Juventus, Crystal Palace Win Big as Bournemouth Begin European Journey With Victory
Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail
The 2026-27 UEFA Europa League got off to an exciting start on Thursday, with Juventus and Crystal Palace recording convincing victories while Bournemouth marked their first European appearance with a memorable away win over Real Sociedad.
Juventus defeated NEC Nijmegen 5-0 in Turin, while Crystal Palace produced a 4-0 victory against Lech Poznan. Bournemouth also impressed on their continental debut, beating Real Sociedad 2-1 in Spain.
Juventus Start Europa League Campaign in Style
Juventus made a strong statement at home by sweeping aside NEC Nijmegen 5-0.
Nicolas Gonzalez opened the scoring early before Kerim Alajbegovic added a second. Nick Woltemade then converted from the penalty spot to give Juventus a three-goal advantage before half-time.
Zeki Celik extended the lead after the break, while Randal Kolo Muani completed the scoring to give the Italian side a comfortable opening-round victory.
Woltemade also scored his first goal for Juventus since joining the club on loan from Newcastle United.
Bournemouth Celebrate Historic European Victory
Bournemouth enjoyed a memorable night in San Sebastian as they secured a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in their first-ever competitive European match.
Justin Kluivert put Bournemouth ahead in the 11th minute before Rayan doubled the advantage nine minutes later with a header.
Real Sociedad responded after the interval when Sergio Gomez found the net, but Bournemouth managed to protect their lead and claim all three points. Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic also made important saves late in the match to preserve the result.
The victory gave Bournemouth a historic start to their European campaign after reaching continental competition for the first time.
Crystal Palace Ease Past Lech Poznan
Crystal Palace also enjoyed a successful opening night, beating Lech Poznan 4-0 at Selhurst Park.
Yeremy Pino opened the scoring after capitalising on a defensive mistake, while Chris Richards added another goal to strengthen Palace’s position.
Jurgen Strand Larsen converted a penalty before Eddie Nketiah completed the four-goal victory. The result continued Palace’s strong run in European competition following their Conference League success last season.
Celtic Suffer Home Defeat
Celtic endured a difficult opening match after losing 3-1 to Ferencvaros at Celtic Park.
The Scottish champions had recently been eliminated from the Champions League qualifying stages and were unable to respond positively against their Hungarian opponents.
Ferencvaros took control through goals from Bamidele Yusuf and Kristoffer Zachariassen, while Daniel Arzani added another shortly after half-time. Celtic managed only one goal in response.
Besiktas Beat Marseille 4-1
In another notable result, Besiktas defeated Marseille 4-1 in Istanbul.
Ilhan Fakili gave the Turkish side an early lead before Marseille equalised through Keyliane Abdallah. Besiktas then took control after the break, with Vaclav Cerny, Michael Amir Murillo and Ernest Poku all finding the net.
The victory extended Marseille’s difficult run, with the French club suffering another heavy defeat.
The opening matchday of the Europa League produced several strong performances, with Juventus, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth among the teams making an early impact in the 2026-27 competition.
