Lyon, Benfica and Hajduk Split secured victories in the opening matches of the Europa League and Conference League group stages on Thursday.
Benfica dominated Celtic 4-1 at the Estádio da Luz, with Colombian striker Jhon Durán scoring twice, including a fifth-minute penalty. Alexander Bah and Vangelis Pavlidis added further goals for the Portuguese side, while Camilo Durán pulled one back for Celtic in the 63rd minute. Benfica manager Marco Silva praised his team’s performance but noted areas for improvement, stating, “It seemed easy, but it was anything but easy” .
In the Europa League, Lyon held off Crystal Palace 3-2 at the Groupama Stadium. Corentin Tolisso opened the scoring for Lyon, followed by Ernest Nuamah before halftime. Yéremy Pino reduced the deficit early in the second half, but Pavel Sulc restored Lyon’s two-goal lead. Daichi Kamada scored a late consolation for Palace .
Hajduk Split marked their return to European group-stage football after 16 years with a 2-1 win over Ajax in the Conference League. Goals from Abdoulie Sanyang and Marin Šotiček secured the victory, despite Davy Klaassen’s equalizer for Ajax. The match was halted for 12 minutes due to flares from Hajduk’s Torcida supporters .
