On Thursday, the UEFA Europa League group stage battles came to an end. As the final round was played, the teams that advanced to the knockout stages were revealed. You can find the full tournament tables here.
"Villarreal" immediately lost at home to Tel Aviv's "Maccabi", but the Spanish team had already secured the A group winners' name. Despite that, they left the Astana players behind, even though they defeated Prague's "Slavia" in the away game.
The end of Group B was still unclear, but Kiev's "Dynamo" secured the first place by defeating Belgrade's "Partizan" at home. Mykola Morozyuk and later hat-trick scorer Junior Moraes sent goals to the Serbs in the first half, but they also advanced as Korca's "Skenderbeu" failed to beat the bottom-placed Bern's "Young Boys".
"Braga" won Group C, despite losing the last game to Istanbul's "Basaksehir" players. The Turks had a chance to secure the second place, but this position was taken by Razgrad's "Ludogorets", who only needed a draw against "Hoffenheim".
Everything was already clear in Group D. The "Milan" players triumphed, allowing themselves to lose to the "Rijeka" team. However, the latter almost defeated Athens' AEK in the away game, not being able to score against the Austrian's "Austria" and causing trouble for themselves if the opponents had succeeded.
The winners of Group E were other Italian representatives - Bergamo's "Atalanta" defeated "Lyon" at home. Andrea Petagna scored the only goal in these matches and secured a better finish than the French. Meanwhile, Liverpool's "Everton" and Limassol's "Apollon" were already left behind.
Group F saw uncertainty in both first places. Moscow's "Lokomotiv" defeated the winless "Zlin" and easily took the top position, while "Copenhagen" entered the next stage by earning more points against Tiraspol's "Sheriff". The Moldovans were eventually defeated 2-0.
"Arsenal" had a good time in Group G. The English team, who had already secured their victory, scored six rather successful goals against BATE, including Mathieu Debuchy, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud, Mohamed Elneny, and Denis Polyakov who scored an own goal. Meanwhile, they surpassed the Belorussians, overtaking Belgrade's "Crvena Zvezda" thanks to Slavoljub Srnić's only goal against "Cologne".
The tied first place in Group I opened the way to the next stage for "Marseille" as they defeated the "Vitoria de Guimaraes" team that failed to beat "Konyaspor".
In Group J, it was a successful evening for Bilbao's "Athletic", who took the first place from "Ostersunds". The Spaniards played a draw with Berlin's "Alba", so the La Liga club, after defeating Luhansk's "Zorya", not only secured a ticket to the next stage but also surpassed "Ostersunds". The crucial goals were scored in the second half by Aritz Aduriz and Raul Garcia.
In Group K, "Nice" and Rome's "Lazio" suffered defeats, but nothing changed here. The French remained in second place and had no chance of falling or rising higher, while the representatives of Serie A secured the winner's name.
Finally, the battle for the winner's title in Group L was won by St. Petersburg's "Zenit", forcing San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" to surrender with a score of 11. Aleksandr Yerokhin scored a goal for the Russians, which was later equalized by Willian Jose from the Basques, but shortly afterward, Branislav Ivanović changed the result, and after a substitution Leandro Paredes secured the victory for the Russians. These teams left behind the draw between Skopje's "Vardar" and Trondheim's "Rosenborg".
Results (qualifying teams for the next stage): Group A: "Slavia" 0 - 1 "Astana" "Villarreal" 0 - 1 "Maccabi" Group B: Kyiv "Dynamo" 4 - 1 "Partizan" "Young Boys" 2 - 1 "Skenderbeu" Group C: "Hoffenheim" 1 - 1 "Ludogorets" "Basaksehir" 2 - 1 "Braga" Group D: "Austria" 0 - 0 AEK "Rijeka" 2 - 0 "Milan" Group E: "Apollon" 0 - 3 "Everton" "Atalanta" 1 - 0 "Lyon" Group F: "Copenhagen" 2 - 0 "Sheriff" "Zlin" 0 - 2 "Lokomotiv" Group G: "Steaua" 1 - 2 "Lugano" "Hapoel Beer Sheva" 0 - 2 "Viktoria" Group H: "Arsenal" 6 - 0 BATE "Crvena Zvezda" 1 - 0 "Cologne" Group I: "Marseille" 0 - 0 "Salzburg" "Vitoria de Guimaraes" 1 - 1 "Konyaspor" Group J: "Hertha" 1 - 1 "Ostersunds" "Zorya" 0 - 2 "Athletic" Group K: "Vitesse" 1 - 0 "Nice" "Zulte-Waregem" 3 - 2 "Lazio" Group L: "Vardar" 1 - 1 "Rosenborg" "Real Sociedad" 1 - 3 "Zenit"
