UEFA Europa League 2018-19: 5 talking points from MatchDay 1

Vishal
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - UEFA Super Cup
UEFA Europa League Trophy

4. Rangers come back from behind to draw with Villarreal away and Celtic defeat Rosenberg:

Steven Gerrard's Rangers faced Villarreal on the first Matchday of the Europa League. Villarreal has not started this season's La Liga strongly while Rangers have had a mixed start to the season as well.

Carlos Bacca scored in the first minute to hand Villarreal a lead early on. The first half ended with Villarreal having a 1-0 lead. Rangers equalized in the 64th minute with a goal from Scott Arfield but were quick to go behind again when Gerard Moreno scored two minutes later off of an assist from Santi Cazorla. Steven Gerrard's men, however, showed character and bounced back with yet another equalizer from Kyle Lafferty in the 76th minute. The match ended 2-2 in what is a positive start for Steven Gerrard as a manager in Europe.

Villarreal CF v Rangers - UEFA Europa League
Villarreal CF v Rangers - UEFA Europa League

The Scottish champions Celtic faced off against Norwegian outfit Rosenberg. Celtic dominated the proceedings but was not clinical enough to get the winner until the 87th minute when Leigh Griffiths scored the winner assisted by Dedryck Boyata. Going forward, however, Celtic will have tough competition from Germany side RB Leipzig and Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in order to progress to the knockout stages.

Quick Links

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications