Europa League round-up: Dortmund, Napoli, Molde and Rapid seal places in the next round; Liverpool win
Napoli and Dortmund blew away their opponents with 5-0 and 4-0 wins respectively with 2 games to go in the group stage. Rapid Wien and Molde made it to the next round as well after they both eked out 2-1 wins to get the decisive points.
A good outing for the Premier League sides as well with Tottenham emerging 2-1 winners over Anderlecht and Liverpool registering their first Europa League win this season as they beat out Rubin Kazan by a single goal.
Group A
Molde became one of the 4 sides to secure their place in the round of 32 after winning 2-1 away against Celtic. The Scottish side are left at the bottom of the group with only 2 points and their qualification now depends on the performances of the 2 other sides even if they win both their remaining games. Ajax and Fenerbahce played out a 0-0 draw but both have a fair chance of qualification.
Group B
An odd group this one that holds qualification possibilities for all teams, some more than other like FC Sion who are top with 8 points but they drew 1-1 on the day against Bordeaux. Liverpool, though, took advantage of Sion dropping points with thir 1-0 away win against Rubin Kazan who’re now bottom of the group.
Group C
Borussia Dortmund who’ve once again found their verve this season under Thomas Tuchel reached the magic 10 point barrier to ensure their passage to the next round with a 4-0 thumping of Qabala. Krasnodar also inched closer to qualification with a 2-1 win over PAOK who’re close behind them.
Group D
Napoli’s juggernaut rolled on as they maintain their perfect winning record in the Europa League, getting all 12 points available so far to secure round of 32 qualification and they did so in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Midtjylland. Club Brugge who’re second in the group are a massive 6 points behind despite beating Legia 1-0 on the day. It means that barring something spectacular in the last 2 games, Napoli will top this group.
Group E
Another side to have a perfect winning record in the Europa League are Rapid Wien who also made it to the next round as they won 2-1 against Viktoria Plzen. Villareal are a close second after they won by the same scoreline against Dinamo Minsk.
Group F
Group leaders Braga succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Marseille, as the French side boosted their qualification chances. There are only 3 points between the top 3 as second placed Liberec also won by the same scoreline against Groningen.
Group G
Lazio have reached the 10 point mark but despite almost clinching qualification with a 2-0 win over Rosenborg, are just inches away from crossing the line. St. Etienne also won 3-0 on the day to put themselves in second place above their opponents Dnipro.
Group H
Besiktas drew 1-1 against group toppers Lokomotiv Moscow to remain in second place with 6 points, 2 behind the leaders. But the highlight of this group was the upset in the other match as Skenderbeu went on to beat Sporting CP 3-0 to register their first points in the group stages, though the winners remain bottom of the table. Had the Portuguese side won, they would have leapfrogged Besiktas to clinch second.
Group I
Swiss side FC Basel top this group with 9 points thanks to their latest 2-0 win against Beleneses. However, Fiorentina kept pace with them with their own win by the same scoreline against Lech.
Group J
Tottenham are top of this group with 7 points but the group remains wide open as Monaco are close behind in second place with 6 pints and the other 2 sides in the group have 4 points each. Spurs did themselves a favour winning 2-1 against Anderlecht with goals from Harry Kane and Moussa Dembele, while Monaco drew their game against Qarabag.
Group K
Schalke could have been the fifth side to make it into the next round of the Europa League but were held to a 1-1 draw by Sparta Praha and will have to try again next gameweek. Asteras Tripolis registered their first win of the group against bottom placed APOEL to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Group L
This group is incredibly tight as Atheltic Bilbao who registered a 5-1 win against Partizan still couldn’t get out of the group with 9 points because Augsburg beat Alkmaar and that means both the German side and Athletic's opponents on the night are on 6 points and stand in Athletic's way.