UEFA Europa League REVIEW 27 Aug 2026: Trabzonspor finish with nine in Budapest, and Fatih Tekke resigns

Ferencvaros beat Trabzonspor 4-0, and the tie was settled by two dismissals rather than by any of the goals. Ruslan Malinovskyi went in the 13th minute for violent conduct, the referee upgrading a yellow after consulting his assistant, and Sidny Lopes Cabral followed on 57 for a second booking. Around them Callum O'Dowda headed Ferencvaros in front on 19 from Adam Nagy's cross, Corbu made it two on 54, Dele converted a penalty on 59 and Krisztian Lisztes finished it on 86. Fatih Tekke resigned within the hour. "I am resigning from a very honorable position," he said. "Today's defeat is unacceptable. Misfortunes and bad luck can all be accepted, but I cannot accept this. I can't even sleep like this."

Kauno Zalgiris beat Besiktas 1-0 in Kaunas and went out anyway, Besiktas surviving 3-1 on aggregate on the strength of the first leg. Renan Oliveira scored on 64, intercepting a backpass from Tiago Djalo and going round Alexander Nubel, and Zeljko Spoic was disarmingly clear about what it was worth. "I can't believe we beat Besiktas," he said. "We were better today. To be honest, this victory doesn't gain us anything. There's a huge gap between us and Besiktas, but we beat them today." Vincenzo Italiano was blunter: "This match's analysis isn't even necessary. We advanced thanks to the 3-0. The team wasn't 100% mentally ready."

Viktoria Plzen needed extra time and a sending-off to turn theirs into a rout, beating Crvena zvezda 5-1. Adu put Plzen ahead on 8 and Ivanic levelled on 11. Bukari was sent off for the visitors on 53, and from there Visinsky scored a penalty on 58, Hrosovsky added a third on 63, Kabongo scored a second penalty on 90 and Krcik struck in extra time on 96.

Four ties were settled with less argument. Benfica won 3-1 at Aarhus, Gianluca Prestianni scoring on 19 and again on 61 around Rafa Silva's goal on 55, with Rasmus Carstensen's reply on 60 the only thing between them. Salzburg beat Mjallby 3-0, Karim Konate scoring on 61 and 67 before being carried off, though he said afterwards he was not badly hurt, and Haris Tabakovic adding the third on 80. Anderlecht beat Kairat Almaty 3-0 through Mihajlo Cvetkovic's penalty on 45, Danylo Sikan on 53 and Giulian Biancone on 71, Vitor Bruno having named the same eleven that started the first leg: "The worst thing a player can do to me is to underestimate an opponent." Thun drew 2-2 with Lech Poznan, Robert Gumny and Patrick Walemark scoring either side of Simon Lengen and Furkan Dursun, and Lech went through 9-2 having won the first leg 7-0. OFI Crete won 2-0 at CSKA Sofia through Nuss on 36 and Theodosoulakis on 78, and reach a league phase for the first time in the club's history.

The rest were tighter. Ararat-Armenia beat Universitatea Craiova 1-0 with a goal in the 90th minute that took three attempts to arrive: Laurentiu Popescu saved the penalty, the referee ordered it retaken after a VAR check for encroachment, Popescu saved that one too, and Sandro Lima followed in the rebound. Jagiellonia won 2-1 at Iberia 1999, Jesus Imaz converting a penalty on 31 and Anders Klynge scoring on 70 around Zviad Natchkebia's goal on 35. Omonia beat Sint-Truiden 4-2, Lois Diony taking a hat-trick with a penalty on 16 and further goals on 29 and 50 and Nikolas Panagiotou adding a fourth on 82, while Ilias Sebaoui scored twice for the visitors, from the spot on 33 and again on 90. And Lillestrom needed extra time against Egnatia, Eljon Sota putting the Albanians ahead on 32 before Sander Moen Foss levelled on 82 and Thomas Lehne Olsen won it on 94.