British Clubs Shine in Europa League Group Stage Finale
Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Rangers all secured their places in the Europa League last-16 on the final day of group matches. United, Spurs, and Rangers finished in the top 8 to avoid the knockout playoffs and advance directly to the round of 16.
Manchester United won 2-0 at Steaua Bucharest with second-half goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo. Despite the victory, United finished third in the group behind Laziο and Athletic Bilbao.
Tottenham Hotspur had an easier time, beating Swedish side Elfsborg 3-0. Youngsters Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi, and Mikey Moore all scored their first goals for the club. However, defender Radu Dragusin picked up an injury.
Rangers started the day outside the top 8 but managed to jump up to 8th place and avoid the playoffs by beating Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 at home. Nico Raskin and Vaclav Cerny scored for Rangers.
Other Europa League Results
Although Lazio lost 1-0 to Braga, they still finished top of the overall standings. Braga’s Ricardo Horta scored the only goal.
Athletic Bilbao won 3-1 against Viktoria Plzen with goals from Nico Williams, Yeray Alvarez, and Javier Marton. AS Roma secured their playoff spot with a 2-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished 5th and advanced automatically. Angelino and Eldor Shomurodov scored for Roma.
Olympique Lyonnais only managed a 1-1 draw with Ludogorets but still went through in 6th place. Olympiacos finished 7th and also advanced directly to the last 16 after a 3-0 win over Qarabag.
Fenerbahce just made it into the playoffs in 24th after a 2-2 draw at Midtjylland. Porto also squeaked through to the playoffs in 18th with a 1-0 win against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, thanks to a goal by Nico Gonzalez.
With the group stage now complete, the competition moves on to the knockout phase. The 16 clubs advancing directly to the round of 16 will be joined by the 8 group winners and 8 playoff winners to determine the Europa League champion.
