The 2026-27 UEFA Europa League league phase continues today with nine matches across Europe as Matchday 1 reaches its second night. After nine games were played on Wednesday, Thursday’s schedule brings Beşiktaş vs Marseille, Juventus vs N.E.C. Nijmegen, Real Sociedad vs Bournemouth and Crystal Palace vs Lech Poznań among the headline fixtures.
According to UEFA’s official schedule, two games are listed in the early window and seven in the main evening window.
Europa League fixtures on September 17
- 18:45 CET OFI Crete vs Hoffenheim
- 18:45 CET Levski Sofia vs Salzburg
- 21:00 CET Beşiktaş vs Marseille
- 21:00 CET Celtic vs Ferencváros
- 21:00 CET Crystal Palace vs Lech Poznań
- 21:00 CET Viktoria Plzeň vs Union SG
- 21:00 CET Juventus vs N.E.C. Nijmegen
- 21:00 CET Lillestrøm vs Torreense
- 21:00 CET Real Sociedad vs Bournemouth
Beşiktaş-Marseille leads the Istanbul spotlight
Beşiktaş begin their league-phase campaign at home against Marseille in one of the evening’s highest-profile ties. The Turkish side will be looking to make home advantage count against an experienced French opponent in a competition where every point matters across an eight-game schedule.
Premier League clubs enter the picture
Crystal Palace and Bournemouth are both in action. Palace host Polish side Lech Poznań, while Bournemouth travel to Spain to face Real Sociedad in a demanding opening assignment. The two English clubs add extra attention to a Thursday card that also includes Italian heavyweight Juventus.
Juventus welcome N.E.C. Nijmegen, while Celtic face Ferencváros in Glasgow. Elsewhere, Lillestrøm meet Torreense and Viktoria Plzeň host Union Saint-Gilloise.
How the league phase works
Thirty-six teams compete in one league table under the current Europa League format. Each club plays eight different opponents. The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, while teams finishing ninth through 24th enter the knockout phase play-offs. Clubs ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated from European competition.
That makes Matchday 1 an opening step rather than a decisive round, but early points can still matter later in the race for a top-eight or top-24 finish. Home results in particular can become valuable once the league table begins to tighten.
