Crystal Palace’s English striker #09 Eddie Nketiah celebrates scoring the team’s fourth goal during the UEFA Europa League, League phase football match between Crystal Palace and Lech Poznan at Selhurst Park in London on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
Juventus made a strong start to their Europa League campaign with a 5-0 demolition of NEC Nijmegen, while Bournemouth marked their first-ever European appearance with an impressive 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Thursday.
Crystal Palace also enjoyed a comfortable night, defeating Lech Poznan 4-0, while Celtic suffered another disappointing European result after losing 3-1 at home to Ferencvaros.
Juventus had expected to compete in the Champions League but missed out on qualification last season, giving the Italian giants an opportunity to end their 30-year wait for a European trophy.
They made the most of their return to the Europa League, overwhelming their Dutch opponents in Turin.
Nico Gonzalez, Kerim Alajbegovic and Nick Woltemade put Juventus 3-0 ahead before half-time, with Woltemade scoring his first goal since joining the club on loan from Newcastle.
Zeki Celik and Randal Kolo Muani added further goals after the break to complete a convincing victory.
The result gave Juventus a better start than Italian rivals AC Milan, who suffered a 2-0 defeat to Benfica in Wednesday’s standout Europa League fixture.
Bournemouth Make European History
Bournemouth enjoyed a dream start to their first European campaign with a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in San Sebastian.
Justin Kluivert opened the scoring before Rayan headed in at the back post to give the Cherries a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.
Sociedad pulled one back when Sergio Gomez’s attempted cross flew into the far corner, but Bournemouth held firm to secure a memorable victory.
The result will provide encouragement for manager Marco Rose, who is yet to record a Premier League win this season despite Bournemouth taking the lead in all four of their league matches.
Palace Too Strong for Lech
Conference League holders Crystal Palace continued their impressive European form with a 4-0 victory over Lech Poznan at Selhurst Park.
The win completed a perfect run of eight victories for English clubs in Champions League and Europa League action so far this season.
Yeremy Pino opened the scoring after capitalising on a costly mistake from a Lech throw-in.
Chris Richards doubled Palace’s advantage before Jørgen Strand Larsen converted a penalty to make it 3-0.
Eddie Nketiah then completed the rout as Palace underlined their credentials in the competition.
Celtic Suffer More European Misery
Celtic’s defensive problems were exposed again as the Scottish champions suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros.
The result came just weeks after Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers by Austrian side LASK despite at one stage holding a four-goal advantage.
Martin O’Neill’s side had also suffered a 3-0 defeat to local rivals Rangers last weekend and were unable to respond as promised.
Liam Scales’ own goal and a strike from Kristoffer Zachariassen put Ferencvaros in control before Daniel Arzani produced a sensational goal on his return to Celtic Park.
Besiktas End Marseille’s Run
Besiktas handed Marseille a fourth consecutive defeat with a 4-1 victory in Istanbul.
Ilhan Fakili gave the Turkish side the lead before Keyliane Abdallah equalised for Marseille.
Besiktas regained control after the break, with Vaclav Cerny, Michael Amir Murillo and Ernest Poku all finding the net to complete a comprehensive victory.
