Europa League Roundup: Dortmund Complete Epic Comeback, Southampton Held

Borussia Dortmund completed a memorable comeback against Norwegian side Odds BK on Thursday night to claim a 4-3 victory in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off. Elsewhere, it proved a tough night for Southampton and Athletic Bilbao.

Thomas Tuchel's Dortmund team appeared to be in deep trouble when Odds took the lead in under 14 seconds through Jone Samuelsen's stooping header. Dortmund's problems then grew deeper when Fredrik Nordkvelle and Espen Ruud struck to make it 3-0 for the hosts by the 22nd minute.

But the Bundesliga side refused to give in, and by full-time, Tuchel's men had produced an epic fightback. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started the rally with a close-range finish in the 34th minute, and Shinji Kagawa made it 3-2 moments into the second half.

Aubameyang scored again in the 76th minute to pull Dortmund level at 3-3, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan's 85th-minute header proved to be the winner.

It was a fantastic fightback, but in truth, Dortmund could have scored even more. In between all the goals, the Germans managed to hit the woodwork four times while outshooting Odds, 21-6. And while Aubameyang scored twice, he also missed a sitter from close range midway through the second half.

None of that will matter much, though. The most important thing was the win, which Dortmund will carry back to Germany for next week's second leg.

In fact, even after starting so poorly in Norway, Dortmund are now in a great position to move on. A win or draw of any kind for the hosts at the Signal-Iduna Park would be enough to advance, and thanks to their four away goals, a narrow 1-0, 2-1 or 3-2 loss would work as well.

The winner of the two-legged tie advances to the Europa League group stage. Doing so would give Tuchel a chance to impress in his first season as manager after replacing club icon Jurgen Klopp.

So far, Tuchel's reign has been a success. Dortmund dominated Borussia Monchengladbach—who finished third in the Bundesliga last season—on the opening day of the domestic season, and Thursday's comeback in Norway should serve as a stepping stone to the Europa League group stage.

BVB's varying fortunes during the game might have caused some of their fans to doubt Tuchel, as Archie Rhind-Tutt humorously pointed out on Twitter:

But based on the full 90 minutes of football, Dortmund were the better side on the night and deserved to win. And Tuchel, despite the poor start, has his team playing some great attacking football.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Rodriguez scores, but Southampton held to home draw

Southampton, the Premier League's lone representative in the playoffs, came from a goal behind to draw with visiting Midtjylland at St Mary's. The result means the Saints will have to score in the return leg next week in Denmark to stay alive.

Tim Sparv, a former youth player for Southampton who featured in the 2005 FA Youth Cup final, put Midtjylland ahead in the 45th minute with a low drive into the bottom corner. As an away goal, it was an important strike for the visitors, but Sparv declined to celebrate out of respect for his former club.

Jay Rodriguez pulled the Saints level with a 56th-minute penalty, his first goal in almost 18 months. The England-international forward ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in April 2014 and only returned to training in May of this year.

"I've been waiting for it," Rodriguez said via BBC Sport. "I want to score as many goals as possible, so it's good to get the first one."

Steven Caulker had a goal ruled out for Southampton, who had cruised through the third qualifying round with a 5-0 aggregate victory over Vitesse Arnhem. The Saints have not fared so well domestically, however, taking just one point from their first two Premier League matches.

Thursday's match represented a chance to return to winning ways following a 3-0 defeat to Everton at the weekend, but Ronald Koeman's men now have a difficult task in next week's second leg.

The task is simple: Southampton must score. A 0-0 draw would send Midtjylland to the group stage on away goals, but any Southampton victory—or a high-scoring draw—would send the Saints through.

Athletic slump to defeat

Athletic Bilbao stunned Spain by beating Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup, but the Liga side slumped to a 3-2 loss at MSK Zilina in their first match since then.

Sabin and Kike Sola scored in the first half to give Athletic a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead in Slovakia, but William scored twice, including the winner, and Jakub Paur added another to give Zilina a narrow victory ahead of the second leg. The winner came deep in stoppage time after Bilbao were unable to clear a corner.

For Athletic, the result will be disappointing after the high of beating Barcelona. But the situation is hardly unmanageable: The Basques will need only a 1-0 victory in the second leg to advance.

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Van Persie's first Fenerbahce goal https://t.co/3JdNEUz18L

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) August 20, 2015"

Van Persie opens Fenerbahce account

After failing to score in his first league match with Turkish side Fenerbahce, former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie entered as a substitute and netted the winner as Fener edged hosts Atromitos in Greece, 1-0.

Van Persie, who signed with Fener in the summer after three seasons with United, entered with 10 minutes left in the match and headed in the winner in the 90th minute.