Bournemouth produced the biggest story of Matchday One in the UEFA Europa League after defeating Real Sociedad 2-1 in San Sebastián to register the club’s first-ever victory in European competition.
The Premier League side, playing their maiden European match after 127 years of existence, stunned the Spanish hosts with a superb first-half display that yielded two goals before surviving sustained late pressure to seal a famous away victory.
Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth the lead in the 10th minute after a flowing attacking move, before teenager Rayan doubled the advantage with a well-placed header from Alex Scott’s cross just nine minutes later.
Real Sociedad responded after the break through Sergio Gómez, reducing the deficit to 2-1 and launching a relentless assault on Bournemouth’s goal. However, goalkeeper Djordje Petrović produced a series of crucial saves, including two late stops, to preserve the visitors’ historic triumph.
For Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, the victory carried extra significance, with the triumph coming in San Sebastián—the city where his own football journey began as a player.
Elsewhere, Juventus made an emphatic statement by thrashing Dutch side NEC Nijmegen 5-0 in Turin to begin their league-phase campaign in dominant fashion. The Italian giants overwhelmed their visitors with an attacking display that firmly established them among the early contenders in this season’s competition.
Crystal Palace were equally impressive at Selhurst Park, brushing aside Polish champions Lech Poznań 4-0 in front of their home supporters.
Yéremy Pino opened the scoring after capitalising on a defensive mistake before Chris Richards doubled the lead. Jørgen Strand Larsen converted from the penalty spot to make it three before Eddie Nketiah completed the rout with a late goal.
The convincing victory marked another memorable European night for Palace following last season’s UEFA Conference League success, while also providing an encouraging start to manager Pierre Sage’s Europa League campaign.
The opening round of the 2026/27 Europa League league phase also saw Lyon edge Anderlecht 2-1, Benfica defeat AC Milan 2-0, Bayer Leverkusen overcome Celje 2-0 and Sunderland return to European football with a 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar.
AbdulBasit Saba is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
