Two surprises in the first round of the Europa League. Bodö/Glimt beat FC Porto, while Manchester United were held to a draw at home by Twente Enschede.
Manchester United started the European Cup season with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Dutch side Twente Enschede. Christian Eriksen was the man of the match at Old Trafford - in both a positive and negative sense. United's Danish midfielder scored the opening goal for the home team ten minutes before the break. With 20 minutes remaining, he carelessly lost the ball in his own half to Sam Lammers, who scored a deserved equalizer for the underdogs.
Kwadwo Duah got off to a poor start in the competition with Ludogorez Rasgrad. The Bulgarian champions lost 2-0 to Slavia Prague in front of their home crowd. The Swiss international striker made no impact and was substituted immediately after the 2-0 defeat in the 66th minute.
Kevin Mbabu and Midtjylland missed out on a last-second victory. The Danish champions led 1-0 against Hoffenheim until the 90th minute before young Max Moerstedt saved the Bundesliga club from another defeat. The Kraichgau side had recently lost three times in the domestic league.
Bodö/Glimt provided a surprise. The Norwegian champions beat the Portuguese top team Porto 3:2 despite being outnumbered for 40 minutes. Numerous teams have struggled in the far north in the past. Last season, Lugano lost 5-2 to Bodö/Glimt in the Conference League, and a year earlier FCZ were also beaten 2-1 at a higher level.
Like the Champions League, the Europa League has also been reformed. The first phase of Europe's second-highest competition is no longer played in groups, but in a league system. Each of the 36 teams plays against eight different opponents. The teams in places 1 to 8 qualify directly for the round of 16, while those in places 9 to 24 play in play-offs for the other eight places in the knockout round.
Results and rankings:
Wednesday: AZ Alkmaar - Elfsborg Boras 3:2 (1:1). Bodö/Glimt - FC Porto 3:2 (2:1). Dynamo Kiev - Lazio Roma 0:3 (0:3). FC Midtjylland - Hoffenheim 1:1 (1:0). Galatasaray Istanbul - PAOK Saloniki 3:1 (0:0). Manchester United - Twente Enschede 1:1 (1:0). Nice - Real Sociedad 1:1 (1:1). Ludogorez Rasgrad - Slavia Prague 0:2 (0:1). Anderlecht - Ferencvaros Budapest 2:1 (0:0).
Thursday: Fenerbahçe Istanbul - Union Saint-Gilloise 18.45. Malmö - Glasgow Rangers 18.45. Ajax Amsterdam - Besiktas Istanbul 21.00. AS Roma - Athletic Bilbao 21.00. Eintracht Frankfurt - Viktoria Pilsen 21.00. FCSB Bucharest - RFS Riga 21.00. Lyon - Olympiakos Piraeus 21.00. Braga - Maccabi Tel Aviv 21.00. Tottenham Hotspur - Karabakh Agdam 21.00.
1. Lazio Roma 1/3 (3:0). 2. Galatasaray Istanbul 1/3 (3:1). 3. Slavia Prague 1/3 (2-0). 4. AZ Alkmaar 1/3 (3:2). 4. Bodö/Glimt 1/3 (3:2). 6. Anderlecht 1/3 (2:1). 7. FC Midtjylland 1/1 (1-1). 7. Hoffenheim 1/1 (1:1). 7. Manchester United 1/1 (1-1). 7 Nice 1/1 (1-1). 7 Real Sociedad 1/1 (1-1). 7. Twente Enschede 1/1 (1-1). 13th Ajax Amsterdam 0/0 (0-0). 13th AS Roma 0/0 (0-0). 13th Athletic Bilbao 0/0 (0-0). 13 Besiktas Istanbul 0/0 (0-0). 13th Braga 0/0 (0-0). 13. Eintracht Frankfurt 0/0 (0-0). 13 FCSB Bucharest 0/0 (0-0). 13 Fenerbahçe Istanbul 0/0 (0-0). 13. Glasgow Rangers 0/0 (0-0). 13 Karabakh Agdam 0/0 (0-0). 13 Lyon 0/0 (0-0). 13 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0/0 (0-0). 13. Malmö 0/0 (0-0). 13 Olympiakos Piraeus 0/0 (0-0). 13. RFS Riga 0/0 (0-0). 13th Tottenham Hotspur 0/0 (0-0). 13. Union Saint-Gilloise 0/0 (0-0). 13th Viktoria Pilsen 0/0 (0-0). 31st Elfsborg Boras 1/0 (2:3). 31st FC Porto 1/0 (2:3). 33rd Ferencvaros Budapest 1/0 (1-2). 34. PAOK Saloniki 1/0 (1-3). 35. Ludogorez Rasgrad 1/0 (0:2). 36. Dynamo Kiev 1/0 (0:3).
