The first teams to qualify for the round of 16 of the Europa League this season have officially been revealed after the matches on the morning of December 1 ended.
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| With 5 wins in a row, Bayer Leverkusen advances to the Europa League round of 16. (Source: AFP) |
Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta have become the first teams to enter the round of 16 of the Europa League this season after the matches on the morning of December 1 ended.
At Anfield, Liverpool had no difficulty winning 4-0 in welcoming weak opponent LASK in Group E.
The attacking trio of Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Mohammed Salah scored together to bring victory to The Kop.
The victory helped coach Juergen Klopp's team take sole possession of the top spot in Group E , as the remaining match between Toulouse and Union St.Gilloise ended in a 0-0 draw.
Thus, after 5 matches, Liverpool has 12 points, 4 points more than the team right behind, Toulouse, in the context that the group stage has only one more match to end.
This also means that Liverpool have officially won the right to participate in the round of 16 of the Europa League this season.
Toulouse are 3 points ahead of third-placed Union St.Gilloise, so they are likely to also secure a play-off spot with the team relegated from the Champions League.
In Group H , Bayer Leverkusen continued to show their "scary" form when they won 2-0 away at BK Haecken.
Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick both scored to bring complete joy to Bayer Leverkusen with a perfect record of winning all 5 matches in the group stage.
The perfect result brought coach Xabi Alonso's team confidently into the Europa League round of 16 and is truly an opponent that many teams fear.
Meanwhile, the second place in Group G to earn a play-off spot will be a competition between Molde and Qarabag. The two teams are both on 7 points and their “fate” will be decided in a series of “life and death” matches.
Qarabag is the team with the advantage when only having to host BK Haecken at home, while Molde has an away trip that is predicted to be more dangerous than good at Leverkusen.
In Group D , Atalanta only managed a 1-1 draw against Sporting at home, but that was enough for the Italian representative to advance straight to the Europa League round of 16.
After 5 matches, Atalanta has 11 points, 3 points more than Sporting while there is only one match left in the group stage. However, Atalanta has a better head-to-head record so they are sure to take the top spot in the group.
With 8 points, Sporting has also secured a play-off spot to compete for a ticket to the round of 16.
Apart from Sporting, other teams are West Ham and Freiburg ( Group A ), Marseille and Brighton ( Group B ), Rennes and Villarreal ( Group F ), Slavia Praha and AS Roma ( Group G ) will also at least participate in the play-off round.
With the current situation, the final round of the group stage promises to be very dramatic with direct confrontations between teams competing for tickets to the round of 16.
Notably, in Group A, West Ham and Freiburg are both on 12 points and will play the "final" match of the group in the last round.
West Ham are the team with the advantage after winning 2-1 at Freiburg in the first leg, so they only need a draw in the final match to qualify.
In Group B, Brighton is ranked second with 10 points, 1 point behind Marseille. This team will have to win the "life and death" match in the final round to have a direct ticket.
In Group G , coach Jose Mourinho and his team no longer have the right to decide after the draw with Servette. In the final round, they must defeat Sheriff and hope that the top team Slavia does not beat Servette to be able to continue.
The most dramatic match was probably Group C when Rangers just drew 1-1 with Aris Limassol. Real Betis topped the group with 9 points, followed by Rangers (8 points) and Sparta (7 points). The opportunity to continue is still open for all 3 teams.
In the final match, Real Betis will face Rangers directly while Sparta will only have to face the eliminated opponent Aris Limassol.
The play-off round draw is scheduled to take place on December 18, along with the Champions League and Europa Conference League knockout round draws.
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