Jan 29 : A 4-2 win at home against Greek side PAOK secured Olympique Lyonnais a top finish in the Europa League standings as Italian side AS Roma scraped into eighth place and direct passage to the last 16 on the final league phase matchday on Thursday.
Despite conceding an early goal, Lyon were seemingly in control after PAOK’s Giannis Konstantelias was sent off just before the break, with a late surge ensuring top spot.
The biggest thriller of the night came when Roma suffered a blow early at Panathinaikos after Gianluca Mancini was sent off in the 15th minute for bringing down Milos Pantovic as the last defender.
The Greek side made the most of their numerical advantage with Vicente Taborda scoring just before the hour mark, but a goal from Jan Ziolkowski 10 minutes before time secured the Italian side a spot in the top eight.
Aston Villa ended in second place after a 3-2 comeback win at home against Salzburg, having already secured a place in the last 16.
Denmark’s FC Midtjylland secured third place with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb. Real Betis sealed fourth place with a 2-1 win over eliminated Feyenoord and took the lead inside 17 minutes after a breathless opening in which both sides had chances. Brazilian Antony curled in a shot from 25 yards.
It was 2-0 in the 32nd minute when Antony’s cross was headed into the corner by Abde Ezzalzouli. It already looked a long way back for Feyenoord, though Casper Tengstedt halved the deficit after Betis took their foot off the pedal in the second half.
Fighting to remain in the top eight, FC Porto conceded a sucker-punch goal to Rangers in the sixth minute but they bounced back with three goals before the break to grab a 3-1 win and fifth place in the table, just ahead of fellow Portuguese side Braga and German side Freiburg.
For Rangers the campaign came to a disappointing end as they finished 32nd out of 36.
Nottingham Forest also made it through to the playoff phase after a 4-0 victory at home against Ferencvaros thanks to an own goal from Bence Otvos early on, before Igor Jesus scored one in each half. James McAtee ended the night by giving Forest their fourth from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
BOTTOM THRILLER
However, there was no luck for the Dutch sides as Utrecht, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles were all eliminated in what became a last-second thriller to get the last unseeded playoff phase spots.
Swiss side Young Boys conceded a goal in the 90th minute that cost them their chance to advance as they lost 3-2 to VfB Stuttgart, forcing them into 25th spot and bringing their European adventure to an end. SK Brann clinched the last spot despite a 1-0 loss at Sturm Graz.
In Scotland, Benjamin Nygren gave Celtic an early lead and then forced an own goal minutes later to give his side a good start, but there were some nervy moments for the Scottish side before they eventually secured a 4-2 win over Utrecht that had them finish 21st.
