Europa League Matchday 2 Preview

Thursday will see the UEFA Europa League continue with the second matchday of the league phase. Sixteen sides will enter the day looking to add a second win to their tally, while another 16 look to get points on the board. Four other clubs are out to collect their first win of the tournament proper.

Here is a preview of the 18 matches to occur on a busy Thursday.

Match of the Round: Olympique Lyon vs Crystal Palace

The match of the round will see one of the UEL's most experienced teams, Olympique Lyon, face last season's UEFA Conference League champions Crystal Palace.

Lyon, having won their opening match away, will have reason to head into the match with confidence. They have never been beaten in the first two rounds of a Europa League group phase (UEL era), and have not lost a group stage/league phase game versus an English team since 2004 (4-2-0). L'OL have prevailed in 12 of their 17 league phase games in the competition, more than any other club.

Palace are in their second season in Europe, but have taken on French opposition before. That came nearly a year ago, where they were beaten away to Strasbourg. That was one of two reverses they had on the road en route to winning the title. The Eagles were also due to enter the Europa League last term, but ultimately missed out due to a multiclub ownership conflict with their opponents.

Milan, Sociedad Looking to Bounce Back

Sparta Praha take on Lillestrøm at home as the Czech regulars aim to double their points total. Through six games versus Norwegian opposition, Sparta are 2-3-1, but did lose their most recent clash in a UECL qualifier against Viking. This will be their maiden test during a group phase. For Lillestrøm, they lost at home in September's first round. With just one win in their last 11 continental away matches, Kanarifugla will need to improve on their travels to stand a chance in this one.

Dutch club AZ Alkmaar welcome Hapoel Be'er Sheva, with both sides yet to win so far. It will be a challenge to get the better of De Kaasboeren at home, given their 16-game unbeaten run at AFAS Stadion since a 4-1 loss to Aston Villa three years ago. Interestingly, AZ have never lost both of their first two games of a group phase in Europe. All four of Be'er Sheva's previous matches against Dutch opposition have ended in defeat, conceding 16 times as well. Their only group phase away win came versus Inter Milan a decade ago.

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RB Salzburg are up against AC Milan in what is another intriguing early kickoff. Currently unbeaten in Europe this term, the Austrian outfit have not gone six unbeaten in continental play since 2018/19, when they won all six of their Europa League group matches. However, they have lost their last four when taking on Italian sides. Milan are not on a good run in the UEL, having been defeated in their last three outings. With that said, they have a strong 9-3-1 record when taking on Austrian opposition.

Poland's Lech Poznań attempt to pick up a first-ever win versus a German club as Bayer Leverkusen make the trip. Having suffered the second heaviest defeat on matchday 1, Lech do have a decent home record at this stage in Europe. Their last group stage appearances saw them go undefeated at home. It will be a tough ask for them though, as Leverkusen currently have a perfect record when taking on Polish teams (4-0-0). All four wins came at the expense of GKS Katowice in the UEFA Cup, the UEL's predecessor. Die Werkself have won 11 of their last 13 games at this stage of the tournament.

In Slovenia, Celje and Omonoia Nicosia face off in a fascinating first-time meeting. The former are winless in four league phase games stretching back to a year ago when they topped Legia Warszawa in the UECL. In what is their third successive season reaching this point in Europe, Rumeno-modri have yet to be beaten at home. Omonoia pulled off an impressive scalp last time out, and will strive to win consecutive games to begin a group phase for the first time. The Shamrock have a Slovenian club for the first time.

Union Saint-Gilloise face Real Sociedad in Leuven, with the Belgians aiming to continue their strong start to the league phase. Les Unionistes fell to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League last fall in their only other clash with a Spanish team. Overall, Union are 5-4-1 at home in UEL group phase matches. In contrast, Sociedad have never beaten a Belgian sides in three previous attempts (0-1-2), losing to Anderlecht at home two years ago. La Real are also on a bad run in UEL away games, losing three of their last four.

After pulling off a stunning road win in September, Torreense host Sunderland, with both sides having the chance to get to six points. Currently in the second division in Portugal, Torreense are participating in European action for the first time. Beating Lillestrøm last month, SCUT were the story of the round. They may fancy their chances against a Sunderland club who were eliminated by a Portuguese outfit in their other European appearance back in 1973/74. The away leg was The Black Cats' only loss in a continental game.

Benfica Face Stiff Home Test

Among the late action, continental debutants Bournemouth and Sturm Graz do battle. The Cherries had a winning start to their maiden campaign as they look to follow Crystal Palace's footsteps and win a European trophy at their first attempt. They will be strong favourites for Thursday's game against Sturm, who are yet to prevail versus a Premier League team in European play. Die Schwoazn, playing in their seventh Europa League group phase, have never progress from this stage.

An intriguing rematch will occur in Hungary, where Ferencváros host Viktoria Plzeň. Fradi are out for revenge following their elimination to the Czech side in the 2024/25 edition at the knockout playoffs. The Budapest-based Ferencváros made the round of 16 last season while completing a strong league phase. It has been an up-and-down season as a whole for Plzeň - after going unbeaten in the UEL last term, they have already lost twice this campaign. All three of their games with Hungarian sides have come against Fradi, who they also drew against a year ago.

Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb are up versus RSC Anderlecht, who they have a winning record against (2-1-1). No other matchup in this round pits together two teams with more UEL group phase experience with the pair combining for 17 showings (9-8 Dinamo). Remarkably, the record Croatian champions are without a home win in this fixture. Anderlecht have a losing record with clubs from Croatia (3-2-5), while two of their winless group phase seasons - the last one coming in 2018/19 - featured a team from the 1. HNL.

Jagiellonia Białystok and Ararat-Armenia continue their debut UEL group campaigns in what could be a pivotal clash. The Ekstraklasa team were victorious in both of their qualifiers at home, but were defeated in their last two in the main rounds of a UEFA club competition. It will be a first meeting with a team from Armenia. While Ararat-Armenia have scored in all but three of their European away matches, they are winless in their last five on the road. Their opening round defeat was their joint-heaviest loss in Europe.

Both NEC Nijmegen and Levski Sofia square off as they try to get on the board. Third in the Netherlands in 2025/26, NEC lost their last three matches in Europe, with their defeat in September being the biggest loss of the opening round. Of Levski's six away matches in the Europa League, they lost five of them, failing to score in each one. In fact, their sole road success to Lazio in the 2009/10 edition was their only ever group phase away win.

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The seventh meeting between Olympique Marseille and Olympiakos Piraeus will transpire at Stade Vélodrome. L'OM currently have the head-to-head with four wins to two losses. When excluding games with Olympiakos, Marseille are 6-1-1 against Greek sides. As for Olympiakos, they finished in the top eight of the first league phase in 2024/25. However, since knocking out Sochaux in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, they have lost all five games versus French teams in the UEL.

Celta Vigo take on Juventus at home, looking to end their three-match losing streak. The teams met in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup fourth round, with Celta prevailing 4-1 on aggregate. Os Celestes won three of their four home group matches last season, though their only defeat coming versus Bologna. That return leg defeat in 2000 to Celta started a run of three matches without victory for Juve against Spanish sides in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. While their only other group stage showing saw them get knocked out, the Bianconeri have played in the semifinals in each of their last two UEL appearances.

Following an excellent performance on matchday 1, Benfica welcome Celtic. The head-to-head is rather even, though the Portuguese side are 4-1-3. As Águias, playing in just their third UEL group phase, are two-time finalists in the competition's current guise, and are among the favourites to go far this term. Each of Celtic's last four trips to Portugal ended with a loss since they beat Boavista in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup semifinal. Despite their regular showings in the UEL, the Hoops have yet to go farther than the round of 16.

Stade Rennais look to continue their strong home record in Europe as they host OFI Crete. Les Rouge et Noir have lost just once in their last 13 home matches as they beat Panathinaikos home and away in their last UEL showing three years ago. They have successfully negotiated this stage in three of their last four attempts. OFI, who have yet to concede in Europe this term from three matches, were knocked out by Auxerre in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup 5-4 on aggregate. Their playoff round success over CSKA-Sofia was their only ever road victory in a European club competition.

Germany's Hoffenheim aim for an immediate response to September's stunning reverse as they welcome Beşiktaş. Die Kraichgauer missed out on qualifying for the knockout round in their last attempt two years ago, collecting five of their nine points at home. With that said, they are unbeaten in their two games versus Turkish sides, both coming against İstanbul Başakşehir. Beşiktaş also failed to make it out of the Europa League's inaugural league phase, but kicked things off in more impressive fashion last month. They will want to ameliorate their away form in the competition though, as they have lost six of their last seven in the UEL proper.