A week on from the international break, the UEFA Europa League continues with matchday 3 play. October concludes with the 36 sides in this season’s competition continue their push to make it beyond this stage. Seven clubs have a perfect record so far, while another six are still awaiting their first point.
Here is The Deck’s preview ahead of the round action.
UEFA Europa League: Matchday 3
Rangers Trying to Recover Poor Start
One of Thursday’s early kickoffs comes from Portugal as Sporting Braga faces Crvena zvezda. It has been a solid start to the Portuguese team’s 10th appearance in the Europa League group stage/league phase. They are one of three clubs not to have conceded in the opening two rounds. However, they are in search of a maiden victory over their Serbian opponent, having drawn at home and lost away four years ago at this stage. Red Star has not enjoyed knockout round football in Europe since 2021/22 – the last time they took on Braga. The former European Cup winners are on a streak of 14 continental matches where they have scored, qualifiers included.
In Norway, Brann plays host to Rangers. It was an excellent recovery last time out for the hosts, who followed up their opening round reverse with a key win. They now take on Scottish opposition for the second season in a row after beating St. Mirren 4-2 on aggregate in UEFA Conference League qualifying last term. The Gers will need a reaction to their pair of defeats. They can take confidence from the fact that they have never lost to a Norwegian club in Europe. In fact, across those four previous contests, the Glaswegian outfit has never conceded, scoring five times.
FCSB and Bologna square off in the Romanian capital. It has been a poor start to the 2025/26 campaign for the side from Bucharest, and while they do have a win to their name in the UEL league phase, another one would do a world of good. Their record versus Serie A opposition is quite troubling though. FCSB has just one win across 15 meetings against Italian-based opposition (1-5-9). For Bologna, it has been a similar start to last fall in the UEFA Champions League. Once again, they are without victory in the first two rounds. Their last continental win on the road came in 1999 against Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup.
Turkish regular Fenerbahçe hosts Stuttgart in their matchday 3 tie. Fener holds a bleak 1-4-8 record in matches versus Bundesliga opposition. That sole win came 13 years ago in this competition away to Borussia Monchengladbach. That campaign also coincided with their best-ever European run, where they reached the semifinals before falling to eventual finalist Benfica. Stuttgart will be having their first crack against a side from Türkiye on Thursday. In the UCL last fall, Die Roten did manage two away wins. Whether they can make it two victories in three in the UEL is another matter.
This week’s tie of the round is in the Netherlands, as Feyenoord meets Panathinaikos in a clash between two European regulars. It has not been the best of starts in this season’s Europa League for the Rotterdam-based Feyenoord, who has not only lost both of their opening contests, but also failed to score. The last time they went three consecutive group phase matches without scoring was in 2020/21, when they finished bottom of their section. Pana kept a clean sheet in their only previous visit to Rotterdam. That came in the 1984/85 European Cup, when the Greeks prevailed 2-1 on aggregate. They are also unbeaten on the road in Europe this term (3-2-0).
KNVB Beker winner Go Ahead Eagles has a home tie against Aston Villa. The Eredivisie side claimed their maiden continental victory three weeks ago at the eighth time of asking. Now they aim to make it back-to-back in what would be their first success at home. They are 0-2-2 in such games ahead of this clash. It is consecutive trips to the Netherlands for Villa, where they have had much joy. In their six previous outings against Dutch teams, the Villans are undefeated (5-1-0). They are 4-0-3 in their last seven continental away ties stretching back to last campaign, where they reached the Champions League quarterfinals.
KRC Genk gets a second straight home game, as Real Betis makes the trip to Belgium. The 2016/17 quarterfinalist has not has much joy at home in Europe of late. They have just two wins over the last 16 outings (2-6-8), with both of those results coming in their last European outing two years ago. Betis has come out on top in both of their previous trips to Belgium, beating Anderlecht and Gent. The win at the latter came earlier this calendar year in the UEFA Conference League knockout playoffs. Their matchday 2 win made it seven European road games without defeat for Los Verdiblancos.
Olympique Lyonnais takes on Basel in their matchday 3 contest. OL has reached the round of 16 or better in their last six European participations, stretching back to 2016/17. They have been defeated just once in their last seven home matches (4-2-1), having beaten RB Salzburg last time out. Basel took out OGC Nice in the Conference League quarterfinals, but still owns a negative 5-5-8 record versus clubs from France. The Swiss champion claimed their 50th UEFA Cup/Europa League win three weeks ago in what is a return to the competition’s main round after five seasons away.
The last early kickoff on Thursday sees RB Salzburg take on Ferencváros. The Austrian giant continued their recent European struggles with a pair of defeats over the last month. They have yet to score in this season’s UEL in what is very concerning. Having reached the final four back in 2017/18, they have not gotten past the round of 16 since. There could be reason for belief here, as Fradi has lost all four previous matches versus sides from Austria. Unlike last term, where they lost twice off the bat, the Hungarians have a win and a draw to their name so far. Having prevailed on the road three weeks ago, Ferencváros is looking to win multiple away games in a group phase for the first time.
Top Faces Bottom in Late Kickoff
The competition’s highest ranked team AS Roma plays host to Viktoria Plzeň as part of the late matches. The Giallorossi lead the head-to-head 2-1-1. Both previous matches in the Italian capital have ended with Roma prevailing by an aggregate score of 9-1. A 5-0 success in the 2017/18 UCL group stage remains the club’s largest margin of victory in that tournament. Plzeň’s European campaign was ended by their opponent’s heated rival Lazio in the last 16 back in March. They are winless in their last six versus Italian opposition (0-2-4) since beating none other than Roma at the end of the 2018/19 UCL group phase.
The only game this round featuring two sides from the “Big Five” leagues pits together Celta Vigo and OGC Nice. In what is their seventh European journey in this millennium, Celta has reached at least the round of 16 in each of their last three appearances. Their previous games against French opposition have not gone their way though, as they are still in search of their first victory (0-1-1). Nice is currently on their worst run in continental competition in their club’s history. It is 14 without a win for Les Aiglons (0-4-10), with the club failing to get past this round in three of their five previous attempts.
Celtic looks to get a positive result at home, as they welcome Sturm Graz. The Hoops have a 2-3-7 record against Austrian sides all-time, with both of those wins coming against Innsbruck-based opponents. It has been 28 years since they last came out on top. They are not on the best run at home so far, as they are winless in their last three (0-1-2). Sturm faces a Scottish team for the second round running, having ousted Rangers last time out. The two-time defending Austrian champions have been defeated in each of their last six on the road in Europe, conceding 18 times during the negative run.
For the first time in nearly 25 years, Freiburg will be up against a Dutch team, with Utrecht being the challenger. The Bundesliga club’s only previous experience against Eredivisie sides came in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup, where they lost 3-2 on aggregate to eventual winner Feyenoord. They have enjoyed much success at home though, winning their last five. Utrecht has a decent record against teams from Germany, coming out on top twice in four meetings (2-0-2). Both of those came in two-legged ties, which they ultimately lost. A pair of 1-0 reverses to open their UEL campaign puts them in a tricky spot, but three points could be the kickstart they need.
LOSC Lille is in action at home as they meet PAOK Thessaloniki. Les Dogues enter the third matchday in good form, winning three of their last five in all competitions (3-1-1). They also happen to have a 3-1-1 record against Greek teams all-time. They have prevailed in both of their home games, both by a 3-1 scoreline. PAOK went conceded just once in the first five games of the 2025/26 season before falling 3-1 on matchday 2. They have not had much success against French clubs in the past, losing seven of the 11 meetings (3-1-7). Their last road win in the main rounds in Europe came last fall in Latvia against RFS.
Maccabi Tel Aviv will battle FC Midtjylland in Serbia. This is the second season in a row where the pair meet in the Europa League’s league phase. The Israeli champion lost 2-0 a year ago, which was the fifth of what would become six straight defeats. It has been a similarly poor start this time around, as they have yet to claim victory in the competition this term. Midtjylland is enjoying their best start to a group phase, with this being the first time they won their opening two matches. Since the knockout round playoffs were introduced in European play in 2021/22, the Danes have not gone farther than that stage.
The battle between the last place and first place teams take place in Sweden between Malmö and Dinamo Zagreb. This is a rematch from the UCL playoff round contest from 2011/12, which the Croats won 4-3 on aggregate. The regulars from Sweden have failed to progress from this stage of the Europa League in each of their last two attempts. That is quite the contrast from Dinamo, who has successfully negotiated this stage of the tournament in their last three forays. They even reached the quarterfinals in 2020/21 before their elimination to eventual winners Villarreal.
Nottingham Forest gets set to face Porto with a new coach at the helm. This will be Forest’s maiden clash with a Portuguese club, though they will also face Braga later on in the league phase. Despite scoring four times so far – twice in each game – the Premier League side is still awaiting their first win of the competition. Porto remains unbeaten across all competitions this term, only failing to win once. They may be in for a difficult clash though. After all, Dragões have a 10-11-26 record against English teams, winning once in their last five (1-1-3). Porto also drew versus Manchester United in the league phase last season 3-3.
We wrap things up with the match between Young Boys and Ludogorets. It is the second time that the Swiss club will come up versus a Bulgarian team in Europe. The previous occasions also occurred in the UEL group phase, where they beat CSKA Sofia home and away five years ago. That campaign also coincided with the last time in which Young Boys progressed from this stage. The Bulgaria’s dominant force, who has won the league’s last 14 titles, already managed to do something they failed to do last autumn: win a league phase game. Their 2-1 success on matchday 1 ended a run of eight European away games without victory.