestic matches since, 4–1 at Aris. Celta are the only side in the round still without a league win this season: four draws and two defeats in La Liga, three goals scored in six matches.

AC Milan v Benfica (19:00 UTC, San Siro). Milan are sixth in Serie A, unbeaten with two wins and two draws, the last of them 2–2 at Lazio from 2–0 down. Benfica beat Aarhus 3–1 in both legs of the play-off and have won all four Primeira Liga matches since, scoring twelve; Pavlidis leads the Europa League scoring with five. The clubs have met in two European Cup finals, and Milan won both: 2–1 at Wembley in 1963 and 1–0 in Vienna in 1990.

Anderlecht v Lyon (19:00 UTC, Lotto Park). Anderlecht beat Kairat Almaty 3–0 in each leg of the play-off; since then two wins, a 0–0 with Genk and a 3–0 defeat at Union Saint-Gilloise. Lyon are here because Fenerbahçe knocked them out of the Champions League play-off — 1–1 away, 2–1 at Lyon — and are fourth in Ligue 1, unbeaten with two goals conceded in four matches, the last a 0–0 at Paris FC.

Bayer Leverkusen v Celje (19:00 UTC, BayArena). Leverkusen have lost, won and drawn in the Bundesliga — 3–2 at Elversberg, 4–0 against Union Berlin, then 2–2 at Augsburg after thirty shots. Celje lost their Champions League play-off 2–1 at home to Slovan Bratislava and have lost three of four in the Slovenian league since.

Hapoel Beer Sheva v Dinamo Zagreb (19:00 UTC, Bucharest). Hapoel's home ties are being played at the Giulești in Bucharest. They went out of the Champions League to Sabah, 5–2 away after a 2–1 home win, and lost 4–1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv before winning 2–0 at Petah Tikva on Sunday. Dinamo lost 3–1 at Viking in their play-off and 4–2 at Osijek at the weekend. The last meetings were in 2018 Champions League qualifying: Dinamo won 5–0 at home and drew 2–2 away.

Olympiakos v Jagiellonia (19:00 UTC, Karaiskakis). Olympiakos won their first two league matches, drew at Volos, then lost 1–0 at home to OFI — a club also in this competition — on Saturday. Jagiellonia beat Iberia 1999 6–1 over two legs and have won two of four in the Ekstraklasa since, including 5–2 at Raków, but lost 2–0 at Wisła Kraków on Friday.

Sturm Graz v Rennes (19:00 UTC, Merkur-Arena). Sturm went out to Fenerbahçe, 1–0 at home, in the third qualifying round of the Champions League; they beat LASK 2–1 on Sunday. Rennes are joint top of Ligue 1 on ten points from four, unbeaten, and beat Marseille 1–0 on Friday.

Sunderland v AZ Alkmaar (19:00 UTC, Stadium of Light). Sunderland's first European match in fifty-three years. They are fourteenth in the Premier League with four points and lost 2–0 to Arsenal on Saturday. AZ have won five of six in the Eredivisie, scoring seventeen; the one draw was 1–1 with Willem II on Friday.

Thursday

Levski Sofia v Red Bull Salzburg (16:45 UTC, Vasil Levski National Stadium). Levski lost 4–0 at AEK Athens in the Champions League play-off and 4–2 to CSKA in the Bulgarian Super Cup last week. Salzburg beat Mjällby 4–0 on aggregate, scored nine in two Austrian league matches against Austria Vienna and Rapid, then drew 1–1 at Ried on Friday.

OFI v 1899 Hoffenheim (16:45 UTC, Pankritio, Heraklion). OFI beat CSKA Sofia 5–0 over two legs and won 1–0 at Olympiakos on Saturday, their fourth consecutive clean sheet. Hoffenheim are thirteenth in the Bundesliga after a 2–1 win over Stuttgart, both goals by Adam Hložek.

Beşiktaş v Marseille (19:00 UTC, Beşiktaş Park). Beşiktaş won the play-off 3–1 on aggregate against Kauno Žalgiris despite losing the return 1–0, and have since scored eleven in three Süper Lig wins, including 2–1 at Fenerbahçe; O. Kökçü has two goals in the competition. Marseille are thirteenth in Ligue 1 with three defeats in four, the last 1–0 at Rennes.

Celtic v Ferencváros (19:00 UTC, Celtic Park). Celtic lost 5–1 at LASK in the Champions League play-off and 3–0 to Rangers in the League Cup on Sunday, with four league wins in between. Ferencváros beat Trabzonspor 5–0 on aggregate and scored seven in the cup on Saturday. The clubs met three times in 2020–21: Ferencváros won 2–1 at Celtic Park in Champions League qualifying, Celtic won both Europa League group matches, 2–0 and 3–2.

Crystal Palace v Lech Poznań (19:00 UTC, Selhurst Park). Palace have conceded eleven, the most in the Premier League, and lost 3–2 at home to Ipswich on Saturday. Lech scored seven in the first leg of their play-off against Thun and lost 2–1 at Górnik Zabrze at the weekend.

Juventus v NEC Nijmegen (19:00 UTC, Allianz Stadium). Juventus are eighth in Serie A after a 3–2 defeat at Sassuolo, following two wins and a 1–1 with Milan. NEC went out of the Champions League to Bodø/Glimt 6–1 on aggregate and lost 3–0 at Cambuur on Saturday.

Lillestrøm v Torreense (19:00 UTC, Åråsen). Lillestrøm needed extra time to beat Egnatia in the play-off, 2–1 after a 0–0 away, and have won two Eliteserien matches since. Torreense, of the Portuguese second division, have won one of six league matches this season.

Plzeň v Union Saint-Gilloise (19:00 UTC, Doosan Arena). Plzeň lost 3–0 at Crvena Zvezda and won the return 5–1 after extra time. They lost 3–2 at home to Sigma Olomouc on Sunday. Union came down from the Champions League third qualifying round, beaten 3–2 by Bodø/Glimt, and have won four in a row in Belgium, 3–0 against Anderlecht and 5–0 against Lommel among them.

Real Sociedad v Bournemouth (19:00 UTC, Anoeta). Real Sociedad are twelfth in La Liga with seven points from six matches, and lost 3–0 at home to Atlético on Sunday. Bournemouth are winless in the Premier League — three draws, a defeat — after 2–2 with Brentford on Saturday. Two pre-season friendlies in the last four years: Real Sociedad won 2–1 in 2022, and it was 1–1 in August 2025.

The numbers

• Pavlidis has five goals in the competition already, from the play-off round; no one else has more than two.
• Nine clubs arrive from Champions League qualifying: Lyon, Celje, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Dinamo Zagreb, Levski, Celtic, NEC, Sturm Graz and Union Saint-Gilloise.
• Twelve came through the Europa League play-offs: Anderlecht, Ararat-Armenia, Benfica, Beşiktaş, Ferencváros, Jagiellonia, Lech Poznań, Lillestrøm, OFI, Omonia, Plzeň and Salzburg.
• Of the big-five-league clubs, only Milan, Rennes and Lyon arrive unbeaten domestically; Celta and Bournemouth arrive without a league win.

The full round, with kick-offs in your time zone, is on the Europa League page.