Bournemouth were set for a landmark night in their history as they travelled to San Sebastián to face Real Sociedad, marking the club's first ever appearance in continental competition after a 17-year rise from the depths of the English football pyramid.
Manager Marco Rose named an unchanged side from the weekend's 2-2 draw with Brentford, opting against wholesale rotation despite the fixture congestion that comes with European football. His starting eleven featured Petrovic in goal behind a back line of Smith, Hill, Silva and Truffert, with Rayan and Scott anchoring midfield and Adams and Tavernier supporting Evanilson and Kluivert in attack.
Speaking ahead of kick-off, Rose reflected on the significance of the occasion for the south coast club. "Excited for the club... everyone is really happy for our fans," he said. "It wasn't necessary to rotate too much... we need to take care of the Liverpool game on Sunday but first of all we want to win this game... the team played well so far, even if the results are not looking like this... we have to be ready."
Real Sociedad lined up with Marrero in goal and a front line including Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal and Oskarsson as the Basque side looked to make home advantage count in the opening stages of the Europa League campaign.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace made their own bow in the competition, hosting Lech Poznan at Selhurst Park. The Eagles, who lifted the Conference League trophy last season, named the same starting eleven that suffered a surprise 3-2 home defeat to Ipswich Town at the weekend. Notably, defender Axel Disasi was included despite having been sent off in that domestic loss, with disciplinary sanctions from the Premier League not carrying over into European competition. Dean Henderson's understudy Benitez started in goal, with Richards, Disasi and Ahanor forming the back line and Kamada, Larsen and Pino tasked with providing attacking threat against a Lech Poznan side led by former Sporting man Mikael Ishak up front.
Celtic also took to the field in Matchday 1.2 action, hosting Hungarian side Ferencvaros at home. Brendan Rodgers' men made four changes following a difficult Scottish League Cup exit at Ibrox. Viljami Sinisalo was handed the goalkeeping duties in place of Sam Johnstone, while Oliver Sorensen came into midfield ahead of Benjamin Nygren. In attack, Haissem Hassan and James Forrest were recalled at the expense of Kasper Hogh and Sebastien Tounekti as Celtic looked to bounce back from their domestic disappointment on the European stage.
The evening's action followed a dramatic opening round of fixtures a day earlier, which saw Sunderland mark their return to European football after a 53-year absence with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar. It proved a difficult night for Milan, meanwhile, as Ruben Amorim's side were beaten 2-0 by Benfica, adding to the pressure already building on the manager. Other results from Matchday 1 included Lyon's 2-1 away win at Anderlecht, Sparta Prague's 4-1 victory over Ararat Armenia, and Bayer Leverkusen's 2-0 success over CM Celje.
Earlier fixtures on Matchday 1.2 also saw goals flow, with Haris Tabakovic opening the scoring for Red Bull Salzburg against Levski Sofia in Bulgaria, while OFI Crete—representing Heraklion, Greece's fourth-largest city—took a first-half lead over Hoffenheim through Aitor Cantalapiedra.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.