Soccer

UEFA Europa League 2011, Matchday 2 Preview And Fixtures: PSG Goes To La Catedral, Celtic Face Udinese

PSG’s trip to the Basque Country and Celtic’s match against Udinese highlight Matchday 2 in the UEFA Europa League

Sep 29, 2011, 1:07 PM UTC

Kevin Gameiro of Paris St Germain reacts after missing a chance during the Emirates Cup match between Boca Juniors and Paris St Germain. PSG takes on Athletic Bilbao in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, September 29. 2011.

Another Thursday, another 24 fixtures in the UEFA Europa League. Matchday 1 was nice and entertaining, but produced no significant upsets. All of the 'big' teams in the competition are at least on one point at the moment, but a number of those teams are going to be tested this Thursday. Among the biggest matches are Athletic Bilbao vs. Paris St. Germain, Celtic vs. Udinese, Rennes vs. Atletico Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon vs. Lazio.

Unfortunately, it's 77 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Stoke-On-Trent, England today, so we won't get to see whether or not the technically skilled players on Besiktas can do it on a wet and windy night in Stoke. Rapid Bucharest vs. PSV Eindhoven is a clash of teams who won their first game of the competition, as is FC Metalist Kharkiv vs. AZ Alkmaar. American international striker Jozy Altidore, who has completely resurrected his career in the last two months, should play for AZ today. Braga and Club Brugge, two teams either at the top of or tied for the top spot in their respective domestic leagues also play in what should be a great match.

There are two major sets of fixtures, the 1:00 pm EST/6:00 pm BST games and the 3:00 pm EST/8:00 pm BST games. The exceptions are two early games that will get started beforehand because of time zone differences - Rubin Kazan vs. PAOK Salonika and Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Anderlecht. Here’s the complete schedule, with some TV information on the games that are widely available in the USA and UK. If you live in the USA and you have DirecTV, you can find all of these games on the DirecTV Soccer channels. Check the 480s on your guide.

Super Early Games

Rubin Kazan vs. PAOK Salonika - 11:00 am EST, 4:00 pm BST, 6:00 pm CEST

Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Anderlecht - 12:00 pm EST, 5:00 pm BST, 6:00 pm CEST

Early Games (All Times 1:00 pm EST, 6:00 pm BST, 7:00 pm CEST)

FC Metalist Kharkiv vs. AZ Alkmaar

Malmo FF vs. Austria Vienna

Braga vs. Club Brugge

NK Maribor vs. Birmingham

Celtic vs. Udinese - ESPN UK

Stade Rennes vs. Atletico Madrid - GolTV USA

AEK Larnaca vs. Steaua Bucharest

Schalke 04 vs. Maccabi Haifa