Tottenham and Rangers joined Leicester and Arsenal in the Europa League knockout stages this week, whilst Celtic’s struggles continued under Neil Lennon as the final round of the group stage nears.
Spurs just about secured their progression to the next round despite failing to beat Austrian side LASK, as the two clubs played out a dramatic 3-3 draw in Group J.
LASK went ahead through Peter Michorl, but Garth Bale equalised for Spurs from the penalty spot.
Hueng-Min Son put the North London team ahead in the second half, but this time their opponents levelled through Johannes Eggestein.
Dele Alli then scored a penalty to make it 3-2, but in the 93rd minute Mamoudou Karamoko scored the sixth goal of the game to ensure it finished even.
Royal Antwerp also confirmed their spot in the next round after beating Ludogorets 3-1 in the other Group J fixture.
Goals from Martin Hongla, Ritchie De Laet and Manuel Benson were enough to see off the Bulgarian club who sit bottom of the group on 0 points.
Rangers also came from behind twice to beat Standard Liege in Group D and reach the round of 32 for the second season running.
Maxime Lestienne and Duje Cop bagged for the Belgians, but goals from Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Scott Arfield ensured Steven Gerrard’s side won 3-2.
Benfica also advanced to the next from in style, beating Lech Poznan 4-0.
Pizzi and Darwin Nunez both scored and now have 5 each in Europe, just one goal behind the competition’s top scorer Yusuf Yazici.
Jan Vertonghen and Julian Weigl netted either side of those goals as the Portuguese side thrashed Poznan.
Despite qualification already being confirmed, Leicester suffered a shock 1-0 loss when they visited Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk.
Allahyar Sayyadmanesh scored the only goal of the game as the Foxes suffered their first loss in Group G.
Elsewhere in the group, Braga travelled to AEK Athens and defeated the Greek side 4-2.
Ricardo Esgaio and Ricardo Horta were amongst the goal scorers as the Portuguese side capitalised on Leicester’s loss to go level on points with them at the top of the table.
Arsenal thrashed Rapid Vienna 4-1 in Group B, maintaining their 100% record in the Europa League.
Alexandre Lacazette, Pablo Mari, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith-Rowe all scored in a dominant performance from Mikel Arteta’s side.
Dundalk are still without any points though after they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Norwegian club Molde FK.
In Group H, AC Milan put themselves into the next round at the expense of Celtic, coming from two goals down to win 4-2.
Tom Rogic and Odsonne Edouard put the Scottish Champions ahead early in the first half, but goals from Hakan Calhanoglu, Samu Castillejo, Jens Pete Hauge and former Manchester City youngster Brahim Diaz confirmed that Celtic would finish bottom of the group.
Lille also qualified for the round of 32 after leaving it late to beat Sparta Prague 2-1.
Ladislav Krejci put the Czech side ahead but two late goals from Burak Yilmaz meant that the French took all three points.
Qualification was confirmed for both Bayer Leverkusen and Slavia Prague after they won their respective Group C fixtures.
Leverkusen edged OGC Nice out 3-2 thanks to goals from 21-year-old Moussa Diaby as well as experienced pros Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger.
Meanwhile, Slavia Prague brushed aside Hapoel Be’er Sheva 3-0, with a brace from Abdallah Sima helping the Czech side to victory.
Feyenoord left themselves needing a win in the final week of the group stage after losing 2-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in Group K.
Bruno Petkovic and Lovro Majer both netted for Zagreb as they confirmed their spot in the next round.
CSKA Moscow lost out to Wolfsberger AC in the other Group K game as Dario Vizinger scored the only goal of the game to move his side to second in the group.
Hoffenheim maintained their near-perfect defensive record in Group L when they played out a goalless draw against Red Star Belgrade.
The German club have conceded just once in Europe this season and had confirmed their spot in the next round before the match even started.
The result also means that Red Star will take a spot in the round of 32, despite Slovan Liberec winning 2-1 against bottom side Gent who are still yet to pick up a single point.
All four teams in Group F picked up a point each, with Real Sociedad and HNK Rijeka drawing 2-2 whilst Napoli and AZ Alkmaar drew 1-1.
Nacho Monreal, Dries Mertens and Bruno Martins Indi were amongst the Group F goal scorers, as the group goes right down to the final set of games next week.
PSV beat Granada in Group E, as Donyell Malen netted the only goal of the game.
Despite the result, both teams still qualified for the next round as PAOK lost their match against Omonia Nicosia.
The Greek side needed a win to take it down to the final round of fixtures, but the loss puts them out of sight of the top two spots.
Roma had already got into the round of 32, but still put in a solid performance and beat BSC Young Boys 3-1 in Group A.
Borja Mayoral, Edin Dzeko, and 18-year-old Riccardo Calafiori cancelled out Jean-Pierre Nsame’s opener, meaning the Swiss side need to avoid defeat next week to make the knockout stages.
CFR Cluj picked up a point in their 0-0 draw against CSKA Sofia, and now need to beat Young Boys if they are to advance in Europe.
Villareal made it out of Group I after beating Turkish club Sivasspor 1-0 thanks to a first half goal from Nigerian international Samuel Chukwueze.
The other match in the group saw Maccabi Tel Aviv and FK Qarabag draw 1-1.
By Ali Pollock
