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Europa League Thursday: Juventus' Injury List, Torreense's Borrowed Home and Lech's Test Against Leverkusen
Eighteen games on matchday two, from a second-tier Portuguese side hosting Sunderland in Leiria to a weakened Juventus in Vigo and a Marseille-Olympiakos fixture whose last four meetings were all decided by a single goal.
The Europa League returns on Thursday with all 36 clubs in action: eight games kick off at 18:45 CEST and ten at 21:00 CEST. Here is what to watch.
Torreense, Sunderland and a borrowed stadium
The most unlikely fixture of the night is Torreense vs Sunderland. Torreense play in Liga Portugal 2, where they are 15th, but they won their opening league-phase game 2-1 away at Lillestrøm. They host a Premier League side not in Torres Vedras but at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria. Sunderland beat AZ 1-0 on matchday one, but they have lost their last three Premier League games and are without Ballard, Brobbey, Diarra and Mundle. Torreense are missing the suspended Jatta.
Juventus arrive in Vigo short of players
Juventus won 5-0 against NEC Nijmegen on the opening night, but the list of players they will be without at Celta Vigo is long: Thuram, Yıldız, Locatelli, Boga, Ekhator and goalkeeper Grabara are injured, and Durmisi is suspended. Celta lost 1-0 in Nicosia on matchday one and have drawn four of their last five La Liga games, although the other was a 5-0 win over Racing Santander.
Lech host Leverkusen
In Poznań, Lech host Bayer Leverkusen (match page). Lech were beaten 4-0 at Crystal Palace on matchday one, but in the league they have been scoring freely: second in the Ekstraklasa, they won 5-1 against Radomiak and 4-1 at Śląsk Wrocław in their last two league games. They will be without the injured Gholizadeh and Sayyadmanesh, and Murawski is suspended. Leverkusen beat Celje 2-0 on the opening night and won a seven-goal game 4-3 at Mainz on Saturday.
Did you know?
- Marseille and Olympiakos' four Champions League group-stage meetings, two in 2011/12 and two in 2020/21, were all decided by a single goal.
- Ferencváros and Viktoria Plzeň meet for the third season running. In the 2025 knockout play-offs, Plzeň overturned a 1-0 first-leg defeat with a 3-0 win at home; last season's league-phase game ended 1-1.
- The last time Dinamo Zagreb faced Anderlecht, in the 2018/19 Europa League group stage, Dinamo won 2-0 in Brussels.
Marseille and Olympiakos, usually close
Marseille were beaten 4-1 in Istanbul by Beşiktaş on matchday one, and had lost four Ligue 1 games in a row before a 2-0 win at Troyes on Sunday. Olympiakos arrive at the Vélodrome after beating Panathinaikos 1-0 in the league at the weekend, but without El Kaabi, who has a broken leg. The match renews a fixture whose last four meetings were all decided by one goal.
Benfica host a struggling Celtic
Benfica won 2-0 at San Siro against AC Milan on the opening night. Celtic lost 3-1 at home to Ferencváros, and in September they were beaten twice by Rangers, 1-0 in the league and 3-0 in the League Cup. The clubs last met in the 2012/13 Champions League group stage, where Benfica won 2-1 in Lisbon after a 0-0 in Glasgow. Kick-off is at 21:00 CEST.
Polish interest in Białystok
Jagiellonia lost 2-1 at Olympiakos on matchday one and have lost their last three Ekstraklasa games. Their opponents in Białystok, Ararat-Armenia, were beaten 4-1 at home by Sparta Prague on the opening night.
The rest of Thursday
- Red Bull Salzburg vs AC Milan: Milan lost at home to Benfica on matchday one. Salzburg, second in Austria, drew 1-1 with Milan at home in the 2022/23 Champions League before losing 4-0 at San Siro.
- Lyon vs Crystal Palace: Palace beat Lech 4-0 on matchday one but are without Mateta. Lyon won 2-1 at Anderlecht.
- Union Saint-Gilloise vs Real Sociedad: Union won 3-0 at Plzeň on the opening night but have two players suspended; Real Sociedad lost at home to Bournemouth.
- Hoffenheim vs Beşiktaş: Hoffenheim are 17th in the Bundesliga after four defeats in their last five league games; Beşiktaş are second in Turkey.
- Bournemouth vs Sturm Graz: Bournemouth won at Real Sociedad on matchday one but are 18th in the Premier League after a 5-1 defeat at Chelsea.
- Rennes vs OFI: OFI beat Hoffenheim 2-0 in Crete on matchday one; Rennes beat Auxerre 4-1 on Sunday.
- Ferencváros vs Plzeň, Dinamo Zagreb vs Anderlecht, Sparta Prague vs Lillestrøm, Celje vs Omonia, AZ vs Hapoel Beer Sheva and NEC vs Levski Sofia complete the programme.