Everything’s gone according to plan in the first round of Wednesday fixtures in the UEFA Europa League, with all of the favored teams notching wins. Celtic have continued their poor run of form in the build-up to the second Old Firm Derby of the season, dropping their game against Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 loss at Parkhead. Arda Turan was the man who scored the goal with a great strike for Atletico.
UEFA Europa League 2011, Early Match Recap: Atletico Madrid, Rubin Kazan, Braga Notch Big Wins
In the other Group I match, Rennes and Udinese drew 0-0 in France. This means that Atletico Madrid are through to the next round, while Udinese will go through with a win or draw against Celtic in Fruili on the final day. Celtic need to win that difficult away match to progress.
Rubin Kazan did what was expected of them at home, defeating Shamrock Rovers 4-1 at home to stay top of Group A. Fighting for the second spot in that group in the late matches are Tottenham Hotspur and PAOK Salonika. Club Brugge and NK Maribor played the best match of the round, with Brugge coming from 3-0 down on the road to record a 4-3 win. Ryan Donk scored the winner in stoppage time as Brugge scored four times from the 73rd minute to the end of the match. They are now virtually through to the next round, up three points on Birmingham City with a far superior goal difference.
Scores
Rubin Kazan 4-1 Shamrock Rovers
Malmo FF 0-0 AZ Alkmaar
Metalist Kharkiv 4-1 Austria Vienna
Braga 1-0 Birmingham
NK Maribor 3-4 Club Brugge
Celtic 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Rennes 0-0 Udinese
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