Benfica beat AC Milan as Sunderland end 53-year European wait

Benfica began their Europa League campaign with a 2-0 victory away to AC Milan in the opening round of the league phase.

Dodi Lukebakio put the Portuguese side ahead in the 15th minute, and Jakub Kaminski doubled their advantage eight minutes after half-time.

The result leaves AC Milan facing a difficult league-phase schedule. They will host Benfica, Ferencvaros, Ararat, and Sunderland, while their away matches are against Olympiacos, Salzburg, Bournemouth, and Levski Sofia.

Benfica’s remaining fixtures include home games against AZ Alkmaar, Celtic, Lech Poznan, and OFI Crete. They will also travel to Viktoria Plzen, Omonia Nicosia, and NEC Nijmegen, in addition to their visit to AC Milan.

Elsewhere, Lyon secured a 2-1 away win against Anderlecht.

Noah Nartey gave the French side the lead after eight minutes, before Kito Nakamura added a second in the 22nd minute. Anderlecht reduced the deficit through Mihajlo Cvetkovic in the 61st minute, but Lyon held on for victory.

Bayer Leverkusen also opened their campaign with a 2-0 win, beating Slovenian side Celje.

Svit Seslar scored the first goal for Leverkusen in the 16th minute, while Facundo Medina completed the victory with a second in the 74th minute.

Sunderland marked their return to European competition with a 1-0 home win against AZ Alkmaar, ending a 53-year absence from continental football.

Enzo Le Fee scored the only goal of the match in the 66th minute to give Sunderland all three points.

The Europa League is being played under its new format for the third successive year, with 36 clubs competing in the league phase.

Each team plays eight matches, including four at home and four away. The eight highest-ranked sides qualify directly for the last 16.

Teams finishing between ninth and 16th will enter a knockout play-off against clubs placed from 17th to 24th, with the eight winners claiming the remaining last-16 places.