There were no big surprises during the second evening of the first day of the Europa League on Thursday. A draw marked the clash of the evening between Roma and Athletic Club Bilbao (1-1).
At the Stadio Olimpico, the men of brand new coach Ivan Juric launched their continental season perfectly by opening the scoring in the 32nd minute thanks to Dovbyk. But the Basques are not fifth in La Liga for nothing and their pressing ended up paying off in the 85th minute, when Paredes equalized.
A mini-surprise came from Germany where Eintracht Frankfurt, with Aurèle Amenda on the bench, were joined at the wire by the Czechs from Viktoria Plzen (3-3). Ekitike (38th) and Sulc (41st) had left the two teams tied at half-time, but Ebimbe (62nd) and Kristensen (67th) gave Dino Toppmoller’s players two steps ahead. An advantage that the Germans thought was definitive, but the Czechs scored twice through Adu (86th) and Jemelka (93rd) to come back level.
The highlight of the day came from the Netherlands where Ajax Amsterdam crushed the Turks Besiktas 4-0. Fitz-Jim (31st), Godts (51st and 73rd) and Taylor (55th) scored the Dutch goals.
Closer to home, in Lyon, the Gones defeated the Greeks of Olympiakos (2-0).
On the other grounds, the Turks of Fenerbahce beat the Belgians of Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1, the Swedes of Malmö lost at home against the Scots of Glasgow Rangers 0-2, the Romanians of Steaua Bucharest slapped the Latvians from Riga 4-1 and the Portuguese from Braga defeated the Israelis from Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1.
