The Europa League group stage kicked off in earnest on Thursday. There were 48 teams in action across the continent on a pulsating night of football full of goals and late drama...
"?Group A
Jose Mourinho took charge of a first Europa League game since 2003 when he won the competition with Porto, then it its UEFA Cup guise, as Manchester United made the short trip to Rotterdam to face Feyenoord in the notorious De Kuip cauldron.
But despite the inclusion of Paul Pogba in the starting line-up and Zlatan Ibrahimovic off the bench in what was a strong United selection, it was a lacklustre display from the visitors reminiscent of the Louis van Gaal era. Tonny Vilhena scored the only goal in the 79th minute to seal a home win.
Elsewhere in the group it took a 96th minute equaliser from Danish defender Simon Kjaer to rescue a point for Fenerbahce after Dmytro Hrechyshkin had opened the scoring for Zorya Luhansk.
.@simonkjaer1989 looking cool ? after saving @Fenerbahce with a late equaliser for in Zorya. ? #UEL pic.twitter.com/kzOkn5nH9J
Group B
Greek champions Olympiacos kicked off their campaign with a solid away win over Young Boys in Bern. Former Leicester, Inter and Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Cambiasso scored the only goal of the game in the closing stages of the first half.
A Europa-made Legend! https://t.co/yZEyUiw7qZ #olympiacos #UEL #YBOLY @EuropaLeague @BSC_YB pic.twitter.com/7yy9ofIOyv
APOEL left it late in Nicosia, Cyprus to overcome the challenge of Kazakh side FC Astana. Former Belgian international Igor de Camargo struck in the 87th minute to secure a 2-1 home win.
Group C
There was another late goal in the Group C clash between Mainz and Saint-Etienne in Germany. Slovenian star Robert Beric scored with just two minutes remaining for the French club to cancel out Niko Bungert's 57th minute strike.
Anderlecht had little trouble seeing off Gabala from Azerbaijan in the end as two-time UEFA Cup winner Diego Capel scored the third of three goals for the Belgian giants in Brussels in a 3-1 win.
#RSCA 3-1 Qabala @ FULL TIME ! Come on you Mauves ! #UEL #COYM #andqab pic.twitter.com/FweEdnKdXb
Group D
More late strikes were the order of the day in Group D, with both games enjoying the drama.
First, Irish minnows Dundalk stunned AZ Alkmaar away from home when Ciaran Kilduff scored to equalise at the death, ensuring a 1-1 draw. Over in Tel Aviv, Zenit St Petersburg scored four times in the closing stages to overturn a 3-0 deficit and win 4-3 - Luka Djordjevic with the stoppage time winner.
Goalscorer Ciaran Kilduff salutes the Dundalk fans along with his manager & team mates after their draw in Alkmaar! pic.twitter.com/6hBZ0dkCfU
Group E
Austria Wien were the only winners on matchday one in Group E, where no goals were scored inside the final 15 minutes of either game. They edged out Astra Giurgiu by a single strike by Alexander Grünwald in a five-goal thriller in Romania.
Roma had to settle for a point from their game in Czech Republic against Viktoria Plzen. Diego Perotti scored a fourth minute penalty, but veteran Marek Bakos equalised seven minutes later.
Group F
Much like their city neighbours, Rapid Wien were 3-2 winners in their opening game. An own-goal from Genk defender Omar Colley ultimately proved the difference between the two sides in the Austrian capital.
In the group's other fixture, Sassuolo stunned 2012 finalists Athletic Bilbao with three second half goals. The Italians, on their first foray into European football, had Pol Lirola, Gregoire Defrel and Matteo Politano to thank for the win.
Grandissima vittoria neroverde al debutto nella fase a gironi di @EuropaLeague! #SassuoloAthletic 3-0 #ForzaSasol ?? pic.twitter.com/HGD7QA0LRm
Group G
The two teams couldn't be separated in the Group G clash between Standard Liege and Celta Vigo in Belgium. It took Mathieu Dossevi only three minutes to give the home side the lead, but Giuseppe Rossi soon struck back to make it 1-1.
Ajax were early victors in the group, beating Panathinaikos 2-1 in Athens. The Dutch giants had to come from behind, but goals from Bertrand Traore and Jairo Riedewald turned the game on its head.
.@AFCAjax's Dutch defender Jairo Riedewald celebrates after scoring v Panathinaikos #UEL pic.twitter.com/C5BbQ6TCsI
Group H
There was an away win for 2009 winners Shakhtar Donetsk in Turkey as they faced Konyaspor. One-time Newcastle flop Facundo Ferreyra scored the only goal of the night in the 76th minute to give the Ukrainians all three points.
GOOOAAAL! 0-1! #Ferreyra gives us the lead! #KonyasporShakhtar pic.twitter.com/zpJ626s2wl
Braga and Gent played out a 1-1 draw in Portugal. Danijel Milicevic gave the visitors the lead, only for Andre Pinto to strike back midway through the first half to level things up. It stayed that way.
Group I
Two narrow away wins were the order of matchday one in Group I, with Krasnodar and Schalke each taking three points back to Russia and Germany respectively.
A 37th minute goal from naturalised Russian winger Joaozinho was the difference for Krasnodar, while Baba Rahman, currently on loan at Schalke from Chelsea, scored in the 75th minute in the south of France.
Group J
A 94th minute equaliser from Rashad Sadygov was enough to give Qarabag a share of the points against Slovan Liberec in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. A 34-year-old Milan Baros had scored for the Czech visitors in the 2-2 draw.
PAOK and Fiorentina contested the only goal-less draw of an otherwise goal-filled evening.
90+3: It's all over here in Greece. Fiorentina claim a point after #PaokFiorentina ends 0-0!
Group K
Group K provided arguably the shock of the night as Israeli newcomers Hapoel Be'er Sheva grabbed a 2-0 win over Inter at the San Siro in Milan. Miguel Vitor and Maor Buzaglo struck within 15 second half minutes of each other to seal a famous victory.
Southampton had little trouble in their home game against Sparta Prague. Charlie Austin gave the Premier League side a 2-0 lead inside half an hour, with Jay Rodriguez adding a stoppage time third.
? #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/SKXiO5qPtB
Group L
It was strictly home wins in both Group L games. Turkish club Osmanlispor scored twice in the second half through Cheick Diabate and Aminu Umar to secure a 2-0 win over Champions League drop outs Steaua Bucharest of Romania.
Brazilian Alexandre Pato and Mexican Jonathan dos Santos gave Villarreal a 2-1 victory in Spain's north-east after Albanian Euro 2016 hero Armando Sadiku scored for Zurich after two minutes.
#CVFNews | #Crónica | Remontada y dos golazos ante el @fc_zuerich para empezar en la @EuropaLeague (2-1). ????? #UEL pic.twitter.com/TTX6RWTQzn
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