Six goals from Bayer, a sensational defeat to Napoli and a goal from Rufa from the center of the field: what will be remembered for the first round of the Europa League

Major victories of Bayer and Nice

The first round of the group stage of the Europa League season 2020/21 turned out to be quite productive, and the matches with the participation of Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal turned out to be the richest in goals.

In both, eight goals were scored.

German footballers have distinguished themselves six times in a meeting with Nice, and the Spaniards have upset guests from Sivasspor five times.

As for the players from Leverkusen, they have scored six European goals for the first time in 23 years.

The last time they were so effective was in 1997, when they defeated Tbilisi “Dynamo” with a score of 6: 1 in the Champions League qualification.

One of the main characters of today's match was Karim Bellarabi.

The German winger appeared on the field in the 74th minute, and already nine years later he had a double.

Several of his teammates also performed well.

Moussa Diaby scored a goal and an assist, while Leon Bailey acted as assistant twice.

At Villarreal, Takefusa Kubo and Paco Alcacer showed themselves most vividly.

The Japanese rented from Real Madrid scored with an accurate shot and two assists, and the ex-Barcelona striker chalked up two goals.

To do this, it was enough for him only four minutes.

Hat-trick of Nunez and Yaziji

However, the highest scoring players of the day were Yusuf Yazici from Lille and Darwin Nunez from Benfica.

They delighted the fans with hat-tricks in the confrontation with Czech Sparta and Polish Lech, respectively, and after the first round took first place in the Europa League scorers' race.

Moreover, if the Uruguayan had previously scored three goals per match, then this happened for the first time in a Turk's career.

He only scored twice with more than one goal per game, and the last time it happened in the Turkish Cup match with Kizilchabolukspor.

Nunez, for the first time, was marked by accurate strikes in the Benfica.

In September, the Uruguayan moved to the Portuguese club from Almeria for € 24 million and became the most expensive transfer in the history of the Eagles.

Up to this point, he appeared on the field in five meetings, but only now he began to justify the funds invested in him.

End wins

In one of the most dramatic matches of the day, Hapoel from Beer Sheva defeated Czech Slavia.

Up to the 86th minute, an equal score remained on the scoreboard, but within just two minutes the hosts managed not only to snatch victory, but also to strengthen the advantage.

The double was taken by Elton Akolatse, who appeared on the field during the second half.

And both goals turned out to be a feast for the eyes.

In the first case, he effectively closed the canopy from the flank, and in the second, he shot irresistibly from 35 meters.

True, in the dispute for the title of the author of the best goal of the tour, Akolatse is hardly able to compete with Kemar Ruf.

In stoppage time of the meeting with Standard, the Rangers forward dared to strike from the center of the field and did not lose.

Goalkeeper Arno Bodar tried to save his team in a desperate jump, but the ball ended up in the net.

Unlike Rufa, Real Sociedad striker Jon Bautista did not create a masterpiece, but was able to bring his team the most important three points.

In the 85th minute, he replaced the tired Mikel Oyarsabal, and already in the third compensated he lit his name on the scoreboard.

The Spaniard scored for the first time since October 19, 2019, when he hit the gates of Ostend, speaking on loan for Eupen.

The nature of Arsenal and Roma

The giants of English and Italian football, although they experienced serious problems in matches with inferior rivals in the class, were still able to prevail.

At the beginning of the second half, the Gunners' goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a gross mistake at his own goal and allowed Vienna's Rapid to take the lead, but Mikel Arteta's charges did not surrender.

Parity was restored by David Luis, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang became the author of the winning goal.

For the native of Gabon, he finished 12th in 19 Europa League games.

Roma broke the resistance of Young Boys.

"Wolves" were in the role of catching up already at the beginning of the first half, and were able to come out ahead only almost an hour later.

With an interval of four minutes, goals were scored by Bruno Perez and Maras Kumbula.

For the Albanian defender, this ball was the first in the club from the Eternal City.

Fiasco Napoli and PSV

At the same time, some favorites could not show character and suffered sensational defeats.

The most unexpected was the unsuccessful performance of "Napoli".

In the previous round of the Italian championship, Gennaro Gattuso's charges defeated Atalanta, but lost to AZ in the Europa League.

"Azzurri" four times surpassed the rival in the number of shots on goal (20 - 5), but outright lost in terms of implementation.

At the beginning of the second half, Dani de Wit closed the cross into the penalty area and brought his team three points.

At the same time, PSV could not cope with Granada.

The Dutch were not even helped by the accurate blow of Mario Goetze, who distinguished himself in the second game in a row.

Diego Martinez's charges responded with two goals from Jorge Molina and Darwin Machis and broke the opposition.

Confidence of Milan and Tottenham

Other giants have not experienced problems in the first round of the championship.

“Milan” easily dealt with “Celtic” (1: 3) and made several statistical achievements.

Stefano Pioli's side have scored more than one goal in their last ten games and extended their unbeaten streak in all tournaments to 21 matches.

The last time the Rossoneri lost was in March, when they could not cope with Genoa in Serie A.

This evening was special for Jens Petter Hauge, who has become one of the main characters of the current transfer window.

The former Bodø Glimt striker hit Milan's goal in the Europa League qualification and impressed his management so much that they decided to buy a player.

The 21-year-old Norwegian made his debut for the Rossoneri in the Italian championship match with La Spezia, and in the next game he scored his first goal for the new club.

In total, 31 minutes were enough for him.

Tottenham scored three unanswered goals against LASK in their field and extended the unbeaten run to nine meetings, while Leicester beat Zorya with a similar score.

Unlike the English teams, Hoffenheim turned out to be a little more merciful and only twice forced the goalkeeper of Crvena Zvezda Milan Boryan to surrender.