Europa League: Reds Win Wild One In Bern; Matress Makers Mark Successful Start To Title Defense; Spurs, Magpies Battle To Scoreless Stalemates

24 games were played on Thursday as group-stage play in the Europa League commenced.

Group A:

At Bern, Switzerland:

Jonjo Shelvy scored twice in the second half (76', 88') as Liverpool, who had a pair of one goal leads, came from behind to overtake home-standing BSC Young Boys 5-3.

At Udine, Italy:

Antonio D'Natale's equalizer at the death (90'+2) carried Udinese to a 1-1 home draw with FC Anzhi Makhachkala.  Daniele Padelli's own goal in the 45th minute put the Russian club on the scoreboard.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Liverpool (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Anzhi Makhachkala (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Udinese (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. BSC Young Boys (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group B:

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Cristian Rodriguez (37'), Diego da Silva Costa (40'), and Raul Garcia (63') provided the scoring as Atletico Madrid started their Europa League title defense with a 3-0 road domination of Hapoel Tel Aviv.

At Plzen, Czech Republic:

With Pavel Horvath (46'), Michal Duris (58'), and Frantisek Rajtoral (80') each delivering a goal, FC Viktoria Plzen defeated visiting Academica 3-1.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Atletico Madrid (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. FC Viktoria Plzen (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
3. Academica de Coimbra (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)
4. Hapoel Tel Aviv FC (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group C:

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

The match between AEL Limassol and visiting Borussia Monchengladbach ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Goals in the waning minutes from Matthieu Valbuena (83') and Andre Ayew (90'+4) enabled Marseille to come from behind to gain a 2-2 road draw with Fenerbahce.  Caner Erkin (28') and Alexsandro de Sousa (57') each tallied once for the Yellow Canaries.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Marseille (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
2. Fenerbahce (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Borussia Monchengladbach (GP: 1;GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. AEL Limassol (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

Group D:

At Funchal, Portugal:

The match between CS Maritimo and visiting Newcastle United ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Bordeaux, France:

Ludovic Sane (13'), Yoan Gouffran (27'), Bjorn Engels (OG-47'), and Jussie Ferreira Vieira (66') each scored once as Bordeaux dominated Club Brugge 4-0.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Bordeaux (GP: 1; GD: +4; PTS: 3)
2. Newcastle United (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. CS Maritimo (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Club Brugge (GP: 1; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

Group E:

At Stuttgart, Germany:

Georg Niedermeier's equalizer in the 85th minute enabled VfB Stuttgart to salvage a 2-2 home deadlock with Steaua Bucharest, whose Raul Rusescu had converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute to give the Romanian club a short-lived 2-1 lead.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Andreas Cornelius scored the winning goal in the 74th minute as FC Copenhagen defeated visiting Molde 2-1.

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. FC Copenhagen (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Steaua Bucharest (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
     VfB Stuttgart (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Molde FK (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group F:

At Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine:

Matheus Leite Nascimento scored the winning goal in the 50th minute as FC Dnipro Dniprotetrovsk blanked visiting PSV Eindhoven 2-0.

At Naples, Italy:

Eduardo Vargas delivered a natural hat trick (6', 46', 69') as Napoli demolished visiting AIK Solna 4-0.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. Napoli (GP: 1; GD: +4; PTS: 3)
2. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
3. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)
4. AIK Solna (GP: 1; GD: -4; PTS; 0)

Group G:

At Genk, Belgium:

With Jelle Vossen (22'), Thomas Buffel (78'), and Benjamin De Ceulaer (90'+2) each delivering a goal, KRC Genk had no trouble with visiting Videoton, dominating the Hungarian club 3-0.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

The contest between Sporting CP and visiting FC Basel ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. KRC Genk (GP:1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. FC Basel (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Sporting CP (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Videoton FC (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group H:

At Milan, Italy:

Yuto Nagatomo's stoppage-time equalizer (90'+2) carried Inter Milan to a 2-2 home draw with Rubin Kazan.  Jose Rondon had put the Russian club ahead 2-1 with his tally in the 84th minute as the Nerazzurri battled back from a pair of one-goal deficits to get the draw.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Nefchi Baku held home-standing Partizan Belgrade to a 0-0 deadlock.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. Inter Milan (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
2. FC Rubin Kazan (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Partizan Belgrade (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Neftchi Baku PFC (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

Group I:

At Lyon, France:

Bafetimbi Gomes (59') and Lisandro Lopez (62') each scored a goal three seconds apart during the second half as Lyon held off visiting Sparta Prague 2-1.

At Balboa, Spain:

Markel Susaeta provided the equalizer in the 40th minute, enabling Athletic Bilbao to salvage a 1-1 home draw with Ironi Kiryat Shmona.  Adrian Rochet socred for the Israeli club in the 14th minute.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. Lyon (GP: 1;GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Athletic Bilbao (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Ironi Kiryat Shmona FC (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Sparta Prague (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group J:

At Maribor, Slovenia:

Robert Beric (25'), Agim Ibraimi (62'), and Marcos Tavares (PK-88') each delivered a goal as NK Maribor dominated visiting Panathinaikos 3-0.

At London:

Tottenham Hotspur (with three goals disallowed) battled visiting Lazio to a 0-0 draw.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. NK Maribor (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. Tottenham Hotspur (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. SS Lazio (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Panathinaikos (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group K:

At Vienna, Austria:

Rosenborg, with Tarik Elyounoussi (18') and Mikael Dorsin (60') providing the goals, defeated Rapid Vienna 2-1 on the road.

At Leverkusen, Germany:

FK Metalist Kharkiv battled home-standing Bayer Leverkusen to a 0-0 deadlock.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. Rosenborg BK (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Bayer Leverkusen (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Rapid Vienna (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group L:

At Valencia, Spain:

Juan Francisco (Juanfran) scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute as Levante downed visiting Helsingborg 1-0.

At Enschede, Netherlands:

Goals from Artur Sobiech (67') and Peter Wisgerhof (OG-73') enabled Hannover 96 to bounce back from a two-goal hole to gain a 2-2 road draw with FC Twente.  Willem Janssen (7') and Nacer Chadli (54') each tallied for the hosts.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. Levante (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. FC Twente (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Hannover 96 (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Helsingborgs IF (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)