Southampton F.C. in European football
The Saints' maiden European voyage was the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which they took part in with fellow English clubs Newcastle United, Liverpool and eventual winners Arsenal.
Despite losing 1–0 away, a comfortable 2–0 win at home in the second leg put Southampton into a Second Round tie with Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães.
A closely fought 3–3 away draw was followed by a 5–1 home win which saw them through to the last 16 where Southampton were drawn against fellow English side Newcastle United.
After being relegated to the Second Division the previous season, Southampton qualified for the final instance of the short lived Texaco Cup.
Despite winning the first leg, the previous season's FA Cup finalists proved the gap between divisions was too large for Southampton to overcome and won the tournament with two goals in extra time.
Southampton qualified for a European Cup competition in successive seasons for the first time and played Swedish team IFK Norrköping in the first round.
The draw for the third round was held on 17 July 2015, Southampton drew Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem who finished fifth in the previous season of the Eredivisie.
Their first game took place against Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on 30 July 2015, which the Saints won 3–0 at St Mary's Stadium.
[2] Graziano Pellè found the net first in the 36th minute to put Southampton one up, before Dušan Tadić scored a penalty just before half time.
In the first leg the Saints drew 1–1 with the Danish champions, with Jay Rodriguez equalising after Tim Sparv's opener on the stroke of half-time.
[4] In the second leg, Midtjylland striker Morten Rasmussen scored the only goal of the game to ensure the Danish side won 2–1 on aggregate to eliminate Southampton from the competition.
[6] In the opening match against Sparta Prague on 15 September 2016, the Saints picked up their first win of the season when they beat the Czech side 3–0.
[8] The game did not feature many goalscoring opportunities for either side in the first half, which Hapoel largely dominated, although James Ward-Prowse had a number of chances on goal after the break.
[9] The visitors almost scored on a number of occasions in the first half, notably when Ward-Prowse's shot went over the crossbar and Cuco Martina's went wide of the post.
[10] After Inter captain Mauro Icardi opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, the Saints were awarded a controversial penalty for a handball by Ivan Perišić just before half time, while Antonio Candreva was booked for an off-the-ball incident involving Sam McQueen.
[10] The hosts increased the pressure in the second half, leading to defender Virgil van Dijk equalising in the 64th minute with a shot in the box following a corner.
[11] Goalkeeper Fraser Forster made a number of saves to deny further goals, which Prague threatened to score later on in the game.
[11] Southampton were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League on 8 December 2016 when they drew 1–1 with Hapoel Be'er Sheva at St Mary's Stadium.
[12] Despite the home side dominating much of the possession and having many more chances on goal, it was the visitors who took the advantage in the 78th minute when Maor Buzaglo scored the Israeli side's only shot on target after poor defending from the Saints, who were left needing two goals in just over ten minutes in order to advance to the knockout stages.
