Woltemade & Baur deliver strong performances after Klopp snub, Rose’s Bournemouth record seventh straight win, Hürzeler’s Brighton yet to concede

Europa League and Conference League returned with packed drama on Thursday night.

German coaches Marco Rose and Fabian Hürzeler succeeded once again with their English clubs, while Nick Woltemade and Mika Baur delivered strong performances after missing out from Germany’s squad.

Rose’s Bournemouth win seventh in a row

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Rose at the start of his Bournemouth reign, but the Cherries have extended their winning streak to seven games with a 3-1 win at Sparta Prague on Thursday evening. The visitors missed a first-half penalty-kick before securing a comeback win against their ten-man hosts.

USMNT international Tyler Adams scored in the European stage for the first time since his goal that helped RB Leipzig beat Atlético Madrid in the 2019/20 Champions League quarter-final round. Bournemouth are one of the three teams with a perfect Europa League record after four matchdays, alongside Benfica and Ferencváros, who stunned AC Milan with a 2-0 win at San Siro.

From 108 participating clubs, fellow Premier League side Brighton are the only team yet to concede a goal in UEFA competitions as they beat Getafe in Spain with Malick Yalcouye’s solitary strike. Hürzeler’s men sit in fifth place in the early standings, with Lugano, Panathinaikos, Twente and Monaco winning all their respective first three games in Conference League.

Baur and Woltemade unfazed by Germany snub

Germany U21 international Paris Brunner had his goal ruled out by VAR for an offside in Monaco’s 2-0 win over FC Nordsjælland. The 20-year-old was a candidate for a first Germany call-up, but the name of the former BVB youngster wasn’t found when Jürgen Klopp announced the squad earlier on Thursday.

Similarly, Baur and Woltemade helped their respective clubs to massive European wins after they failed to keep their spots in Germany’s setup. Baur’s Celtic recorded their first points in Europa League with an entertaining 3-2 win over Beşiktaş.

Woltemade once again started for Juventus as the Serie A outfit returned home with three points from AZ Alkmaar. The 24-year-old registered his fifth direct goal involvement of the competition, with an assist to former Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani in a 2-1 win for the visitors.

Marten Winkler is another German striker who has been performing well in Europe as he scored in back-to-back Europa League games for Anderlecht. Like the former Hertha BSC player, FC Midtjylland’s Kjell Wätjen was a 2. Bundesliga midfielder last term with VfL Bochum.

However, the ex-Dortmund youth midfielder had a difficult night on Thursday as his first-half red card led to his club’s 6-1 home defeat to Ajax. The historic Dutch side missed Julian Brandt due to an injury, but Germany’s current first-choice goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and Thilo Kehrer played the entire game.