Europa League matchday 3 preview: Juventus host Rennes, Bournemouth welcome Milan, Omonia and Benfica meet on six points

All eighteen matches of the third round are on Thursday, in two waves. Ten clubs have won both of their matches. Juventus, top of the table, host Rennes in the early kick-offs, four days after losing 3–0 at home to Lazio. In the evening Bournemouth, two from two, welcome AC Milan, and Omonia Nicosia and Benfica, both on six points, meet in Nicosia. Celtic and Celta Vigo, both without a point, meet at Celtic Park.

The early kick-offs

Ararat-Armenia v AZ Alkmaar (16:45 UTC, Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium). Ararat-Armenia lost 4–1 to Sparta and 3–1 at Jagiellonia, and won 1–0 at BKMA at the weekend. AZ lost 1–0 at Sunderland, beat Hapoel Beer Sheva 2–1 and drew 2–2 at Cambuur. The API has no previous meeting.

Dinamo Zagreb v NEC Nijmegen (16:45 UTC, Maksimir). Dinamo Zagreb have four points and have not conceded: 0–0 with Hapoel Beer Sheva, then 1–0 against Anderlecht; they won 5–1 at Slaven Belupo at the weekend. NEC lost 5–0 in Turin, drew 1–1 with Levski and drew 2–2 with Fortuna Sittard. No previous meeting in the API.

Ferencváros v Torreense (16:45 UTC, Groupama Aréna). Ferencváros won 3–1 at Celtic Park and 2–1 against Plzeň, and K. Zachariassen has three goals; they drew 1–1 at Kisvárda. Torreense won 2–1 at Lillestrøm and lost 2–1 at home to Sunderland. No previous meeting in the API.

Juventus v Rennes (16:45 UTC, Allianz Stadium). Juventus have seven goals and two wins, 5–0 against NEC and 2–1 at Celta, but lost 3–0 at home to Lazio on Sunday; Tuttosport writes of a long list of injuries. Rennes drew 0–0 in Graz, beat OFI 2–1 and lost 4–3 at Paris FC. The API has no previous meeting.

Lech Poznań v Sunderland (16:45 UTC, Stadion Miejski). Lech are bottom, without a goal and with eight conceded, 4–0 at Palace and 0–4 against Leverkusen, though they beat Korona Kielce 6–1 at the weekend. Sunderland have won both, 1–0 against AZ and 2–1 at Torreense, and lost 2–0 at Bournemouth in the Premier League. No previous meeting in the API.

OFI v Bayer Leverkusen (16:45 UTC, Pankritio, Heraklion). OFI beat Hoffenheim 2–0 and lost 2–1 at Rennes, then 4–3 at Kalamata. Leverkusen are one of three sides yet to concede, after 2–0 against Celje and 4–0 at Lech, and beat Freiburg 2–1. No previous meeting in the API.

Union Saint-Gilloise v Hapoel Beer Sheva (16:45 UTC). Union won 3–0 at Plzeň and drew 1–1 with Real Sociedad, and beat Nijlen 3–0 in the cup. Hapoel Beer Sheva drew 0–0 with Dinamo, lost 2–1 at AZ and beat Hapoel Katamon 2–1. No previous meeting in the API.

Sturm Graz v Marseille (16:45 UTC, Graz-Liebenau). Sturm Graz drew 0–0 with Rennes and lost 3–0 at Bournemouth, and beat Grazer AK 6–1 in the Graz derby. Marseille have no points, after 4–1 in Istanbul and 1–0 at home to Olympiakos, but won 5–2 at Angers. No previous meeting in the API.

The evening

Beşiktaş v Crystal Palace (19:00 UTC, Tüpraş Stadium). Beşiktaş have scored seven in two wins, 4–1 against Marseille and 3–2 at Hoffenheim, and lost 2–0 at Trabzonspor on Monday. Crystal Palace beat Lech 4–0, lost 3–2 at Lyon and lost 5–0 at Brighton on Sunday. Sky Sports reports that Palace, fourteenth with seven points from seven games and the Premier League's worst defence, have no immediate plans to change their manager, Pierre Sage. No previous meeting in the API.

Bournemouth v AC Milan (19:00 UTC, Vitality Stadium). Bournemouth won 2–1 at Real Sociedad and 3–0 against Sturm, their first home European match according to Sky Sports, and beat Sunderland 2–0 at the weekend. Milan lost 2–0 at home to Benfica, won 4–0 in Salzburg and beat Atalanta 3–2. The API has no previous meeting.

Celje v Red Bull Salzburg (19:00 UTC, Stadion Z'dežele). Celje have lost both without scoring, 2–0 at Leverkusen and 3–0 to Omonia, and drew 0–0 at Maribor. Salzburg won 1–0 at Levski, lost 4–0 to Milan and beat Altach 3–0. No previous meeting in the API.

Celtic v Celta Vigo (19:00 UTC, Celtic Park). Celtic lost 3–1 at home to Ferencváros and 4–1 at Benfica, after which Martin O'Neill said he was delighted with the second half, according to Sky Sports; they then beat Hearts 7–1. Celta lost 1–0 at Omonia and 2–1 to Juventus, and beat Alavés 2–1. No previous meeting in the API.

Hoffenheim v Lyon (19:00 UTC, PreZero Arena). Hoffenheim lost 2–0 at OFI and 3–2 to Beşiktaş, but won 2–1 at Gladbach, their first Bundesliga win since early September, which took them up to fourteenth, dpa reports. Lyon, top of Ligue 1 according to dpa, won 2–1 at Anderlecht and 3–2 against Palace, and beat Nice 2–1. Their three meetings have all been draws: 3–3 and 2–2 in the Champions League in October and November 2018, and 2–2 in Sinsheim in the Europa League in November 2024.

Jagiellonia v Anderlecht (19:00 UTC, Białystok). Jagiellonia lost 2–1 at Olympiakos, beat Ararat-Armenia 3–1 and lost 1–0 at Zagłębie Lubin. Anderlecht have no points, after 2–1 to Lyon and 1–0 in Zagreb, and went out of the Belgian cup at Beerschot, 2–1. No previous meeting in the API.

Lillestrøm v Real Sociedad (19:00 UTC, Åråsen). Lillestrøm lost 2–1 to Torreense, drew 1–1 in Prague and won 2–0 at Sandefjord. Real Sociedad lost 2–1 to Bournemouth, drew 1–1 with Union and won 5–2 at Málaga. No previous meeting in the API.

Olympiakos v Sparta Praha (19:00 UTC, Karaiskakis). Olympiakos have six points from 2–1 against Jagiellonia and 1–0 in Marseille, and won 2–0 at Panetolikos. Sparta won 4–1 in Yerevan, drew 1–1 with Lillestrøm and drew 0–0 at Baník Ostrava. No previous meeting in the API.

Omonia Nicosia v Benfica (19:00 UTC, GSP Stadium). Omonia beat Celta 1–0 and won 3–0 in Celje without conceding, and drew 2–2 with Olympiakos Nicosia on Monday; L. Diony leads the competition's scorers with four. Benfica won 2–0 at San Siro and 4–1 against Celtic. According to A Bola, Benfica planned to hold their press conference at their Seixal training ground before flying to Larnaca, rather than at the stadium. No previous meeting in the API.

Plzeň v Levski Sofia (19:00 UTC, Doosan Arena). Plzeň lost 3–0 at home to Union and 2–1 in Budapest, and won 3–2 at Jablonec. Levski lost 1–0 to Salzburg, drew 1–1 at NEC and won 2–0 at Spartak Pleven in the cup. No previous meeting in the API.

The table after two rounds

Ten clubs have six points: Juventus lead on goals scored from Leverkusen, then Benfica, Beşiktaş, Bournemouth, Omonia, Ferencváros, Lyon, Sunderland and Olympiakos. Nine have none: Celta, Anderlecht, Hoffenheim, Plzeň, Marseille, Celtic, Ararat-Armenia, Celje and Lech, who are bottom. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, and ninth to 24th go to the knockout play-offs.

Numbers to know

• 103 goals in the first two rounds: 47 on matchday 1 and 56 on matchday 2.
• Leverkusen, Omonia and Dinamo Zagreb are the only sides yet to concede; Celje, Lech and Sturm Graz the only ones yet to score.
• L. Diony (Omonia) has four goals; A. Cissè (Milan) and K. Zachariassen (Ferencváros) have three.
• Omonia v Benfica is the only meeting of two sides on six points, Celtic v Celta the only one of two sides without a point.

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

Sources for the context: Sky Sports, Sky Sports, Sky Sports, dpa via Die Rheinpfalz, Tuttosport, A Bola.