The opening nights of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League brought fans flooding back to the continent’s stadiums, with over 2.5 million supporters attending games on Matchdays 1 and 2 across the three competitions, reports UEFA.com.

In total, the 32 Champions League games of Matchdays 1 and 2 drew a combined crowd of just under 1.5 million (an extremely healthy average of over 45,700 per game) – an increase of more than 60% compared to the opening nights of the 2021/22 campaign (just over 900,000). That figure represented a dramatic achievement in itself, given that COVID restrictions had meant that an aggregate crowd of just over 80,000 were permitted to attend the first 32 games of the 2020/21 edition.

The 2022/23 attendance figures have also been impressive in the two Thursday competitions. A 74,000+ turnout for Manchester United’s 1-0 home loss to Real Sociedad helped bring the combined Europa League total up to around 700,000 (an average of just over 22,500 per game, with Arsenal yet to play at home), while close to 375,000 attended the Europa Conference League matches.

Among the teams in action in the Europa Conference League were clubs from three nations playing for the first time at this level: Ballkani (Kosovo), Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and Žalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania), their participation helping to increase the visibility of football in their respective countries.

The key message: European football is back in no uncertain terms after the pandemic. With four more matchdays to be played between now and the start of November, the action will again come thick and fast after the international window.