Thank you very much for joining Simon and I.

This is what happened tonight in the Europa League.

The narrow streets of Navahermosa in La Mancha were fuller than they have ever been on Thursday afternoon and quieter too. Silence accompanied the funeral cortege as its made way from the funeral home to the parish church of San Miguel Arcángel carrying Jesús de Miguel Alameda, “Demi”, the Tenerife striker who died after an on-field collision with the Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono three days earlier. Only 3,587 people live in his family’s village but now they were joined by the game he loved. “We wanted to be close to his parents, his wife and daughter. In moments of pain, football comes together more than ever,” said Luis de la Fuente.

The Spain manager did not say much else; there was not much else he could say, not much anyone could. These have been dark, desperate days, days when it was impossible to assimilate what has happened, and there will be more. “We will get through this together but we will need help, professional help,” the Tenerife president, Felipe Miñambres, said. The club’s majority shareholder, Rayco García, had cried as they left the building where De Miguel’s body had laid in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and he asked his teammates to be close to his widow Maria, when he had vowed they would for ever take care of his daughter, Clara.

Earlier at Selhurst Park …

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Plenty of huffing and puffing but the hosts just cannot get back into the game. The fans are streaming out.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Brobbey receives the ball in the area and he goes down after the defender goes through the back of him. The referee shakes his head and no one with access with a replay corrects him.

GOAL! Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Marseille: Gouiri scores the first of the match.

Celtic 1-1 Beşiktas: A smart move up the pitch concludes with Nygren produces some nifty footwork but his shot is always rising.

GOAL! Benfica 2-0 Lech Poznan: Prestianni adds a second for Marco Silva’s side.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Brobbey does superbly well to chest down a Xhaka cross and jabs a shot but then inadvertently catches the goalkeeper in the face, leading to a stoppage.

Celtic 1-1 Beşiktas: The hosts are on top and are almost ahead but Nubel sticks up a strong hand and tips over.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Brobbey is sent on for Isidor.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Hume thinks he has levelled but his shot from inside the box is blocked on the line. Either way, Sunderland have been far better since the break.

The Dinamo fans are behind told to stop throwing missiles from the stands.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Down the other end … half-time substitute Vuskovic sends a rising drive just wide from 25 yards.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Satriano takes aim from distance but Verbruggen is right behind the ball.

NO GOAL! Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Isidor heads the ball home from a superb Xhaka delivery and enjoys a full celebration but about four Black Cats are ruled offside by the VAR.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Just your four substitutions for Sunderland. Reinildo, Sadiki, Hume and Le Fee on.

Half-time reading.

“Sunderland and Dianamo Zagreb both deserve maximum style points for their gorgeous, sponsor-free shirts!” says Peter Oh.

Boos around the Stadium of Light at half time. Things are not going well.

Sunderland 0-2 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Le Bris is shown on the screen, one assumes plotting 11 changes.

Celtic 0-0 Beşiktas: The Hoops play a cute free-kick but it fails but Nygren falls over when attempting to shoot.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Hadjam wants a penalty after a tangle of legs in the box. It looks like he is going down before the contact is made and VAR does not overturn the referee’s original rejection.

GOALS! Zeneli has equalised for Union Saint-Gilloise in Vigo. Juventus are winning at AZ Alkmaar thanks to Koopmeiners and Kolo Muani.

Sunderland 0-1 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Danso is the latest to be cautioned for cynically ending a counterattack.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Verbruggen reacts smartly to make a fine save to keep things level.

Sunderland 0-1 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Xhaka takes a poor touch and then slams into a tackle, resulting in a booking for the Black Cats skipper, after a bit of treatment from the medics.

Sunderland 0-1 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: It should be 2-0 Orsic sees his shot cleared off the line by Meunier.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Hadjam latches latches onto a ball over the top but fails to get a shot away but he not worry because Yalcouye is there to help. Unfortunately, he messes up his effort but it then lands at Rutter’s feet, only for him to ping a drive wide.

Sunderland 0-0 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Angulo does well on the right and whips in a cross but Isidor heads the ball up and over.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: Hinshelwood tries to curl one in from 20 yards - the shot is going harmlessly wide until the goalkeeper decides to turn it behind regardless.

GOALS: Benfica have taken the lead against Lech Poznan through Rafa, while Pablo Duran has netted for Celta Vigo against Union St-Gilloise.

Sunderland 0-0 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Rigg swings in a very dangerous cross from the right for teammates to attack. It reaches Ahoka but his header is a poor one from close range and the keeper saves. It should do better.

Sunderland 0-0 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: The Black Cats need to defend a corner from the right. It is played short and then out to around 30 yards from goal from where a shot is lashed high into the stands.

Celtic 0-0 Beşiktas: Nygren takes aim from the edge of the box but skews his shot wide.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: The Spanish side like a cross into the box, the latest concluding with a clash of heads at the back post. Costinha is able to get up and walk off.

Sunderland 0-0 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: Isidor shoots from the edge of the box but he basically falls over and the ball trickles towards the goalkeeper.

Getafe 0-0 Brighton: The hosts want a penalty after one of their players goes to ground in the box after a corner but nothing is doing.

Sunderland 0-0 Dinamo ‌Zagreb: The Croatians start on the front foot and have the first shot of the match but it goes well over the bar from 20 yards.

Thanks Simon. Plenty more action to come …

With the 8pm kick-offs about to get under way I’m going to hand over to Will Unwin. But I have a farewell gift, in the shape of Paul MacInnes’ report on Crystal Palace 1-1 Hoffenheim. Bye!

A late, late strike from Daichi Kamada saved Crystal Palace from embarrassment and another round of navel gazing as they snatched a Europa League draw with Hoffenheim against the odds.

After being outplayed by a side currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga, and a goal down since the seventh minute, Palace looked to have lost all hope in this fixture after Adam Wharton was dismissed with 13 minutes to go. But after Hoffenheim failed to clear a goalmouth scramble in added time, Kamada fired home under the keeper to generate a rare moment of elation at Selhurst Park this season.

Much more here:

That Midtjylland game is now over, with 6-1 the absolute final score.

The early kick-off full-time scores in full:

Europa League
Anderlecht 2-0 Salzburg
Crystal ⁠Palace 1-1 Hoffenheim
Levski Sofia 1-0 Jagiellonia ​Białystok
Lillestrøm 0-1 Viktoria Plzen
Milan 0-2 Ferencvaros
NEC 3-1 Omonia Nicosia
Real Sociedad 1-1 Lyon
Sparta ‌Prague 1-3 Bournemouth

Conference League
Aarhus 0-0 Braga
Atalanta 1-1 Kairat
KuPS 0-0 Gent
Lincoln Red Imps 1-0 Hajduk Split
Midtjylland 1-6 Ajax*
Mjallby 2-0 Borac
Red Star Belgrade 2-1 Inter D’Escaldes
Thun 3-1 Hearts
Trabzonspor 0-1 Freiburg

*Um, not actually full time

Only one of the early kick-offs is still ongoing, and it’s turned into a goalfest at Midtjylland, where kick-off was delayed by a floodlight failure. It was 1-1 when Kjell Watjen was sent off in the 43rd minute, but as they approach stoppage time Ajax lead 6-1.

They’re into stoppage time at Thun, where Hearts are 3-1 down with two bonus minutes to play.

How-the-mighty-have-fallen latest: Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps have taken, and enthusiastically celebrated, an 89th-minute lead against Hajduk Split!

Hoffenheim should probably also have gone down to 10 men at Selhurst Park, but the referee failed to spot Andrej Kramaric, already booked, very deliberately use his arm to control the ball.

Not a good night so far for Italian sides: Zachariassen squares to give Lenny Joseph a tap-in, and Milan are 0-2 down at home to Ferencvaros.

On commentary, Glenn Hoddle gushes that Crystal Palace “have footballed their way back into this game”. Which sounds super, though there is still the small matter of the scoreline still to deal with.

The crowd microphones at Thun are picking up some very extreme displeasure from visiting supporters, of the kind that really shouldn’t be broadcast at this hour.

At Stadion Rajko Mitic Inter d’Escaldes’ Domi Berlanga has made it 10-10 by also getting sent off, for a second yellow card, matching Red Star’s Aleksandar Katai, who received a straight red way back in the 35th minute. More importantly, it’s 0-0 in goals.

For every upstart-success story in this game, there’s a how-the-mighty-have-fallen tale. Talking of which, Marc Gual has romped through a rag-bag defence to put Kairat Almaty 1-0 up at Atalanta.

Hoffenheim remain 1-0 up at Palace, in search of their first ever victory over an English side. “Hoffenheim is quite an interesting team,” writes Rebecca Voss. “They’re not popular in Germany because their rise to the Bundesliga shouldn’t have been possible. Hoffenheim town has only three thousand people, give or take, and the club was playing in the eighth league in the 90s. However, a software mogul named Dietmar Hopp was born and raised in Hoffenheim and decided to use some of his money to help his boyhood team. He bought them in 2000, by which time Hoffenheim were in the fifth tier, and immediately Hoffenheim started to become pretty good. They were promoted to the Bundesliga in 2008 after Hopp brought in Ralf Ragnick as manager and some experienced Bundesliga players to lead the team, and they’ve been there ever since. Because of this, German media likes to claim that the club doesn’t have much of a culture or a fanbase. Hoffenheim are currently 12th in the Bundesliga and many Germans are praying for their downfall.”

For more about the genesis of this Hoffenheim side see these articles, 18 and 10 years old respectively:

Having spent an hour or so wondering why the Midtjylland v Ajax game was running so late, I have used my investigative journalist skills to locate an answer.

Back under way, then, it at least some of these games. At Crystal Palace the home side have already won a corner!

The half-time scores in full:

Europa League
Anderlecht 1-0 Salzburg
Crystal ⁠Palace 0-1 Hoffenheim
Levski Sofia 0-0 Jagiellonia ​Białystok
Lillestrøm 0-1 Viktoria Plzen
Milan 0-0 Ferencvaros
NEC 0-1 Omonia Nicosia
Real Sociedad 1-0 Lyon
Sparta ‌Prague 1-0 Bournemouth

Conference League
Aarhus 0-0 Braga
Atalanta 0-0 Kairat
KuPS 0-0 Gent
Lincoln Red Imps 0-0 Hajduk Split
Midtjylland 1-1 Ajax
Mjallby 0-0 Borac
Red Star Belgrade 0-0 Inter D’Escaldes
Thun 2-0 Hearts
Trabzonspor 0-1 Freiburg

It’s half-time now at Thun, where the firework smoke that forced the game to be paused for a few minutes seems to have settled between the ears of the Hearts defenders. 2-0 to the home team there.

True fact: Friday Etim was born on 21 May 2002. It was a Tuesday.

The only game across both competitions in which both teams have scored is at Arena Herning, where Friday Etim has taken advantage of a defensive tumble to run clear from halfway, round the keeper, and equalise for Midtylland against Ajax.

It’s half-time at Selhurst Park, where Hoffenheim have nursed their 1-0 lead into the break. It’s a popular scoreline tonight: tt is currently 1-0 in six of the eight Europa League games, and 0-0 in the other two.

And I rather underplayed that Hearts own goal. McCart was about 14 yards out, and got a bit of a push in the back from the forward he was racing, but he then got his feet in a muddle and, off balance, scuffed the ball into the corner!

Lewis Cook has missed the penalty! He stutters, sends the keeper the wrong way, and sidefoots into the post! The ball ricochets between the prone goalkeeper and his goalline, and away to safety!

Penalty to Bournemouth! The referee has spotted a handball in the Sparta penalty area, and Hoever certainly blocked a cross with something!

Between Freiburg’s goal at Trabzonspor and Anderlecht’s against Salzburg about six minutes passed. Seventeen games were being played across the two European competitions, so that’s around 102 goalless minutes. Which seems unlikely. Anyway, they’re making up for it now! Ajax have scored against Midtylland, and Omonia Nicosia are 1-0 up at NEC.

A home side has scored! It’s Anderlecht, who have gone one up against Salzburg through Ludwig Augustinsson, and it’s an absolute beauty of a free-kick! From a couple of yards outside the penalty area, he curls it over the wall and the keeper doesn’t even move!

Freiburg go one up at Trabzonspor, a tap-in for Lukas Kubler after Matanovic’s header from a corner comes back off the keeper, and so far 100% of tonight’s goals have been scored by away teams.

A team in blue and red stripes has the ball in the net, but there are no Crystal Palace fans celebrating – because it’s Viktoria Plzen going a goal up at Lillestrom.

Play has meanwhile resumed at Thun, but there will be a good four minutes of smoke-related stoppage time to play before half-time.

Meanwhile Crystal Palace have the ball in the net against Hoffenheim, but Daichi Kamada was well offside.

Fireworks stop play at Thun! There’s no way anyone can play in the amount of smoke that has settled across the pitch in Switzerland.

What a miss! Jonatan Braut Brunes, the Sparta Prague striker, sends the ball squirming just wide of a gaping Bournemouth goal from an admittedly very firm pull-back.

OK, football is now actually happening in all eight early Europa League kick-offs. Milan v Ferencvaros was the last to get going.

Though actually none of the games I’m monitoring have started yet, with delays including the minute’s silence for Jesus de Miguel, the Tenerife striker who died after an on-pitch collision at the weekend. “Perusing the Sparta Prague team sheet,” writes Peter Oh, “I can’t help but wonder, will the club from the Czech capital be able to stop the Cherries’ run of good form? Mbe Soh. Mbe Soh.”

5.45pm: Football o’clock!

The players are emerging from their various tunnels, kick-off mere moments away!

Pierre Sage is asked why Axel Disasi is not in the Crystal Palace squad tonight. “It’s a decision I took today.” Is there a reason for that? “No.” Also from Sage:

We are ready to fight and compete in this game. We need to start a new way, because we need points in every competition, and I think the start of this way is tonight. They are a team who like intensity, sprint a lot, and they play forward, it’s very vertical. But they are able to take control of the play inside too. We have to deal with these two things, and we have to take control first of all today.

Bournemouth’s Marco Rose has a chat about momentum, and his eight changes to the lineup today:

It’s always about hard work and we have to maintain momentum every day, in every training, and every game, and today it’s getting a tough challenge. Everyone is in a good spot. The lads who played the last weeks showed up. I hope we have fresh legs. There is no other option for me, because Sunday we have the next game and then again and again.

And on Bournemouth, and the very good place they currently appear to be in:

It’s always about connections and emotions in football. I really feel the commitment of our fans, of the region. Everyone is so happy after hard times in the 90s. To get this kind of experience, it’s just a joy to be part of it and it makes me proud.

Also today:

• Read Jeff Rueter’s Champions League review and Barry Glendenning in Football Daily on the might of Como

• Harry Kane turns his Ballon d’Or into actual gold, or at least a very lucrative new contract

• 53 red cards in one game! Inevitably, it’s in Brazil

The deluge has arrived! Team news for the British sides on its way. If you have other games you’d like teams from, let me know.

I’ve donned my Mac and raised my brolly in preparation for a deluge of team news. In the meantime, here’s a photo of what looks a fine evening in Prague.