Many see the Europa League as a poor second to the Champions League but as was shown last season, it can feature a surprising amount of 'top clubs including holders Chelsea who won after departing the Champions League group stage.
This year it could be the year of the debutant with a number of clubs taking their first step in European competition including Wigan Athletic who qualified after winning the English FA Cup but currently have to juggle their inaugural Europa season with a 46 game Championship campaign.
A
Swansea stunned Valencia at the Mestalla in a 3-0 win after the La Liga side had Rami sent off after 10 minutes with Bony, Michu and De Guzman scoring in a famous win, St Gallen also earned an opening win by defeating Kuban 2-0 with goals from Karanovic and Mathys with Kuban ending the game with ten men after Kabore was sent off in the final minute.
B
PSV suffered a shock loss to Ludogorets with second half strikes from Besjak and Misdjan securing a 2-0 win while Chornomorets also started with a win by defeating Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 with the Croatians leading thanks to a goal from Fernandes before two goals in three minutes from Antonov and Djedje secured the win.
C
Esbjerg won 2-1 away to Liege courtesy of goals from Van Buren and Bakenga sandwiching an equaliser from Bia while Salzburg blew Elfsborg away with a 4-0 thrashing with Alan opening the scoring and a superb hat-trick from Soriano claiming a comfortable win.
D
Rubin Kazan set the standard with a 5-2 away win at Maribor with Karadeniz and Mariano putting them 2-0 up with a Milec strike pegging them back but to no avail as Eremanko and Fajic scored for either side before late scores from Rondon and Ryanzatsev sealed the win, Wigan fought out a 0-0 draw in a rainy Brugge against Zulte Waregem to start their debut campaign unbeaten.
E
Giuseppe Rossi starred in a 3-0 Fiorentina win over Pacos Ferreira scoring the third after strikes from Gonzalo and Ryder and Dnipro claimed a 1-0 win away to Pandurii thanks to a first half goal by Rotan.
F
Eintracht Frankfurt claimed a 3-0 win over Bordeaux with goals from Kadlec, Russ and Djakpa with the French side having Orban sent off in the second half while 3-0 down while a 0-0 draw was played out between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Apoel Nicosia.
G
Genk secured a suprise win over Ukranian side Dynamo Kiev with a second half strike from Gorius ensuring an opening win and FC Thun handed a 1-0 loss to Rapid Vienna with a first half goal effort from Schneuwly.
H
Freiburg and Liberec drew 2-2 with the Germans taking a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from Schuster and Mehmedi but were pulled back by Kalitvintsev and Rabusic for the Czech side with both sides finishing with ten men with Guede and Rybacka sent off in the 77th and 90th minutes respectively.
Sevilla claimed a 2-1 win away to Estoril with strikes from Vitolo and Gamiero sandwiching an equaliser from Miguel.
I
Guimares thrashed Rijeka 4-0 courtesy of goals from Ba, Plange, a Maazou penalty and Andre completing the rout while Betis and Lyon drew 0-0.
J
Hernandes scored a second half winner as Lazio defeated Legia Warsaw with Trabzonspor claiming a 2-1 away win over Apollon after falling behind to an early Sangoy penalty, Malouda and Erdogan secured the win.
K
Tottenham outclassed Tromso 3-0 with a first half Jermaine Defoe brace and a spectacular strike from Eriksen late on while Sheriff and Anzhi drew 0-0.
L
AZ Alkmaar secured a 1-0 win over Maccabi Haifa courtesy of a 71st minute winner by Gudmundsson and PAOK defeated Shakhter Karagandy 2-1 but fell behind to a Canas penalty with an effort from Athanasidis levelling the game and Vukic sealing the win late on after Poryvaev was sent off.
So just like in the Champions League, plenty of surprises and thrashings with some teams having amazing starts and others having to reflect on a terrible start and hoping to turn their fortunes around in a fortnight.
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