2025/26 Europa League best league phase games: Which was your favourite?
Friday, January 30, 2026
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There were a number of pulsating encounters in the 2025/26 league phase – which was your favourite?
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For the second consecutive season, the league phase of the UEFA Europa League provided goals galore, surprise results and no end of drama as the race to qualify for the knockout phase went down to the wire.
Take a look through UEFA.com's selection of the best games and choose your favourite.
The first hat-trick of this season's tournament was scored on the very first matchday as winger Anass Zaroury stole the show during Panathinaikos' impressive victory in Switzerland. Karol Świderski prodded the visitors into the lead early on before Zaroury struck twice in quick succession with a half-volley and a close-range finish to put his team 3-0 up within 19 minutes.
Young Boys defender Saidy Janko did offer the hosts a glimmer of hope with a side-footed effort five minutes later. But Zaroury had the final say with an instinctive volley in the second half to complete the first hat-trick of his career as Panathinaikos got off to a flyer.
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Midtjylland
Forest's first European home game in 29 years ended in disappointment as Danish outfit Midtjylland edged a thriller at the City Ground. Ousmane Diao opened the scoring for the visitors in the 18th minute by latching onto a free-kick to poke in, but Forest were level within four minutes through Dan Ndoye.
Midtjylland hit back as Mads Bech converted from a corner, and in the 88th minute Valdemar Andreasen raced through and coolly slotted past the goalkeeper, with Chris Wood's added-time penalty nothing but a consolation for the hosts.
Robbie Keane's Ferencváros narrowly won an action-packed contest in Austria despite falling behind early on to an Edmund Baidoo strike from just outside the box. Barnabás Varga missed a golden opportunity to equalise as his penalty was well kept out by Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, but the striker was not to be denied in the 50th minute as he converted from a pinpoint Bence Ötvös cross.
Ferencváros then scored two more goals in the next eight minutes through a Kristoffer Zachariassen header and a Bamidele Yusuf strike, and although a 72nd-minute reply from Yorbe Vertessen set up a grandstand finish, the Hungarian champions did just enough to see out the victory.
Belgian side Genk triumphed in a topsy-turvy encounter in Portugal during their pursuit of automatic qualification. A fierce piledriver from Rodrigo Zalazar put Braga into the lead, but the visitors levelled on the stroke of half-time, Daan Heymans heading in from a corner.
Yira Sor completed the turnaround with a fine solo goal early in the second half and Hyeongyu Oh smashed in to increase the advantage just before the hour. Zalazar did get his second of the evening with 20 minutes to go, but Kevin Medina curled home to restore Genk's two-goal lead just seconds after the restart, Fran Navarro's late scrambled effort not enough to prevent Braga's first defeat of the league phase.
Attacking midfielder Petar Stanić became the outright top scorer in this season's competition with a superb hat-trick to inspire Ludogorets to a priceless win over Celta. The Serbian Under-21 international twice found the net from the penalty spot either side of a precise first-time shot into the corner as the Bulgarian outfit stormed into a 3-0 lead after an hour.
Celta did not give up without a fight, though, Pablo Durán finishing from close range with 20 minutes to go and Jones El-Abdellaoui volleying into the top corner deep into added time to set up a nervy finale, but Ludogorets just about got over the line.
"Only FCSB could play such a game!" said match winner Florin Tǎnase after the final whistle in Bucharest. "We played against a very powerful team and everyone favoured them. It's a historic match for me."
It was one that seemed to have got away from Elias Charalambous' side; FCSB took the lead early but six minutes into the second half they were 3-1 down. Feyenoord, though, were rattled by a quick response, and FCSB kept pushing after Mamdou Thiam's 87th-minute equaliser. Five minutes into added time, Juri Cisotti won back the ball, took it into the danger zone and crossed for Tǎnase to hit the winner.
Back for his second spell as Celtic caretaker manager this season, Martin O'Neill was left with a headache in his side's Matchday 7 game in Italy. Reo Hatate scavenged the Bhoys' early opener but was then sent off for a second bookable offence on 34 minutes. Despite Austen Trusty doubling the lead from a corner before the interval, the second half was to be an ordeal.
Vincenzo Italiano's Bologna hammered on the door relentlessly; Thijs Dallinga pulled one back before the hour, and when Englishman Jonathan Rowe scored a sizzling second from distance with 18 minutes to go, it looked grim for Celtic. However, they resisted stoutly to the delight of their 73-year-old boss, who said: "It was breathless and I still am [breathless], but it was a magnificent effort."
Having battled through three qualification rounds, and beaten Forest and Celtic in the league phase, Mike Tullberg's Midtjylland were well established as a surprise package by the time they visited Brann on Matchday 7 only to be upstaged at the last in Bergen.
Martin Erlić had the hosts in front inside four minutes, Noah Holm responding but Júnior Brumado restored the visitors' lead with a fine chest and volley combination. A penalty made it 2-2 in the second half and while Erlić replied briskly, Brann were awarded another spot kick deep into added time which Joachim Soltvedt converted.
The Swiss side momentarily sneaked into the all-important top 24 after coming back from 2-0 down on Matchday 8 only for a resurgent Stuttgart to strike late take all three points.
The German side struck twice in the space of a minute in the opening spell, Deniz Undav scoring the first and setting up the second for Ermedin Demirović. However, Armin Gigović's thunderous strike and a beauty from Sandro Lauper levelled things up before Chema Andrés' sliding finish at the far post won it for the German side in the final moments. "We came back to 2-2 and had the chance to make it 3-2," said Lauper. "But Stuttgart are a great team."
Kadan Young set up Jamaldeen Jimoh-Alob for a late winner as a youthful Villa side justified Unai Emery's faith with a second-half rally in their final league phase game. Salzburg had caught the Premier League side cold, taking a deserved 2-0 lead early in the second half.
Villa burst into life after that, though; Morgan Rogers' neat finish brought them back into contention and Tyrone Mings headed them level with 14 minutes to go. Fresh off the bench, the 20-year-old Young then set up 19-year-old Jimoh-Alob for the decisive goal. "The way we reacted was fantastic," said a proud Emery.