It is 26 years since Atalanta played in Europe. La Dea reached the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup in 1991, where fellow Italian side Internazionale put them out, Lothar Matthaus on the scoresheet!

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A little bit of good news for Arsenal fans.

According to analysis by Gracenote Sports, the Gunners have a 96% chance of progressing from their group - that is higher than any other team in the competition.

The analysts have had a go at predicting the make-up of the last 32, factoring in the teams they think will drop into the competition from the Champions League (they got 27 out of 32 correct last year).

Everton are given a 67% chance of making it through, although today's opponents Atalanta are the most likely team not in the projected 32 to cause an upset. They are given a 50% chance of going through instead of the Toffees or Lyon.

Here are the most likely sides to be involved in the knockout stages:

Image source, Gracenote Sports

Image source, Gracenote Sports

Image source, Reuters

Everton's Wayne Rooney was a Europa League winner with Manchester United last season. He could yet emulate Radamel Falcao (Porto 2011, Atletico 2012) by lifting the trophy in successive seasons with different clubs.

Image source, EPA

Atalanta, managed by Gian Piero Gasperini, qualified for the Europa League after finishing fourth in Serie A last season.

However, home advantage may be limited for Atalanta, who will play their Europa League home matches at fellow Serie A side Sassuolo's ground Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia.

The stadium is 120 miles away from Atalanta's home ground the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Itali in Lombardy, which is currently being renovated.

After consecutive losses to Roma and Napoli in their first two games in this season's Serie A, Atalanta are coming into the Europa League fixture off the back of a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Sunday.

Judging by the excitement among these Cologne fans in central London this afternoon, you'd think they were playing in the final, not the first of six group matches.

They briefly brought the West End to a standstill as they sang their way down Oxford Street.

Pumped.

Mind you, it's the first time in 25 years they've played in a major European club competition, so why not make the most of it?

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Atalanta have never played a team from England before. You don't know what you're missing!

Everton

Ronald Koeman shuffles his pack for this trip to Italy.

In come Maarten Stekelenburg in goal, Mason Holgate and Phil Jagielka at the back, Mo Besic in midfield and Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Nikola Vlasic up front.

There are 24 matches in the Europa League tonight. spread out across two kick-off times and thousands of square miles.

AC Milan, Marseille, Lyon and Lazio are all in action but here are the two matches we'll be covering closely:

Atalanta v Everton (18:00 BST)

Arsenal v Cologne (20:05 BST)

With plenty of teams in action tonight returning to Europe after a lengthy break, there should be plenty of excited fans to keep track of.

Ah, I love the smell of the Europa League in the evening...

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Yes, after a goal-crazy start to life in the Champions League it's the Europa League's turn to see us through another evening of European football gold.

Two Premier League teams are in action over the next five hours or so.

Let's get this show on the road!

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