UEFA Europa League, Matchday 1

BayArena, Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen - OGC Nice

- Kick-off at 21:00 CET (19:00 GMT)

Patrick Vieira's OGC Nice will be out to confirm their status as a club on the rise when they travel to Leverkusen to kick off their Europa League campaign against Bayer on Thursday night.

After an extremely active summer transfer window, the club from the Côte d'Azur have a packed squad with a top-notch starting line-up and quality cover in every position, but captain Dante knows that you can't buy success - at least, not completely.

"We're better armed than we have been in the past but that means nothing," said the former LOSC and Bayern Munich stopper, all of whose squadmates - with the exception of big-name signing Jeff Reine-Adélaïde - are fit and raring to go. "We have to remain focused and professional at all times."

Which is what they did in the 3-1 Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 7 win over Saint-Etienne that sent them into second place at the weekend. However against Leverkusen, who also won at the weekend but, more importantly made it through to competition's quarter-finals last season, it will be a real test of Nice's brand-new credentials.
And victory will certainly give them an extra boost ahead of Sunday night's top-of-the-table Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 8 clash with league leaders LOSC.

Probable teams

Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky; L. Bender (c), S. Bender, Tah, Wendell; Wirtz, Baumgartlinger, Palacios; Bellarabi, Alario, M. Diaby

OGC Nice: Benitez; Bambu, Dante (c), Nsoki; Lotomba, Schneiderlin, Lees-Melou, Kamara; Lopes, Dolberg, Gouiri

Generali Arena, Prague

Sparta Prague - LOSC

- Kick-off at 21:00 CET (19:00 GMT)

LOSC could hardly have asked for a better result to prepare for the beginning of their UEFA Europa League campaign than 4-0 whooping they handed RC Lens on Sunday night, and Christophe Galtier's league leaders have every reason for confidence as they travel to Sparta Prague on Thursday.

Except for the the fact that they have won precisely zero of their last 17 European outings! An incredible stat that in-form forward Jonathan Bamba and co will be out to erase against, fortuitously perhaps, a side who have not played since 3 October as a result of pandemic restrictions in the Czech Republic but who sit atop the standings with six wins from six, with 20 goals scored.

Given Sunday's big fixture, Galtier is tipped to rest the likes of Burak Yilmaz, Yusuf Yazici, Benjamin André and Renato Sanches, but captain José Fonte has no doubts about the quality of Les Dogues' squad.

"We have a really strong team, the strongest I've played in at Lille, position for position," said the Portuguese, doubtless keen to see strike starter Jonathan David score his first goal for the club. "Now we need to show it, by doing even better than in my first season here [2018-19, when LOSC finished second in Ligue 1 Uber Eats]. I'm confident. We have a good mix of youth and experience - but above all a squad right in both quality and quantity."

Probable teams

Sparta Prague: Heca; Plechaty, Lischka, L. Krejci; La. Krejci, Travnik, Sacek; Dockal ©; Hlozek, Julis

LOSC: Maignan; Pied, Botman, Mandava, Fonte (c); Xeka, Bamba, Ikoné, Soumaré; Araujo, David