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After six consecutive seasons competing in European football’s top-tier competition, the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool opened its campaign in European football’s second-tier competition, the UEFA Europa League, on Thursday.
This was the Reds’ first game in the competition since a 3-1 defeat to Sevilla in the 2016 final in Basle. Since then, Liverpool have reached three Champions League finals, with them going all the way to winning it in 2019, after a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the final played in Madrid.
In their first game back in the Europa League, Jurgen Klopp’s side managed to navigate through a potential upset to Austrian side, LASK, to run out 3-1 winners, after falling behind in the first half to a goal from Florian Flecker. Darwin Nunez got Liverpool back in the game shortly after the break as he converted a penalty which was awarded due to Luis Diaz being brought down in the penalty box.
Just seven minutes later, new signing Ryan Gravenberch set up Diaz to put Liverpool into the lead. Many of Klopp’s key players did not start the game as he made 11 changes from Liverpool’s last Premier League game against Wolves, with Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah only being introduced during the second half.
Salah made his impact off the bench by sealing a 3-1 win for Liverpool in the dying minutes as opening goal scorer, Nunez, turned provider and set up the Egyptian. This continues Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season and sees their winning run extend to five games in all competitions.
After the game, Klopp spoke about the expectations for his side in the Europa League by warning it will not be smooth sailing. He stated: “I know people expect us to fly through this competition, it will not happen. In the group stage, it will not happen and in the knockout stage, it will not happen. We have to dig in, dig into it. That’s what we did tonight.”
It was a record-breaking night for the German as he became the first manager in Liverpool’s illustrious history to reach 50 wins in European games.
Next up for Klopp’s men is the visit of West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday, where Liverpool will be looking to keep up their winning run. The next Europa League group game for the Reds will be in a fortnight against the Belgian side, Union Saint-Gilloise, at Anfield.
Union Saint-Gilloise drew 1-1 with Ligue 1 side, Toulouse in the other game in the group.
Liverpool were not the only Premier League side in Europa League action on Thursday night as both West Ham and Brighton & Hove Albion began their European campaigns. West Ham qualified for this season’s competition after winning the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, in a 2-1 win over Serie A side, Fiorentina, in Prague.
The Hammers got their Europa League campaign underway with a 3-1 home win over the Serbian side Backa Topola after they were trailing 1-0 at the break. A new signing from Ajax, Mohammed Kudus, scored his first goal for the club when he scored his side’s second of the night.
It was a historic occasion for Brighton as the club was competing in its first-ever European game, after a sixth-place finish in the Premier League last season. Unfortunately, the club’s supporters will have to wait a little longer for their side’s very first win in Europe, as the Seagulls lost 3-2 at home to Greek side, AEK Athens.
Some of the other Europa League group games on Thursday night were high-scoring affairs, with Bundesliga side, Bayer Leverkusen, dismantling Swedish side, Hacken, 4-0, whilst Dutch giants, Ajax, played out a 3-3 draw with Ligue 1’s Marseille.
Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, and Czech side, Sparta Prague both endured 3-2 wins on Thursday night, over Greek side, Olympiakos and Cypriot side, Aris Limassol, respectively.
Last year’s finalists, AS Roma, were also in action as the Italian side took on Moldovan side, Sheriff, with Jose Mourinho’s side coming away with a 2-1 victory. New signing Romelu Lukaku got on the scoresheet to make it two goals in his first two starts for his new club.
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