Five-time UEFA Europa League champions Sevilla look set for another assault on the competition after Pablo Sarabia’s solitary goal on Thursday earned them a 1-0 away win to Sigma Olomouc in the first leg of their playoff.
Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers are also well-placed to make the group stages, but Burnley’s first European adventure in 51 years looks likely to come to an end next week after they lost 3-1 away to Greek giants Olympiakos.
New Sevilla boss Pablo Machin left Andre Silva, hat-trick hero in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, on the bench, but Silva came on to make a vital contribution with a defense-splitting pass that Sarabia prodded into the top corner six minutes from time.
Burnley’s faltering start to the season domestically and in Europe continued as they paid a heavy price for the sending-off of Ben Gibson on just his second appearance for the club.
The former Middlesbrough defender was shown a second yellow card for a handball that resulted in Kostas Fortounis scoring Olympiakos’ third from the penalty spot on the hour mark.
Chris Wood had canceled out Fortounis’ opener before Andreas Bouchalakis restored Olympiakos’ lead.
Celtic’s quest to put their UEFA Champions League elimination at the hands of AEK Athens behind them got off to the perfect start against Suduva in Lithuania when Olivier Ntcham headed home on three minutes.
However, manager Brendan Rodgers bemoaned more woeful defending to allow Ovidijus Verbickas to head home an equalizer 10 minutes later in a 1-1 draw.
“We gave away a soft goal. That is a real, real concern now,” Rodgers said. “We are not giving away many chances, but we don’t defend the set piece well enough.”
Across Glasgow, Steven Gerrard has no such worries as the Rangers registered a sixth clean sheet in 10 games under the former Liverpool captain in a 1-0 win over Russia’s Ufa.
One of Gerrard’s centerbacks even got a solitary goal at Ibrox, as Connor Goldson smashed home from close range.
Zenit St Petersburg took a commanding 3-1 lead into their second leg against Norwegian side Molde, with one of Russia’s FIFA World Cup heroes Artem Dzyuba inspiring a late comeback from 1-0 down in the final 20 minutes.
Basel edged a five-goal thriller over Apollon Limassol to take a 3-2 lead to Cyprus next week thanks to a double from Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
RB Leipzig still have work to do in Germany in the second leg after a 0-0 draw in Ukraine against Zorya.
APOEL Nicosia and Ludogorets Razgrad secured narrow 1-0 first-leg leads over Kazak champions Astana and Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia respectively.
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Bjorn Werner on Saturday signed everything thrust in front of him by NFL fans who packed a Berlin plaza. His old Indianapolis Colts jersey — it is a best-seller in Germany — footballs, scarves, miniature helmets. Even a cleat. Werner’s NFL career ended after three seasons because of injuries, but he has become a star in his home country as a TV commentator and media personality. He cohosts a popular podcast, has a big social media presence and is credited with helping popularize the sport in Germany. As the former first-round draft pick waded through throngs of fans, he looked around and took
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