Europa League preview: Torino peeved at ref crew v. Wolves

Serie A side Torino is here for the mind games, and claims Wolves will have an unfair advantage due to the referee appointments for Thursday’s Europa League playoff round first leg.

[ MORE: UCL qualifying wrap ]

Wolves will head to the Olimpico di Torino for the first leg, and Torino is reportedly “bewildered” that UEFA has appointed Portuguese referees for the match because Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo and seven of his first team players hail from Portugal.

The head referee, Artur Soares Dias, has worked numerous high-profile games deep into the Europa League, Champions League, and EURO qualifying.

Nuno doesn’t care.

“We represent the colours of Wolverhampton, it’s an English team,” he said. “Our native language is English, everybody speaks English to each other. There is no issue.”

Torino has also cruised through the qualifying rounds and has not had the benefit of being tested by league play. Serie A begins this weekend.

Kickoff is at 3 p.m. Thursday, with the second leg at the Molineux set for Aug. 29 at 2:45 p.m. ET. The winner qualifies for the UEL group stage.

Also in action this Thursday are a few North Americans. Among them: Romain Gall is coming off a league goal for Malmo, and may start at home to Israeli Premier League side Bnei Yehuda.

Timothy Chandler remains a part of Eintracht Frankfurt’s crew and will be in France to meet Strasbourg, while Brooklyn-born Canadian striker Jonathan David is with Gent against Rijeka.

The rest of the post may deliver entertainment based on the schedule. The UEL main stage provides some unusual names from the European landscape, so it’s even wilder prior to that.

Thursday’s Europa League playoff round first legs

Astana v. BATE Borisov -- 10 a.m. ET
Avan Academy v. Dudelange -- 11 a.m. ET
FK Suduva v. Ferencvaros -- 1 p.m. ET
Malmo v. Bnei Yehuda -- 1 p.m. ET
Feyenoord v. Hapoel Beer-Sheva -- 1:30 p.m. ET
Ludogorets v. Maribor -- 1:30 p.m. ET
Copenhagen v. Riga -- 1:45 p.m. ET
AEK Athens v. Trabzonspor -- 2 p.m. ET
Legia Warsaw v. Rangers -- 2 p.m. ET
FCSB v. Vitoria -- 2:30 p.m. ET
Gent v. Rijeka -- 2:30 p.m. ET
PSV Eindhoven v. Apollon Limassol -- 2:30 p.m. ET
Strasbourg v. Eintracht Frankfurt -- 2:30 p.m. ET
AZ Alkmaar v. Antwerp -- 2:30 p.m. ET
Celtic v. AIK -- 2:45 p.m. ET
Linfield v. Qarabag -- 2:45 p.m. ET
Braga v. Spartak Moscow -- 2:45 p.m. ET
Espanyol v. Zorya -- 3 p.m. ET
Torino v. Wolves -- 3 p.m. ET
Partizan v. Molde -- 3 p.m. ET
Slovan Bratislava v. PAOK -- 3 p.m. ET

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