Palace win, Bournemouth draw on historic Europa League debut night
Crystal Palace beat Lech Poznan 1-0 and AFC Bournemouth drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad on 17 September 2026 to open their first Europa League campaigns in style.
Palace held their nerve at home. Bournemouth stood firm away. For two clubs new to this competition, that is a fine first night's work, according to results reported by The Guardian.
Both were making their competition debuts, as billed by the BBC. Bournemouth's trip to San Sebastian was the club's first-ever UEFA Europa League fixture. Marco Rose led them out for it, with kick-off at 9pm local time, as noted by the club.
The game sits inside the league phase, the single-table opening stage where every team plays eight matches to chase a place in the knockouts. UEFA has now confirmed all the league-phase fixtures for 2026/27, listed on UEFA.com. The phase began on 16 September and runs to 28 January 2027.
The night started early. Levski Sofia trailed Red Bull Salzburg 0-1 at half-time after Haris Tabakovic struck on 39 minutes. OFI Crete led Hoffenheim 1-0 at the break thanks to Aitor Cantalapiedra's goal on the half-hour, as reported in The Guardian's live blog. Those two were 5.45pm kick-offs.
Then came the main rush. All other kick-offs were 8pm unless stated. The evening card included Celtic v Ferencvaros, Besiktas v Marseille and Juventus v NEC alongside the two English ties.
Elsewhere on Matchday 1, Sunderland beat AZ 1-0. Omonia Nicosia beat Celta Vigo 1-0. Bayer Leverkusen beat Celje 2-0. Olympiacos beat Jagiellonia Bialystok 2-1. Anderlecht lost 1-2 to Lyon. AC Milan lost 0-2 to Benfica.
For fans, this means new songs, new away days, new memories. Bournemouth only moved close to a first European campaign in club history when they beat Palace 3-0 in the Premier League on 3 May 2026, reported by Reuters. Four months on, both clubs were out there on a European night.
Palace will get more of those at Selhurst Park, which was scheduled after the August draw to host Real Sociedad, Lech Poznan, Sparta Prague and Hoffenheim. Bournemouth and Sunderland were both drawn in a pool that included AC Milan. The road is long. The start was good.
