Tottenham, Everton and Celtic have already assured their qualification from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League group stages, as the opening phase of Europe’s secondary club competition reaches its climax this week with six live games across ITV4 and BT Sport on Matchday 6.
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, 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 six 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’ final group games from 5.30pm, alongside studio guests Gordon Strachan and Kevin Ratcliffe.
The action starts at 6.00pm with Tottenham Hotspur’s away trip to Besiktas, followed at 8.05pm by Everton’s home clash against Krasnodar, with both English sides already guaranteed a place in the last 32 in February.
Besiktas must end Tottenham Hotspur’s 18-game unbeaten run in Europa League group stage games if they are to take top spot from the north London side in Group C, though any point for Spurs means they would hold onto first place and a crucial seeded position in the last 32 draw.
Everton meet Russian side Krasnodar in their final Group H encounter, with the Toffees already guaranteed to finish top of the table, regardless of the result.
Commentary on Tottenham’s match in Turkey comes from Sam Matterface and Clarke Carlisle, while Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend are at Goodison Park, 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 four live games on matchday 6, featuring Celtic’s tough away trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb, kicking off at 6.00pm on Thursday night.
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 have qualified for the last 32 in convincing fashion and are already certain to finish second in the group, while Dinamo Zagreb can finish no higher than third.
Dinamo have won both their home games against Celtic in Europe, while the Hoops have overcome Dinamo three times in Glasgow.
Three other live games will be broadcast on BT Sport channels on Thursday night, including the other game in Everton’s group as Lille host Wolfsburg on BT Sport 1 at 8.05pm, while the two live ties on BT Sport 2 feature crunch matches for Borussia Monchengladbach and Sevilla.
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 6 action can be found below.
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Thursday 11th December
Besiktas v Tottenham Hotspur – Group C
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.30pm-8.00pm ITV4
Dinamo Zagreb v Celtic – Group D
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 5.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1
Borussia Monchengladbach v Zurich – Group A
Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE: 6.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 2
Everton v Krasnodar – Group H
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.30pm ITV4
Lille v Wolfsburg – Group H
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.15pm BT Sport 1
Sevilla v Rijeka – Group G
Kick-off: 20:05 LIVE: 8.00pm-10.00pm BT Sport 2
Friday 12th December
UEFA Europa League: Matchday 6
Highlights: 6.00pm-7.00pm ITV4
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