Benfica made a strong start to their UEFA Europa League campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory over AC Milan at San Siro, while Sunderland marked their return to European football after 53 years with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar.
The 2026/27 Europa League league phase got underway on Wednesday with nine matches producing plenty of talking points, as Benfica, Sunderland and Lyon emerged among the biggest winners of the opening night.
Benfica secured their first-ever victory over Milan after six previous meetings without a win. Dodi Lukébakio opened the scoring in the 16th minute, firing a low effort into the far corner after Jakub Kamiński created space for the Belgian.
Kamiński then doubled Benfica’s advantage eight minutes into the second half with a superb volley from Souffian El Karouani’s cross.
Milan pushed for a way back into the game, but Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin produced an important save to deny Christian Pulisic and preserve the visitors’ clean sheet.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland celebrated their first European appearance since 1973 by beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0.
Enzo Le Fée scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after winning the spot-kick himself. Sunderland had earlier gone close through Le Fée, who struck the post, while AZ missed several opportunities to level the contest.
The victory gave Sunderland a memorable start to their return to European competition and their first-ever Europa League win.
Lyon also began their campaign with an away victory, beating Anderlecht 2-1 in Brussels.
Noah Nartey and Keito Nakamura put Lyon two goals ahead inside the opening 22 minutes, before Mihajlo Cvetković pulled one back for the Belgian side after the hour mark.
Anderlecht applied late pressure in search of an equaliser, but Lyon held on to claim all three points.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Celje 2-0, while Sparta Prague recorded the biggest win of the night with a 4-1 victory away to Ararat-Armenia.
Olympiacos came from behind to beat Jagiellonia 2-1, Omonia edged Celta Vigo 1-0 and Sturm Graz drew 0-0 with Rennes. Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb also played out a goalless draw.
The opening round continues on Thursday, with Juventus, Marseille, Celtic, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth among the teams beginning their league-phase campaigns.
