For a competition that many consider to be boring, there was an awful lot of excitement in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32. Only one match all day long went scoreless, and five matches saw at least four goals scored. Four red cards were handed out, and virtually every match was incredibly well-fought and entertaining. Only a couple of these ties are decided and functionally over heading into the second, setting up an incredible set of matches for next week in the return fixtures.
Celtic and Inter Milan score 6, Romelu Lukaku stars and more from Europa League
The first day of the Europa League knockout rounds was all kinds of fun, highlighted by goals and red cards everywhere you looked.
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Trabzonspor 0-4 Napoli
This was a show of complete dominance for Napoli, as the Italian side ran out to a 3-0 lead by the half hour mark and controlled the whole run of the match. Trabzonspor could barely even slow Napoli's attack down in the first half, and it was a minor miracle they didn't go in to the half with the scoreline even more steeply against them. Napoli slowed things down in the second half, sitting back and mostly ceding possession to their Turkish hosts, but Trabzonspor could only manage a few half-chances and couldn't keep Napoli from adding a fourth in added time. With Trabzonspor's issues playing on foreign soil in recent years, this tie looks all but over.
Young Boys 1-4 Everton
Young Boys got through the group stage because they were able to score a ton of goals, but they also gave up a bunch along the way. On Thursday, that tendency to surrender goals got the better of them, losing an early lead from a Tim Howard mistake in goal and probably losing the tie along the way. Romelu Lukaku was a one-man show for Everton, scoring his first hat trick for the English club and his presence helped create Everton's other goal. The Merseyside club will be without key defender John Stones in the second leg, though, after he was sent off for a rash foul that led to a penalty in the second half.
Wolfsburg 2-0 Sporting Lisbon
The Bas Dost show keeps rolling on with the Dutch striker adding two more goals to his impressive run, one in each half of the match. Sporting Lisbon put up a good fight and created plenty of trouble for Wolfsburg all match long, but the German side wound up being too much for the Portuguese to handle. A 2-0 lead isn’t too much to overturn in the second leg, though, especially with the always-raucous atmosphere of the Estadio Jose Alvalade working in their favor. They just have to figure out how to keep Dost from scoring, something no one has been able to do of late.
Guingamp 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv
The first half of this match was as bizarre as they get. Dynamo were forced to use an early sub when Jeremain Lens was hurt in the first 10 minutes of the match, but were able to score the first goal of the tie through Miguel Veloso in the 19th minute. Despite some good moments for Guingamp, it looked like Kyiv would be able to get to halftime with their lead intact -- then everything went pear-shaped when star winger Andriy Yarmolenko was sent off in the 39th minute. After things calmed down, Younes Belhanda was brought on to re-balance Kyiv’s shape and midfield -- then a bizarrely rash tackle saw Belhanda sent off after being on for all of four minutes. The Ukrainian side was able to make it through most of the second half without conceding with just nine men, but two goals for Guingamp in the space of four minutes were inevitable.
Celtic 3-3 Inter Milan
This was a match more notable for bizarrely sloppy play than anything particularly impressive, but that didn't stop this match in Glasgow from being a thriller. Inter scored twice in the first 13 minutes thanks in large part to a pair of defensive and goalkeeping errors. Then Inter almost seemed to go to sleep, turning off the steamroller, and then paying for it dearly. They gave up two goals in two minutes to Celtic, including an own goal and both coming on terrible breakdowns in defense. Inter would find a third just before the stroke of halftime, leading to a breakneck back-and-forth pace in the second half. It looked as though Inter would be able to hold off Celtic despite fending off some ferocious attacks, but then John Guidetti was able to fire home a late equalizer deep in stoppage time to leave the tie level heading in to the second leg. This could be a match to watch next week when these two teams face off at the San Siro.
All round of 32 first leg results
Young Boys 1-4 Everton -- blog recap
Torino 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Wolfsburg 2-0 Sporting Lisbon
AaB 1-3 Club Brugge
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2-0 Olympiakos
Trabzonspor 0-4 Napoli -- blog recap
AS Roma 1-1 Feyenoord -- blog recap
PSV Eindhoven 0-1 Zenit St. Petersburg
Sevilla 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Ajax 1-0 Legia Warsaw
Anderlecht 0-0 Dinamo Moscow
Guingamp 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv
Villarreal 2-1 Salzburg -- blog recap
Liverpool 1-0 Besiktas -- blog recap
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Fiorentina -- Spurs recap / Fiorentina recap
Celtic 3-3 Inter Milan -- blog recap
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