Europe’s secondary competition got underway with a ton of goals, shocks and one of the biggest sides on the continent playing their first game in it since 2016.
The first round of fixtures have shown that some newcomers may struggle, and that complacency will be punished no matter who it is but most of all there will be some wonderful goals scored.
We saw that in some of the early kick-offs with the first goal of the 2023/24 tournament coming from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennes.
Group F
One minute in Ludovic Blas struck a beauty from far out with his left foot and it flew past Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Itamar Nitzen.
It set the tone for the rest of the performance with two more goals from Rennes who put in a dominant performance in a potentially tricky group as Villareal found out.
The Spanish side have struggled in La Liga so far this season but would have still been favourites against Greek side Panathinaikos who won the game 2-0 with goals from Fotis Ioannidis and Andraz Sporar.
Like a lot of groups this is set to be tight but the French side may have announced themselves as early outsiders for the competition with experienced players such as Steve Mandanda and Nemanja Matic as well as future stars like Arthur Theate and Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Group E
The favourites Liverpool learnt that if they aren’t switched on any side can give them a scare which is exactly what Austrian side LASK done with a early goal.
However, Jurgen Klopp made sure he got the three points even with 11 changes as Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Mo Salah got the goals.
Union-Saint Gilloise and Toulouse fought out a 1-1 draw proving that it will be a even battle for that second place as Liverpool proved what was probably already known.
That they can coast this group with their squad depth.
Group G
One of the biggest sides in this competition Roma just about got off to a winning start against Moldovan side FC Sheriff with their new striker Romelu Lukaku scoring the winner after displaying some neat footwork to manage to get the shot off.
Swiss side Servette made their group stage debut with a loss against Czech giants Slavia Prague.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma will be wanting to go one step further this time around after losing last season’s final on penalties.
They made hard work out of their opener, but this is Lukaku’s competition with 19 goals in 25 games before his strike in Moldova and he will definitely carry on adding to that in this group.
Group H
The best performance of the first lot of fixtures came from one of the most talked about sides right now in Bayer Leverkusen due to how fantastic of a job Xabi Alonso has done in his first senior managerial job so far.
Future superstars Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface got on the scoresheet, but Amine Adli scored the best of the lot with a first-time volley after a delightful cross from former Arsenal man Granit Xhaka.
They were very much expected to win the game against Swedish side and European debutant BK Haecken however it has proved that they are certainly here to not just take part.
Azerbaijani side Qarabag edged out a 1-0 win over Norway’s Molde which will give the Swedes some hope after their battering.
Alonso’s side are most certainly the ones to watch even if it just for the pure enjoyment of attacking football.
Group A
In the later games Olympiacos and Freiburg provided us with one of the most entertaining games of the first round as the German side got a late winner through Maximilian Phillip.
The Conference League Champions and arguably one of the favourites to win this competition West Ham United started their campaign with a win even though they went one down to Serbian side TSC Backa Topola who had filled their away end with 34 people.
David Moyes’ side turned it around though with one of their three goals being a first for new signing Mohammed Kudus.
James Ward-Prowse carried on providing his quality with the assist for that goal and Thomas Soucek’s goal which confirmed the three points.
West Ham are certain for tougher tests against their other opponents but they have gained a lot of experience in Europe over the last two years and should cope.
Group B
The group of death for this season certainly delivered.
European debutants Brighton & Hove Albion and one of the most impressive teams in the Premier League lost against Greek side AEK Athens in their big game.
Two penalties dispatched by Joao Pedro couldn’t stop Roberto De Zerbi’s side from suffering defeat.
In the other game Ajax and Marseille provided an end-to-end 3-3 draw.
The managerless Marseille went two goals down in the first half which would have summed up their week quite appropriately, but a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace inspired them to a point.
Brighton will take positives from that as if both teams have leaky defences, then they will certainly take advantage in transitions.
However, they will have to get better at defending set-pieces otherwise their European dream might not even make it into the new year.
Group C
2021 finalists Rangers got off to a winning start even though they have not had a great start in their league.
Abdallah Sima got the only goal against Real Betis who are mid-table now in La Liga but they should still be fighting it out with Michael Beale’s side for top spot given Manuel Pellegrini’s experience at the top level.
That is due to Czech side Sparta Prague and Cypriot debutants Aris Limassol not having as much quality as them.
Sparta had to rely on a brace from their centre back Ladislav Krejci and then a winner from their other centre back Martin Vitik to win 3-2.
They will be hoping that their attackers will provide the quality next time out if they want to have a chance against Real Betis in Spain.
Group D
One of the most exciting teams in Europe in recent times Atalanta got off to a winning start against Polish side Rakow Czestochowa who were also making their European group stage debut.
The Italian’s have lost a bit of their edge in the last couple of seasons, and they have had to change their attack a lot but if they click, they can be a threat which they showed with 10 shots on target as they threatened to run riot but, in the end, only won 2-0.
Sporting Lisbon needed a late winner against Austrians Sturm Graz but it was impressive forward Viktor Gyokeres who them underway.
Both Atalanta and Sporting could go a long way in the Europa League but they will have to progress as a collective as they go along in the tournament.
It should be an entertaining encounter when they come up against each other in a couple of weeks time.
Out of all the sides it was Leverkusen who laid down the biggest marker with Rennes and Atalanta proving that they could be potential underdogs to win the big final in Dublin.