The 24 sides through from the group phase join the eight third-placed finishers in the Champions League in Monday's draw, including Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam.
'I can feel the master's pain, because he must be sitting there and cursing and saying, 'Why was I born?''
Belgian league leaders Antwerp secured a shock 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan extended their unbeaten run to 23 games as they won 3-0 against Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, while Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Dundalk.
Pep Guardiola's ManchesterCity will play Romanian side Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League playoff round after the draw was made in Nyon on Friday.
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan's 24-match unbeaten run ended
AS Roma suffered another European humiliation on Tuesday when they had two players sent off, lost 3-0 at home to Porto and missed out on the Champions League group stage.
Red Star Belgrade, who won Europe's premier club competition in 1991, engineered a 2-0 home victory against HJK Helsinki thanks to a Richmond Boakye header and substitute Milan Pavkov's sweeping 90th-minute finish.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who made a mockery of his two-month exile from the starting lineup with a superb individual effort, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured an easy win that banished memories of their earlier group stage struggles.
Paul Pogba repaid some of his world record transfer fee with two goals as Manchester United rediscovered their early-season shine, cruising to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce to go top of their group on Thursday. Pogba scored a penalty and rifled United's third into the top corner. Anthony Martial also netted from the spot and Jesse Lingard fired home in the second half before former Old Trafford favourite Robin van Persie pulled one back for Fenerbahce. Inter Milan and AS Roma, though, had more testing evenings. Coach Frank de Boer breathed a sigh of relief when Inter survived an onslaught from Southampton to end a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory while Roma conceded twice late on to draw 3-3 at home to Austria Vienna.
Manchester United's woes deepened as stunning goals by Moussa Sow and Jeremain Lens gave Fenerbahce a 2-1 Europa League win on Thursday that left Jose Mourinho's side facing a battle to reach the knockout stages.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances