Europa League Results for September 17: Five for Juventus, Marseille Collapse and Three Major Upsets

The second half of Europa League Matchday 1 turned out to be far less predictable than the number of winning favourites might suggest.

Six of the nine matches were won by the team with the shorter pre-match odds. But the other three produced serious shocks: OFI beat Hoffenheim at 8.10, Torreense won away at 5.73, while Ferencvaros took all three points at Celtic Park at 4.56.

There were no draws at all on Thursday.

The 888STARZ odds below are the prices we recorded in our pre-match preview. The market may have moved before kick-off.

OFI 2-0 Hoffenheim — 8.10 becomes the biggest shock of the round

Before the match:
OFI — 8.10 | Draw — 5.02 | Hoffenheim — 1.41

If there was one match that showed exactly why it is worth revisiting the pre-match line after the final whistle, this was it.

Hoffenheim travelled to Crete as overwhelming favourites. Instead of simply surviving, OFI won 2-0.

Aitor Cantalapiedra opened the scoring in the 30th minute after a quick OFI attack, before Georgios Kanellopoulos wrapped things up late on.

The scoreline did not mean Hoffenheim were completely absent from the game. They generated plenty of pressure, while OFI goalkeeper Nikolaos Christogeorgos played a major role in keeping the visitors out.

This was one of those nights where territorial control and favourite status meant very little without the finishing to match.

What happened to the line: OFI at 8.10 was the highest winning 1X2 price of the entire September 17 schedule.

Juventus 5-0 NEC — when 1.23 really does mean a huge gap

Before the match:
Juventus — 1.23 | Draw — 7.10 | NEC — 12.70

If OFI completely broke the market script, Juventus followed it as brutally as possible.

It was already 3-0 by half-time. Nicolas Gonzalez opened the scoring in the ninth minute, 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic added the second, and Nick Woltemade converted a penalty before the break.

Zeki Celik and Randal Kolo Muani added two more in the second half.

Five goals, five different scorers.

According to Sofascore, the gap was just as clear in the underlying numbers: 4.14 xG to 0.76, five big chances for Juventus and seven shots on target.

It was also Juventus’ biggest win in a major European competition since December 2003, when they beat Olympiacos 7-0.

What happened to the line: the pre-match 1.23 looked exactly like the final scoreline — a huge difference between the two sides.

Besiktas 4-1 Marseille — level at half-time, blown apart after the break

Before the match:
Besiktas — 1.78 | Draw — 4.16 | Marseille — 4.36

Before kick-off, one of the most interesting things about this fixture was just how strongly the market favoured Besiktas in a matchup that looked much closer on name value.

In the end, the market was right — and may even have underestimated the margin.

It was only 1-1 at half-time. Ilhan Fakili gave Besiktas the lead before Keylian Abdallah equalised for Marseille.

Then the game completely changed.

Vaclav Cerny and Michael Murillo scored within four minutes of each other, before Ernest Poku added a fourth late on.

Besiktas also created the better chances overall, while Junior Olaitan finished with two assists and was one of the standout players of the night.

For Marseille, the result looked even worse against the backdrop of their domestic form, having already lost three consecutive Ligue 1 matches before travelling to Istanbul.

What happened to the line: Besiktas at 1.78 delivered very comfortably.

Celtic 1-3 Ferencvaros — Glasgow offers no protection

Before the match:
Celtic — 1.75 | Draw — 4.16 | Ferencvaros — 4.56

This was one of the clearest collapses by a favourite on Thursday.

Bamidele Yusuf put Ferencvaros ahead before Mika Baur equalised in the 44th minute. But the score was level for only a few minutes, with Kristoffer Zachariassen quickly restoring the visitors’ lead.

Just after the break, former Celtic player Daniel Arzani struck from distance to make it 3-1.

The result was especially painful for Celtic because it did not come out of nowhere. They had already lost 3-0 to Rangers before their Europa League opener and had earlier dropped out of Champions League qualifying.

Home advantage and a 1.75 price were not enough this time.

What happened to the line: Ferencvaros at 4.56 produced one of the three biggest upsets of the day.

Real Sociedad 1-2 Bournemouth — first European game, first European win

Before the match:
Real Sociedad — 2.92 | Draw — 3.63 | Bournemouth — 2.42

This was one of the strangest-looking lines before kick-off: a club with no previous main-stage European experience travelling to San Sebastian as favourites.

Now we know why.

Bournemouth showed no hesitation in their first major European night. Justin Kluivert and Ryan scored inside the opening 20 minutes, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead before half-time.

Real Sociedad changed the game after the break. Sergio Gomez pulled one back, the Basque side pushed Bournemouth much deeper, and Djordje Petrovic had to make important saves late on.

The English side did not confirm their favourite status by controlling the full 90 minutes. They did it by winning the first half with intensity and finishing, then surviving the second with defending and goalkeeping.

What happened to the line: Bournemouth won their historic European debut as away favourites at 2.42.

Lillestrom 1-2 Torreense — a Portuguese second-tier side makes history

Before the match:
Lillestrom — 1.56 | Draw — 4.62 | Torreense — 5.73

This was easy to miss among the bigger names, but it was one of the best stories of the entire round.

Torreense play in Portugal’s second division and were making their first appearance in European competition.

Alex Alfaro scored the club’s first European goal, before Manu Pozo made it 2-0 early in the second half.

Lillestrom pulled one back in the 79th minute and piled on the pressure late. Torreense then went down to ten men after Nuhi Jatta was sent off in the 85th minute.

They still held on.

The home side had the volume too: 67% possession, 25 shots to 11 and 11 corners to two. But once again, control did not turn into the result.

What happened to the line: Torreense at 5.73 was the second-highest winning price of the day.

All Europa League Results from September 17

Crystal Palace also removed almost all doubt before half-time. Yeremy Pino, Chris Richards and Jorgen Strand Larsen made it 3-0 in the opening 45 minutes, before Eddie Nketiah added a fourth late on.

Union Saint-Gilloise produced another eye-catching result, winning 3-0 away at Viktoria Plzen despite the pre-match prices of 2.76 and 2.59 suggesting an almost perfectly balanced contest.

Salzburg needed only one goal in Sofia, with Haris Tabakovic delivering the winner against Levski.

What Did the Second Matchday Tell Us?

Thursday’s line worked in two completely different ways.

In some games, the favourites confirmed expectations emphatically. Juventus won 5-0, Crystal Palace 4-0 and Besiktas 4-1. In those matches, the real question was not who would win, but by how much.

At the same time, three teams priced at 4.56, 5.73 and 8.10 all won.

And perhaps the most interesting part is that two of the biggest underdogs — OFI and Torreense — did not win because they controlled the entire match.

Their opponents had more of the ball, produced more attacking volume and spent long stretches on the front foot.

But football is not a competition in possession or shot count.

After the opening 18 matches of the league phase, one thing is already clear: a large gap in the odds often reflects a real gap in quality, but one night of sharp finishing, strong goalkeeping or a handful of decisive moments can still completely overturn the pre-match script.