The race for qualification from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League group stages nears its climax this week with seven live games to enjoy across ITV4 and BT Sport on Matchday 5, featuring all three British clubs in action.
Europe’s secondary club competition kicked off in September with teams from 26 nations taking part in a group phase which has a physical and multinational sweep that even its greater Champions League cousin cannot match, with no shortage of big-name sides either.
Former European champions Inter Milan, Celtic FC, PSV Eindhoven, Steaua Bucharest and Feyenoord provide some of the prestige and quality on show in this season’s competition, while England’s representatives come in the shape of Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, who will be hoping a strong run in Europe can propel them along to greater heights in the Premier League.
ITV and BT Sport will again be sharing live coverage of the UEFA Europa League this season with up to six live games each matchday during the group phase, plus all the key knockout encounters in the spring.
Both broadcasters, who began sharing coverage of the competition last year, are in their final season of the current contract to cover live matches from Europe’s secondary club competition, before the live rights pass over to BT Sport exclusively from 2015/16.
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 2015 UEFA Europa League final which will be staged at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, on May 27.
For matchday five of this season’s competition, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton’s ties once again take centre stage as part of ITV4’s double bill of live free-to-air Europa League football.
Matt Smith present ITV4’s live coverage of both English sides’ third group games from 5.30pm, alongside studio guests Gordon Strachan, Kevin Ratcliffe and Jermaine Jenas.
The action starts at 6.00pm with Everton’s away trip to Wolfsburg, followed at 8.05pm by Tottenham Hotspur, who take on bottom placed Partizan Belgrade at White Hart Lane.
Both sides can book their place in the last 32 phase in the spring by winning tonight, with Everton top of their group after beating Lille last time out, while Tottenham are joint top in their group.
Commentary on Everton’s match in Germany comes from Sam Matterface and Clarke Carlisle, while Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend are at White Hart Lane, where pitchside reports and interviews come from Ned Boulting.
ITV4’s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via the ITV football website, while a one-hour highlights rounding up all the action from each matchday will be broadcast on Friday evenings on ITV4.
BT Sport will broadcast at least four live matches during the group phase across BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2, plus a selection of matches during the knockout stages.
New for this season, James Richardson will be presenting BT Sport’s Europa League coverage with commentary and analysis from the regular European Football Show team of journalists including James Horncastle, Julien Laurens and Raphael Honigstein, alongside BT Sport’s regular pundits.
BT Sport will be screening five live games on matchday 5, featuring Celtic’s home clash at Parkhead against Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, kicking off at 8.05pm.
Scotland’s only European representatives this season have been handed a favourable group stage draw, having avoided the grudge match with Legia Warsaw, the side who thrashed Celtic initially in the second round qualifying phase before being kicked out for fielding an ineligible player.
Despite their troubles in Europe earlier this season, Celtic are the front runners in the group and can make certain of a place in the round of 32 with a win at home against Salzburg, who are already sure of a top-two finish in Group D.
Four other live games will be broadcast on BT Sport channels on Thursday night, kicking off at 4.00pm with Dynamo Moscow v Panathinaikos on BT Sport, while other top ties include Feyenoord’s meeting with former champions Sevilla at 6.00pm.
BT Sport subscribers can watch the channel’s live matches on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2 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 dedicated football feed @btsportfootball.
Further details of when and where to watch all the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League Matchday 5 action can be found below.
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Thursday 27th November
Dynamo Moscow v Panathinaikos – Group E
Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE: 4.00pm-6.00pm BT Sport 2
Wolfsburg v Everton – Group H
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.30pm-8.00pm ITV4
Feyenoord v Sevilla – Group G
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1
Sparta Prague v Napoli – Group I
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 6.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 2
Tottenham v Partizan Belgrade – Group C
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.30pm ITV4
Celtic v Red Bull Salzburg – Group D
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.15pm BT Sport 1
Villarreal v Borussia Monchengladbach – Group A
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.00pm BT Sport 2
Friday 28th November
UEFA Europa League: Matchday 5
Highlights: 6.00pm-7.00pm ITV4
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