The Europa League returned with a bang on Thursday night as the sides that dropped out of the Champions League joined the group qualifiers in the last 32. There were some big performances, some errors as well as some surprising results on a fine evening of football.
Here, Sports Mole picks out some of the better performers who helped their respective teams to a positive result on the day.
1. Borja Valero - Esbjerg 1-3 Fiorentina
Vincenzo Montella's side arrived in Denmark to face a struggling Esbjerg side, but it was cold and windy, with the conditions potentially acting as a leveller. However, Fiorentina produced a thoroughly efficient performance to take a 3-1 win back to Italy, which barring a disaster will see them reach the last 16 of the competition.
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The Viola defence looked a little shaky at times and some of the attacking players blew hot and cold, but Valero was constantly on the ball throughout the entire 90 minutes. He drifted into space in attack and was so often the start of all good things his side did, but dropping deep at the start of attacking moves. It was a brilliant all-round performance let down only by a late miss when he should have scored.
2. Nathan Dyer - Swansea City 0-0 Napoli
Just looking at the result, Swansea's 0-0 draw with Napoli looks very impressive. However, they will have been disappointed with the score in the end as really they deserved more from the game. They had by far the better chances, all the possession and came up against an in-form goalkeeper in Pepe Reina. The Napoli man was not the best player on the pitch, though.
That honour goes to Swansea's Nathan Dyer. Up against Anthony Reveillere, Dyer got the better of his man on a large number of occasions and on another day would have had at least one assist to his name. He struck up a good understanding with striker Wilfried Bony and came close to scoring himself with a first-half chance. If he plays like this in the Premier League then Swansea will have no relegation worries.
3. Ricardo Quaresma - Porto 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
With less than 20 minutes left in Porto's home tie against Eintracht Frankfurt they were 2-0 to the good and looking, perhaps not comfortable, but good for their lead. It ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw, but none of that was the fault of Ricardo Quaresma, who is in his second spell at the Portuguese side. His performance was good enough to win the game and on another day he might have done.
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Quaresma was up against Sebastian Jung, who himself loves to bomb forward, and although the German did not have a bad game he could do nothing to stop the winger. Quaresma cut inside Jung on so many occasions in the first half, before finally scoring towards the end of the 45. He will claim the goal, although it could just as easily have been a cross. That, however, should not take away from Quaresma's performance as most of what Porto did came through his flank.
4. Vladislav Stoyanov - Lazio 0-1 Ludogorets Razgrad
Boos rung out at Stadio Olimpico at the final whistle following Lazio's home defeat to Bulgarian Ludogorets Razgrad. It was a poor result, of course, but on another day Lazio would have had at least one goal. That other day, however, would have to be one on which the away side's goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov does not play.
Stoyanov's side played very well, but they still needed to call on him on a number of occasions. His best save of the lot was a full-stretch stop from Felipe Anderson's penalty and from that moment on he was unbeatable. Should Ludogorets get through - and with a 1-0 away win they could well do - they will look back on Stoyanov's fine display as a key factor in the tie.
