GROUP A
UDINESE 0-1 LIVERPOOL
Jordan Henderson’s first-half winner against Udinese was enough to send Liverpool through to the promised land of the last 32 (see full report here).
YOUNG BOYS 3-1 ANZHI
Young Boys Bern were knocked out of the Europa League by the smallest of margins on Thursday despite picking up a 3-1 victory over already-qualified Anzhi Makhachkala.
The Swiss side opened the scoring on 38 minutes when Gonzalo Zarate netted the rebound from his original shot which hit the post, but Odil Ahmedov restored parity in the contest on the cusp of half-time, courtesy of Lacina Traore’s back-heel.
Traore was soon sent off for Anzhi before Alexander Gonzalez ratified the result in injury time, yet it proved futile for the hosts, who end their group campaign on 10 points but with an inferior head-to-head record against Liverpool.
GROUP B
VIKTORIA PLZEN 1-0 ATLETICO MADRID
Viktoria Plzen qualified as pool winners at the expense of Atletico Madrid, as Vaclav Prochazka’s goal separated the two teams in Czech Republic (see full report here).
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 2-0 ACADEMICA
Victor Mare quite literally got the ball rolling for the Israeli side on 56 minutes following Gil Vermouth’s good work down the left flank, before substitute Hanan Mamam headed in a second goal late on.
GROUP C
AEL 3-0 MARSEILLE
AEL Limassol won the battle of the eliminated sides on Thursday after they trounced Olympique de Marseille 3-0 on home soil.
Former Fulham striker Orlando Sa nodded in the game’s first goal on 41 minutes from Edmar‘s corner, before the Brazilian winger turned scorer with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
His countryman Dosa Junior applied the final touches to the victory with a header of his own two minutes later, ending the Ligue 1 high-fliers’ dismal European campaign on a sour note.
FENERBAHCE 0-3 MONCHENGLADBACH
Fenerbahce had their invincible away form to fall back on, as they crashed to a heavy 3-0 reverse at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, who progress as runners-up.
Tolga Cigerci bent the ball beyond Demirel Volkan on 23 minutes to give the Germans an early lead before Henri Bienvenu’s foul on Branimir Hrgota im the box not long after gifted Mike Hanke for a second from the penalty spot.
GROUP D
BORDEAUX 2-0 NEWCASTLE
Bordeaux sealed top spot in Group D after they registered a comfortable 2-0 victory over Newcastle, who must settle for second place in the section (see full report here).
MARITIMO 2-1 CLUB BRUGGE
Maritimo needed a late winner to beat Club Brugge 2-1 and ensure their ultimately unsuccessful Europa League campaign finished on a high.
The Portuguese outfit struck first blood through Goncalo Abreu, who jumped highest to head his team into the lead from a corner on 18 minutes, but Lior Refalov‘s curling finish with five minutes left appeared enough to earn the visitors a point.
Nonetheless, Heldon was at the right place at he right time moments later with a diving header across goal to place Maritimo in third.
GROUP E
STUTTGART 0-1 MOLDE
Stuttgart held onto second place in Group E despite falling to a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of basement boys Molde.
The winning goal came on the brink of half-time through Davy Claude Angan, who capitalised on a sweeping counterattack to bag the Norwegians a scalp.
COPENHAGEN 1-1 STEAUA
Copenhagen were disappointed in their efforts to qualify for the round of 32 after they could only draw 1-1 with pool champions Steaua Bucharest.
The Danes were handed a boost moments into the second half as Cristian Tanase was shown a second yellow card and subsequent red, but it did not stop Raul Rusescu from giving his side the initiative on 73 minutes.
However, the hosts
GROUP F
NAPOLI 1-3 PSV
Napoli’s inconsistencies in the Europa League were brutally exposed by PSV for a second time after they fell to a 3-1 loss at the San Paolo.
The Italians took the lead via Edinson Cavani, who grabbed his seventh goal of the group stage following Peter van Ooijen’s defensive misjudgment, but Tim Matavz replied for the visitors with a strike that Antonio Rosati failed to hold onto.
DNIPRO 4-0 AIK
Pool champions Dnipro concluded their campaign in the Europa League group stage with a hugely convincing 4-0 triumph over AIK Solna.
The Ukrainans started positively as, within 20 minutes, Nikola Kalinic took advantage of Martin Lorentzson’s foul on Roman Zozulya in the box to break the deadlock from 12 yards out.
Zozulya then doubled Dnipro’s advantage late on in the first half with a side-footed finish past Ivan Turina following Yevhen Konoplyanka’s skilful run down the left, and he was at again with five minutes after the restart.
Giuliano’s lay-off found the striker on the edge of the box for the third goal of the game, and a fourth and final strike was found courtesy of Kostyantyn Kravchenko.