Atalanta and Brighton slow off the block, Thun torn down, and Salah's sluggish start | Europa & Conference Leagues, Playoff Qualifying, 1st Leg

We're back to talk first legs of the final qualifying round!

We begin by complaining about streaming availability for these matches. Why does Paramount license the competitions and not show any of the qualifying games?

Then we move to Europa League, which was marked by a couple of startling results. First, we investigate Thun's humiliating 7-0 defeat at the hands of Lech Poznan. What's going wrong with the Swiss champions? Then we head over to Mo Salah's European debut with Trabzonspor, which ended in a narrow defeat to Ferencvaros. How long will it take for the Turk's new signings to click? We also take a look at Benfica's vibrant squad and ask if they should be among the tournament favorites.

Over in the Conference League, we begin with the Big Boy Check-In. Both Brighton and Atalanta came away with 0-0 results. Brighton put in an okay performance in Tromsø despite conceding the biggest chance of the game, while Atalanta laid a major egg while hosting Hapoel Tel Aviv. What do both clubs have to do to ensure qualifying for the league phase? Getafe and Monaco also faced stiff challenges from Partizan Belgrade and Górnik Zabrze respectively, but each came out winners. And finally, Freiburg saw off a pesky Motherwell in Scotland, thanks to a bland of the old and the new.

Elsewhere, we check in on Ajax, who seems to be turning a new leaf under recent hire Míchel, Panathinaikos, who blew a 2-goal lead late, an entertaining Hearts-Rapid match, and much more.

Cheers to Felip Ortiz!

Chapters:

00:00 – the start

04:37 – Europa League | Main Stories

15:34 – Europa League | Whip-Around

24:36 – Conference League | Big Boy Check-In

41:50 – Conference League | Whip-Around