UEFA Conference League REVIEW 20 Aug 2026: Ajax Fight Back to Sink Sion in UEFA Conference League Playoff

Ajax needed a second-half turnaround to beat Sion 4-2 away in the first leg of their Conference League play-off. Franck Surdez had Sion 1-0 up at the break, but Julian Brandt levelled early in the second half before Marcos Leonardo headed Ajax in front, his first goal for the club since his move from Al-Hilal. Ilyas Chouaref converted a penalty to make it 2-2, only for substitute Tolu Arokodare to head Ajax back in front and Davy Klaassen to add a fourth with a chip.

Panathinaikos looked to have Hradec Kralove's number in Athens, a Tetteh goal on 55 minutes and a second on 61 putting the Greeks 2-0 up. Hradec Kralove then hit back twice through Abdullahi Umar, on 89 minutes and again deep into stoppage time, the Czech side snatching a 2-2 draw they had shown little sign of earning. It is only the second time the clubs have met: Panathinaikos also lost out to Hradec Kralove in the first round of the 1960-61 European Cup, going down 0-1 on aggregate.

There were two more comebacks in Scotland. Motherwell led inside two minutes through R. Charles-Cook, but Freiburg hit back through a Matthias Ginter brace, the second a penalty in the same minute as Martin Moormann's dismissal for Motherwell, and K. Goto added a third late on for a 3-1 away win. Hearts fell behind to S. Raux-Yao's goal for SK Rapid, only for Raux-Yao to turn the ball into his own net to level it, and James Wilson's long-range effort put the home side 2-1 up before N. Wurmbrand equalised again to make it 2-2 for a Rapid side that had won its previous match 8-0.

Red cards featured heavily elsewhere without changing several results. Rangers went down to ten men when C. Devlin was sent off but held on to beat Jablonec 1-0 courtesy of R. Naderi's goal. Getafe lost A. Abqar to a red card but still added two late goals to beat Partizan 3-1, D. Seck's strike the only reply for the visitors. Hajduk Split had A. Pajaziti dismissed after going 2-1 up but were pegged back to 2-2 by Mohamed Lamine Diaby's stoppage-time equaliser for Rakow. Lincoln Red Imps played from the 29th minute with ten men after Y. Flalhi Idrissi's dismissal and paid for it late on, Larne scoring twice in the closing minutes through P. O'Neill and K. O'Hara to win 2-0. Vikingur Reykjavik conceded on 21 and 23 minutes to Luka Juricic and Milos Jojic, pulled one back through a G. Sigurdsson penalty, but Pavle Djajic's late strike completed a 3-1 win for Borac Banja Luka.

Penalties went both ways in a cluster of other ties. P. Victor scored one and missed one for Braga, who still won 2-0 at home to Austria Vienna thanks to D. Rodrigues' late second. Pafos missed a penalty through David Luiz before Dinamo Tirana went ahead through D. Fadairo, but Lele scored from the spot to force a 1-1 draw. Hibernian's O. Elding also missed from the spot as Gent and Hibernian drew 0-0. Qarabag won 1-0 away at Twente through Kady Borges, Monaco led through M. Biereth inside ten minutes at Gornik Zabrze and added two more from L. Camara and P. Brunner either side of E. Prekop's reply, with S. Liseth's late goal for Gornik completing a 3-2 scoreline. Lugano beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1, K. Behrens and a penalty from A. Grgic either side of I. Shahar's equaliser.

Elsewhere, Drita and Inter Club d'Escaldes shared four goals in a 2-2 draw, PAOK came from behind late through A. Baba to draw 1-1 with Brann, and Midtjylland eased past Rijeka 2-0 with goals from Cho Gue-Sung and S. Johannesen. Nordsjaelland beat St. Gallen 1-0 through N. Rojkjaer, and Shamrock Rovers drew 1-1 with KuPS after E. Stevens' goal was cancelled out by P. Parzyszek. Four more ties finished goalless: Inter Turku 0-0 FC Copenhagen, Tromso 0-0 Brighton, Klaksvik 0-0 Caramba/Dinamo Riga, and Atalanta 0-0 Hapoel Tel Aviv.