The UEFA Europa League began its group stage on Thursday, September 17, 2009 with a full set of matches. Many of favorites are still alive including defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Almost all of the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, and Ligue 1 clubs are still alive in the group stage. However, none of these big leagues have done too well recently in the Europe League as the winners have come from Eastern European clubs the last few years. Here’s a recap of the Europa League along with video highlights for Thursday’s matches.
UEFA Europa League Recap – Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Europa League kicked off its group stage on Thursday as a few of the favorites struggled. Scottish club Celtic lost on the road as did AS Roma. The EPL performed well as Everton dominated (4-0 win) and Fulham earned a draw on the road.
For the Bundesliga, it was a mixed result as Hamburg lost 0-3, Hertha Berling drew at home, and Werder Bremen earned a win on the road. Shakhtar started off strong with a dominant 4-1 win on the road as did Athletic Bilbao (3-0 win), Benfica (2-0 win), and FC Basel (2-0 win).
Overall, it’s only the first matchday and still lots of time for teams to recover that lost early. The next set of matches are on Thursday, October 1, 2009.
Video Highlights
| Thursday, September 17, 2009 | |||||
| Status | Home | Score | Away | STAGE | VENUE (ATT.) |
| FT | Ajax Amsterdam | 0 - 0 | FC Timisoara | Second Round Group A | Amsterdam ArenA (25,391) |
| FT | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 - 2 | Anderlecht | Second Round Group A | Maksimir Stadium (20,000) |
| FT | Lille | 1 - 1 | Valencia | Second Round Group B | Lille Metropole (14,676) |
| FT | Genoa | 2 - 0 | Slavia Prague | Second Round Group B | Luigi Ferraris (22,000) |
| FT | Hapoel Tel-Aviv | 2 - 1 | Celtic | Second Round Group C | Bloomfield Stadium (15,500) |
| FT | Rapid Vienna | 3 - 0 | Hamburg SV | Second Round Group C | Gerhard-Hanappi Stadium (49,500) |
| FT | Hertha Berlin | 1 - 1 | FK Ventspils | Second Round Group D | Olympiastadion (13,454) |
| FT | Heerenveen | 2 - 3 | Sporting Lisbon | Second Round Group D | Abe Lenstra Stadion (16,000) |
| FT | CSKA Sofia | 1 - 1 | Fulham | Second Round Group E | Balgarska Armiya (28,000) |
| FT | FC Basel | 2 - 0 | AS Roma | Second Round Group E | St Jakob Park (28,000) |
| FT | Panathinaikos | 1 - 3 | Galatasaray | Second Round Group F | Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium (46,791) |
| FT | SK Sturm Graz | 0 - 1 | Dinamo Bucuresti | Second Round Group F | Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium (12,500) |
| FT | Lazio | 1 - 2 | SV Salzburg | Second Round Group G | Stadio Olimpico (10,000) |
| FT | Villarreal | 1 - 0 | Levski Sofia | Second Round Group G | El Madrigal (5,000) |
| FT | Steaua Bucuresti | 0 - 0 | Sheriff Tiraspol | Second Round Group H | Stadionul Ghencea (58) |
| FT | Fenerbahce | 1 - 2 | Twente Enschede | Second Round Group H | Sukru Saracoglu Stadium (36,000) |
| FT | Benfica | 2 - 0 | BATE Borisov | Second Round Group I | Estadio da Luz (34,953) |
| FT | Everton | 4 - 0 | AEK Athens | Second Round Group I | Goodison Park (26,747) |
| FT | Club Brugge | 1 - 4 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Second Round Group J | Jan Breydel Stadium (17,770) |
| FT | Partizan Belgrade | 2 - 3 | Toulouse | Second Round Group J | FK Partizan Stadium (11,000) |
| FT | Sparta Prague | 2 - 2 | PSV Eindhoven | Second Round Group K | AXA Arena (16,703) |
| FT | CFR Cluj-Napoca | 2 - 0 | FC Copenhagen | Second Round Group K | Gruia (8,414) |
| FT | Athletic Bilbao | 3 - 0 | Austria Vienna | Second Round Group L | San Mames (40,000) |
| FT | CD Nacional de Madeira | 2 - 3 | Werder Bremen | Second Round Group L | Estadio Eng. Rui Alves (11,000) |
