LEVERKUSEN, Germany : AC Milan’s Europa League campaign suffered another setback on Thursday as they slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Ferencvaros, while Olympique de Marseille secured their first win of the competition with a 1-0 victory at Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1.
Milan have now lost three of their four European matches and remain outside the playoff places, sitting 28th in the standings with three points.
Ferencvaros moved to 12 points, level with Benfica and Bournemouth. Benfica top the table on goal difference after beating Lech Poznan 3-1.
Lenny Joseph put the Hungarian visitors ahead in the 52nd minute after capitalising on a misplaced pass from Milan goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani, rolling the ball into an empty net. He doubled Ferencvaros’s advantage 14 minutes later.
Ferencvaros held on despite substitute Bamidele Yusuf being sent off in the 77th minute, preserving their clean sheet and leaving Milan with little chance of a late comeback.
“I won’t give up on this competition. As long as we’re not mathematically out of it, we’ll keep fighting in this competition, just as we do in the others,” Milan coach Ruben Amorim said.
In Germany, Marseille claimed their first three points of the campaign thanks to a brilliant solo goal from Amine Gouiri in an otherwise uneventful contest against Leverkusen.
Gouiri broke the deadlock in the 77th minute, collecting the ball near halfway before surging past defenders and firing a right-footed shot into the net.
Juventus secured a 2-1 away win over AZ Alkmaar, with Teun Koopmeiners opening the scoring against the club captained by his brother Peer in the 19th minute.
The Dutch midfielder swept home a first-time finish after Randal Kolo Muani beat his marker down the right and cut the ball back to the edge of the area.
Kolo Muani doubled Juventus’s lead eight minutes before halftime, capitalising on an error forced by the visitors’ high press before cutting inside and drilling a low shot into the far corner. Mexx Meerdink pulled one back late in the game, but AZ were unable to find an equaliser.
Juventus are fifth in the standings on 10 points, level with Union Saint-Gilloise and Olympiacos.
Elsewhere, Daichi Kamada scored deep into stoppage time to earn Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim at Selhurst Park, cancelling out Alexander Prass’s early opener for the German side.
Palace secured a point despite being reduced to 10 men after Adam Wharton was sent off in the 77th minute.
Bournemouth maintained their perfect record with a fourth consecutive victory, coming from behind to beat Sparta Prague 3-1 away.
Sparta took the lead through Ebrima Singhateh but were reduced to 10 men after Tobias Guddal’s red card. Second-half goals from Tyler Adams, Evanilson and Rayan completed the comeback for the Premier League side.
