Europa League: Milan and Juventus Stumble, Leverkusen Wins

Milan and Juventus derailed the Italian clubs’ continental resurgence, with the former suffering a 3-0 defeat to English side Bournemouth and the latter drawing 2-2 with French club Rennes on Thursday in the third matchday of the UEFA Europa League, which also saw Bayer Leverkusen secure their third consecutive victory.

Following a poor previous round for Italian clubs, with late rescues by Milan and Juventus in particular, the tables turned as Roma, Inter, Napoli, and Como all secured victories in the UEFA Champions League this week.

Milan, who played with ten men from the 28th minute after French goalkeeper Mike Maignan was sent off for pushing American Tyler Adams in the head and knocking him to the ground, lost to goals from Dutchman Justin Kluivert (7th minute), Marcus Thuram (32nd minute), and Moroccan substitute Amin Sarr (84th minute).

This is Milan’s second loss of the season, both in the Europa League (the first was a 2-0 away defeat to Portuguese visitors Benfica), while they sit fourth in the Serie A table, four points behind their city rivals and defending champions Inter, who share the top spot with Lazio.

Juventus, meanwhile, failed to continue their continental winning streak against Rennes, who were led by Jordanian midfielder Musa Al-Tamari to a draw with a goal in the 15th minute, alongside Senegalese forward Paul Nardi (43rd minute, penalty), against two goals from Turkish defender Zeki Çelik (5th minute) and German striker Nick Woltemade (67th minute, penalty).

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti said after the match that he expects more from the French duo of Randal Kolo Muani and Woltemade, who made their first joint start together.

“They played a good game, but they are capable of doing more. I think I can expect a little more from them, because their level is higher than their performance tonight. We can expect more from them than just the scoreline given their individual potential. That could give us three instead of two,” he added.

Spalletti failed to ease the pressure on himself, as Juventus had previously suffered a 3-0 home league defeat to Lazio, marking their second loss in seven matches.

Rennes, on the other hand, relatively recovered from their setbacks, following a 4-3 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, which was their third league loss of the season.

They collected their fifth point from a 2-1 win over Greek side OFI Crete and a goalless draw with Austrian club Sturm Graz, temporarily placing them 13th in the standings.

Favored title contenders Leverkusen secured their third consecutive victory, this time defeating Greek side OFI Crete 2-0, sharing the top spot with Portuguese club Benfica, English side Bournemouth, Greek club Olympiacos, and Hungarian team Ferencváros.

French club Lyon suffered their first defeat, losing 3-0 to German hosts Hoffenheim. Goals came from Croatian Mislav Oršić (45+4), Danish player Adam Daugaard (49), and Czech substitute Adam Hložek (83).

His compatriot Marseille also fell, losing 2-1 to Austrian club Sturm Graz.

Lyon’s French coach Bruno Génésio lamented the defeat, saying, “Sturm Graz deserved the win, just looking at the fighting spirit shown by their players.” He added, “As for us, I expected a much better performance. We didn’t treat this match as a European game, whereas they played it as if it were a Champions League match.”

Portuguese club Benfica also won, defeating Cypriot hosts Omonia Nicosia 4-1, while Spanish side Celta Vigo beat Scottish club Celtic 2-1. Spanish team Real Sociedad thrashed Norwegian hosts Lillestrøm 6-0, and Turkish side Beşiktaş, playing with ten men, drew 2-2 with English visitors Crystal Palace.