European football’s secondary club competition returns this week and you can follow all the key action from matchday five of the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League live on ITV4 and BT Sport.
Last season’s competition was won by Chelsea, the last club standing in a competition that featured 193 clubs from 53 nations.
The final was the 479th match of the tournament and Branislav Ivanovic’s dramatic injury time winner against Benfica, practically the last action of the entire competition, was the 1,270th goal scored.
This season, Tottenham Hotspur, Wigan Athletic and Swansea City are English football’s representation in the competition, which also features some of the biggest and well-known clubs in Europe.
ITV and new rights holders BT Sport will share live coverage of the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League season with up to six live games each matchday during the competition.
ITV4 will be the place to watch the majority of the top matches as ITV Sport has all first and second pick games during the group stage and the entire knockout phase.
Most of ITV’s live games will be shown on digital channel ITV4, with matches featuring British teams from the quarter final stages onwards to be screened on ITV in the new year.
ITV will also screen live and exclusive coverage of the 2014 UEFA Europa League final in Turin.
On matchday four, Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City’s ties take centre stage once again as part of ITV4′s double bill of live games.
Live coverage presented by Matt Smith begins at 5.30pm with Tottenham’s trip to the Arctic Circle to play Tromso, followed by Swansea entertaining Valencia.
Tottenham are guaranteed a place in the knockout stages and are looking to seal top spot in their group, while Swansea have a trickier match at The Liberty Stadium.
A win for the Spanish side in ITV4’s second live game of the evening would leave Swansea battling it out for second place.
Analysis in the studio comes from Gordon Strachan with commentary by Sam Matterface and Clarke Carlisle at Tromso, and Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend at the Liberty Stadium.
BT Sport takes over from ESPN as pay-TV rights holders to the competition and will broadcast at least four live matches during the group phase across its three channels, plus a selection of matches during the knockout stages.
Jake Humphrey presents BT Sport’s coverage with commentary and analysis from Ian Darke, Darren Fletcher, Steve McManaman and David James.
Both broadcasters will screen a dedicated highlights package on Fridays during every matchweek.
Wigan Athletic’s latest Europa League encounter will be shown by BT Sport as it presents action from four games during matchday five across BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2.
Victory for Wigan over Belgian side Zulte Waregem would secure qualification for Wigan providing Maribor do not beat Rubin Kazan.
Zulte lie second in their domestic top-flight, two points off leaders Standard Liege.
Table-toppers Rubin Kazan meet Maribor in the earlier 5.00pm kick off, meaning the Latics will know before their own game begins whether they could book their place in the knockout stages with a game to spare.
In addition to the Wigan match, three other games will be broadcast on BT Sport, including Lyon against Real Betis and Bordeaux v Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Thursday 28th November
Tromso v Tottenham Hotspur – Group K
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.30pm-7.55pm ITV4
Lyon v Real Betis – Group I
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.30pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1
Sevilla v Estoril – Group H
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 6.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 2
Swansea City v Valencia – Group A
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 7.55pm-10.30pm ITV4
Wigan Athletic v Zulte Waregem – Group D
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.30pm BT Sport 1
Bordeaux v Eintracht Frankfurt – Group F
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.00pm BT Sport 2
Friday 29th November
UEFA Europa League Highlights
6.00pm-7.00pm ITV4
ITV4′s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via the ITV football website.
BT Sport subscribers can watch the channel’s live matches on BT Sport 1 and ESPN via its online streaming service at btsport.com or on the BT Sport app for mobile and tablet devices.
Keep up to date with all the latest UEFA Europa League reports, goal flashes and results by following ITV Football on Twitter (@itvfootball) and BT Sport’s feed (@BTSport).
Online streaming available to UK users only.
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