Key events
Pre-match reading: Here’s Jeff Rueter on Feyenoord’s Gjivai Zechiël, who is apparently quite good.
Nailing the pronunciation of Gjivai Zechiël may be a challenge for some, but it’ll be worth the effort. The Dutch G is a guttural one, not struck with a tongue so much as residing under one’s uvula like a congested H: kHEE-vye. The surname is a bit more straightforward: ZEH-kee-el, a natural decrescendo of emphasis with every syllable.
Used in a sentence: Gjivai Zechiël is one of the hottest midfielders in Europe, enjoying arguably the most rapid emergence of any high-level player in 2026.
Much more here:
Martin O’Neill has a chat:
The manager [Marco Silva] came here because he wanted to win things, and you’ve got a good chance when you’re at Benfica. We have to earn the right to play, do lots of things off the ball, but most importantly when you’re on it, have the confidence. We’ll have the opportunity to play, and that’s exactly what you want: confidence in yourself, and confidence in your teammates.
More team news, this time from Bournemouth. If the name of the referee rings a bell, it may be because he was the VAR who angered the whole of Egypt at this summer’s World Cup and prompted Marca to run through his “long history of controversies” (actually not long):
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Silva, Diakite, Soler, Tavernier, Cook, Adams, Doak, Rodriguez, Evanilson. Subs: Di Gregorio, Allan, Truffert, Hill, Brooks, Christie, Kluivert, Adli, Toth, Rayan.
Sturm Graz: Khudyakov, Malic, Quarshie, Petrovic, Balbo, Heil, Stankovic, Matoshi, Hodl, Seidl, Beganovic. Subs: Helac, Lorenz, Vallci, Kayombo, Diakite, Mate Grgic, Koller, Peinhart, Weinhandl, Halwachs, Petritsch.
Referee: Jerome Brisard (France).
Teams!
Team news is starting to land and I’m going to pour it all in here, starting with Benfica v Celtic and news that not only is Camilo Durán but Jhon Durán starts for Benfica, making this very much a Durán v Durán affair, and if that isn’t an excuse for enjoying some fine 80s music I don’t know what is.
Benfica: Trubin, Bah, Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl, Aursnes, Joao Palhinha, Lukebakio, Sudakov, Prestianni, Duran. Subs: Soares, Circati, Pavlidis, Manu, Barreiro, Schjelderup, Rafa Silva, Echeverri, Indio, El Karouani, Anisio Cabral, Freitas.
Celtic: Sinisalo, Donovan, Murray, Trusty, Tierney, McGregor, Baur, Duran, Sorensen, Tounekti, Hogh. Subs: Johnstone, Lotomba, Scales, Nygren, McCowan, Osmand, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hassan, Forrest, Ralston, Clearie, Kennedy.
Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (Montenegro).
Preamble
Hello world! We have 10 late Europa League games to get our teeth into tonight, plus eight in the Conference League and a token effort from Mansfield and Oxford in League One, any of which we might get distracted by if they look exciting enough. Bournemouth’s Marco Rose is hoping his team recover from the “real slap” they suffered at the hands of Chelsea at the weekend against Sturm Graz, while Celtic’s fans wait to find out if Camilo Duran’s child has been born in time for the Colombian to make it to Lisbon to play Benfica. Elsewhere, two classic names of European club football face each other as Anderlecht, former Uefa Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup winners, head to Dinamo Zagreb, former Fairs Cup winners and Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finalists, for what surprisingly is only a fifth meeting, while Celta Vigo and Juventus play for the third time, with both previous encounters having ended in home wins.
Tonight’s fixtures in full, then (all 8pm unless they obviously aren’t):
Europa League
Benfica v Celtic
Bournemouth v Sturm Graz
Celta Vigo v Juventus
Dinamo Zagreb v Anderlecht
Ferencvaros v Plzen
Hoffenheim v Besiktas
Jagiellonia Bialystock v Ararat Armenia
Marseille v Olympiacos
NEC v Levski Sofia
Rennes v OFI
And the earlier 5.45pm BST kick-offs:
AZ v Hapoel Beer Sheva
CM Celje v Omonia Nicosia
Lech Poznan v Bayer Leverkusen
Lyon v Crystal Palace
Red Bull Salzburg v Milan
Sparta Prague v Lillestrom
Torreense v Sunderland
Union Saint Gilloise v Real Sociedad
Conference League
Atalanta v AE Pafos
Brann v Lincoln Red Imps
Brighton v Kauno Zalgiris
Copenhagen v Braga
Freiburg v Jablonec
Hearts v Nordsjaelland
Sint-Truiden v Iberia 1999
Twente v Thun
And the earlier, 5.45pm kick-offs:
CSKA Sofia v Monaco
Egnatia v Midtjylland
Gent v AGF
Hajduk Split v Ajax
KuPS v Trabzonspor
Lugano v Red Star Belgrade
Mjallby AIF v Inter D’Escalde
Panathinaikos v Borac
Riga v Kairat
Universitatea Craiova v Getafe
Sky Bet League One
Mansfield v Oxford Utd
