Lech Poznan v Sunderland, Juventus v Rennes and more in Europa League on 22 October 2026
Lech Poznan v Sunderland, Juventus v Rennes and a host of other Europa League fixtures are taking place on 22 October 2026, with kick-offs scheduled for 5.45pm BST and 8pm BST. Coverage will focus on Sunderland’s trip to Poznan and the later featured match at Dean Court between Bournemouth and Milan.
Sunderland have experienced a strange start to the season, notable for their pink Elvis kits and a run of bad luck that includes injuries to Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey; the club sit bottom of the Premier League after last season’s remarkable exploits. This campaign also marks their first entry into European competition in 52 years, and they won their opening home European match. The club’s away game in Poland is set to be the centrepiece of the early coverage.
On their first trip abroad in this European run, Sunderland conceded an early opener, drew level, missed a late penalty and then scored an injury-time winner; that decisive strike was Noah Sadiki’s first goal for the club. Those events combined into a dramatic finish on the road for the visitors and are a key element of Sunderland’s continental debut this season.
A notable fixture later in the evening will see Milan travel to Bournemouth, a tie the report describes as unlikely a little more than a decade ago. The match will be played at Dean Court and is identified as the featured game in the second part of the evening’s schedule.
Other ties on the bill include Crystal Palace’s trip to Besiktas, to be staged at what the writer describes as one of the great town-centre grounds, the linguistic derby Celtic v Celta, Juventus v Rennes, and Brighton’s jaunt to Jablonec in the Conference. Those fixtures add variety across the two kick-off slots.
The commentator also noted a personal aside: a close friend had to pull out at short notice because of a work crisis, and the writer has asked that friend to supply photos from Poznan. That detail explains the level of descriptive focus on the Sunderland match.
Kick-offs are at 5.45pm BST and 8pm BST; Sunderland’s game in Poznan is the planned centrepiece of the early coverage while Bournemouth v Milan is the highlighted fixture in the later slot.