Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Marco Rose believes his side showed what “Bournemouth football” is in their Europa League win over Real Sociedad on Thursday.
In their first-ever European match, the Cherries won 2-1 at La Real thanks to goals from Justin Kluivert and Rayan inside the opening 20 minutes.
Bournemouth are the 38th different English side to make their debut in major European competition, with six of the nine this century winning their opening game (D2 L1).
And they had a difficult opening fixture; La Real suffered their first home loss in major European competition since a 2-1 defeat to Anderlecht in October 2024, having gone unbeaten in their last five matches (W4 D1).
While Rose conceded it was not a perfect performance, with La Real gaining confidence in the second half, he was delighted with the intensity his Bournemouth side showed.
“That’s Bournemouth football,” Rose told TNT Sports.
“We want to be active and defend forward. We want to create chances. We had a header to be 3-0 up. The game is 90 minutes, and the first half was really brilliant.
— AFC Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth) September 17, 2026
“It was very intense and tough. Brilliant first half in everything. The way we won balls and the possession high up.
“In the second half, we needed to suffer because we were not so sharp. We need to talk about the second half.
“It’s a brilliant win in our first European game. It’s brilliant for the club and the 2000 fans from Bournemouth.”
Bournemouth have led in all six of their games in all competitions under Rose, with this just their second win along with a 4-0 victory over Lincoln City in the EFL Cup (D3 L1).
After facing Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League either side of the international break, the Cherries host Sturm Graz in what will be the first European match at the Vitality Stadium.
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