Pierre Sage is something of a Lyon man, a Lyonnais if you will. He was born an hour and a half away, played his entire amateur career on the outskirts of the city before starting his coaching journey at semi-pro side Lyon-Duchère, progressing to being a youth coach at Olympique Lyonnais in 2019. From there, via a stint as assistant manager at Paris side Red Star, he rose up through the ranks, eventually replacing Fabio Grosso as head coach in November 2023, leading Lyon to Europa League qualification in 2023-24. After moving onto Lens and now south London, this feels something of a full-circle moment for the 47-year-old as he takes his Crystal Palace side back to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais for what we hope will be a Proper Game.
Our early kick-offs are full of wonder. Torreense might be struggling domestically this season but after becoming the first Portuguese second tier club to lift the Taça de Portugal with a 2-1 win over Sporting in May, they beat Lillestrom in their Europa League opener and are relishing the visit of Sunderland. The Black Cats are also hoping their European adventures kickstart their domestic season, with Régis Le Bris’ side down in 17th in the Premier League having also won their Europa League opener – beating AZ last month.
There is plenty more besides. Both RB Salzburg v Milan and Union Saint-Gilloise v Real Sociedad feel like they could be Champions League fixtures in another campaign, while Bayer Leverkusen face a tricky trip to Lech Poznan.
Here are the 5.45pm BST games we will be covering in this liveblog, while Simon Burnton will be along later with a separate clockwatch to cover the 8pm BST kick-offs. Enjoy!
