Get ready for the UEFA Europa League
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Article summary
With 24 games every matchweek, prepare for another frenzied Thursday night.
Article top media content
Article body
With 2,160 minutes of football condensed into every matchnight, get an idea of what is to come when the action resumes.
Group A: Roma vs CFR Cluj (18:55 CET), Young Boys vs CSKA-Sofia (21:00 CET)
Group B: Rapid Wien vs Dundalk (18:55 CET), Arsenal vs Molde (21:00 CET)
Group C: Slavia Praha vs Nice (18:55 CET), Hapoel Beer-Sheva vs Leverkusen (18:55 CET)
Group D: Benfica vs Rangers (18:55 CET), Lech Poznań vs Standard Liège (18:55 CET)
Group E: PAOK vs PSV Eindhoven (18:55 CET), Omonoia vs Granada (18:55 CET)
Group F: Real Sociedad vs AZ Alkmaar (18:55 CET), Rijeka vs Napoli (18:55 CET)
Group G: Leicester vs Braga (21:00 CET), Zorya Luhansk vs AEK Athens (21:00 CET)
Group H: Celtic vs Sparta Praha (21:00 CET), AC Milan vs LOSC Lille (21:00 CET)
Group I: Sivasspor vs Qarabağ (18:55 CET), Villarreal vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv (21:00 CET)
Group J: Ludogorets vs Tottenham (18:55 CET), Royal Antwerp vs LASK (21:00 CET)
Group K: Dinamo Zagreb vs Wolfsberg (21:00 CET), Feyenoord vs CSKA Moskva (21:00 CET)
Group L: Crvena zvezda vs Gent (21:00 CET), Hoffenheim vs Slovan Liberec (21:00 CET)
Match of the week: Benfica vs Rangers
The biggest test yet for rejuvenated Rangers. Steven Gerrard's men are 17 games unbeaten, and the whisper that Celtic's nine-year stranglehold on Scottish football may be nearing an end is now entering open conversation. In Benfica, though, they face a side that had won their last seven matches and in fine attacking style, too, before a setback on Monday.
Lech full-back Tymoteusz Puchacz has faced both teams and knows who he is backing to win. "Rangers are not nearly as strong as Benfica or have their quality," says the Poland U21 international. "[Rangers] are not unbeatable." Yet they have been of late, and what better time for Alfredo Morelos – currently level with Ally McCoist – to set a new club record for European goals?
Worth pointing out
• Edin Džeko could make his 100th appearance in UEFA club competition when Roma host CFR Cluj. Now 34, the Bosnian has been used sparingly this season but may come off the bench tonight. Džeko has been among the goals this term and his all-time record in Europe confirms his class: 99 games, 41 goals, 24 assists.
• Scoring goals from your own half are all the rage this season. Kemar Roofe found the net from 50m for Rangers on Matchday 1, a UEFA Europa League record that lasted all of seven days before Omonoia's Jordi Gómez registered from 59m. Who's next?
• There have been four hat-tricks already this season (all away from home, unusually), just two fewer than the whole of the last campaign. Among the treble scorers in 2020/21 is Elvis Manu, who made unwanted UEFA Europa League history last time out – 70 players have bagged the match ball over the years but, against LASK, the Ludogorets forward became the first to do so and finish on the losing side.
• Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son's partnership has reached new heights of telepathy in 2020/21. They have combined at better than a goal per game in the Premier League this term, albeit the UEFA Europa League is yet to see the best of their double act. After Tottenham' shock defeat by Antwerp, Ludogorets need to brace themselves for a reaction.
• Get the latest fixtures, standings and statistics here.