Europa League: What to look out for on Thursday
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Article summary
Aston Villa host Bologna, Rangers are up against Genk and Porto are back in action as UEFA Europa League Matchday 1 concludes.
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The league phase of the UEFA Europa League is back for a second season with the final nine fixtures of Matchday 1 taking place Thursday 25 September.
UEFA.com runs through the key storylines and statistics.
Thursday 25 September
All kick-off times 21:00 CET unless stated
Lille vs Brann (18:45)
Go Ahead Eagles vs FCSB (18:45)
Rangers vs Genk
Salzburg vs Porto
Aston Villa vs Bologna
Ferencváros vs Viktoria Plzeň
Young Boys vs Panathinaikos
Stuttgart vs Celta
Utrecht vs Lyon
Standout fixtures
The story: Aston Villa and Bologna are set for a rematch at Villa Park, where Unai Emery's men won 2-0 during the inaugural league phase of the Champions League in 2024/25. The Villans are in the Europa League proper for the first time since 2008/09 but can rely on the experience of Emery, the most successful coach in competition history. Bologna last featured at the turn of the century and earned their place this time out by winning the Coppa Italia.
The stat: Bologna have never beaten an English team in UEFA competition (D1 L3).
The story: Rangers have progressed to the knockout stage in each of their previous five participations in this competition, a streak that summer appointment Russell Martin will hope to extend in his first European campaign as a manager. Belgian side Genk showed they have what it takes to win big on the road in qualifying – a 5-1 win at Lech Poznań largely to thank for their league phase spot – but will they follow that up at Ibrox?
The stat: Rangers had won all of their previous seven home matches against Belgian teams before they were defeated 1-3 by Club Brugge in August's Champions League qualifying play-offs.
Other highlights
- Celta's first European participation since 2016/17 starts at Stuttgart. The Spanish club reached the semi-finals of this competition in that campaign.
- Salzburg play host to two-time winners Porto. Samu scored six goals in nine Europa League appearances for the Portuguese club last season.
- Go Ahead Eagles make their debut in the Europa League proper against FCSB.
Wednesday 24 September results
PAOK 0-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Midtjylland 2-0 Sturm Graz
GNK Dinamo 3-1 Fenerbahçe
Real Betis 2-2 Nottingham Forest
Braga 1-0 Feyenoord
Crvena Zvezda 1-1 Celtic
Freiburg 2-1 Basel
Nice 1-2 Roma
Malmö 1-2 Ludogorets