The group stage of the UEFA Europa League will come to an end on Thursday with some decisive matches that will determine the qualifiers to the European competition’s knock-out stage.
In Group K, Braga, where Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan Koka plays, will fly to Slovakia to meet Slovan Bratislava, where the Portuguese will aim to achieve their fourth victory in the competition and confirm their leadership of the group after securing the qualification to the final 16.
Beşiktaş, where Egyptian international midfielder Mohamed Elneny plays, will visit England to face Wolverhampton which also secured their spot in the next stage.
Braga ranks first in the group with 11 points, while Beşiktaş tails the ranking with three points, having lost four games and won once.
Simultaneously, in Group J, AS Roma will host Wolfsberg at Rome’s Olympic Stadium aiming to clinch the three points to ensure their qualification to the next stage as there is a strong competition in this group. In the same group, Borussia Mönchengladbach will host Istanbul Basaksehir in another fierce clash that will define the qualifiers from this group.
Borussia are in first place with eight points in Group J, and Roma are second with eight points too due to goal difference, followed by Basaksehir in third place with seven points. All of them have equal chances to reach the final 16.
Manchester United, meanwhile, will host AZ Alkamaar in the game that will define the top spot of Group L as the former have 10 points and the latter have nine points. In the same group, Partizan will face Astana, but both teams have no chance to qualify as they have five and three points, respectively.
In Group I, Gent will host Oleksandriya at the Ghelamco Arena, while Wolfsburg will host France’s St-Etienne. Gent are leading their group with nine point, followed by Wolfsburg in the 2nd place with eight points.
In Group A, Apoel of Cyprus will fly to Spain to meet Sevilla which are in the first place with 15 points, followed by Apoel with seven points. The Cypriot team need at least get one point to qualify to the last 16. In the same group, Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ will play Luxembourgish F91 Dudelange, where the former must win to keep their qualification chances alive if Apoel lost their next game. Qarabağ have four points in the third place and Dudelange are fourth with three points.
In Group F, Arsenal will fly to Belgium to face Standard Liège, while Eintracht Frankfurt will meet Vitória SC of Portugal. Both games are decisive in the group, as Arsenal are in first place with 10 points, followed by Eintracht in second with nine points, then Standard Liège in third with seven points, while Vitória are fourth with two points. The first three teams have equal chances of qualification to the last 16.
In Group D, Austria’s LASK will host Sporting Lisbon, and PSV Eindhoven will meet Rosenborg BK. The Dutch team need to win to keep their hopes of qualification alive as they have seven points, while Sporting lead the group with 12 points, and LASK are second with 10 points. Rosenborg are fourth with no points.
In Group G, Glasgow Rangers will host Young Boys of Switzerland at Ibrox Stadium, where both teams must win to go forward in the Europa League. Meanwhile, Porto will host Feyenoord in the same group.
Rangers lead Group G with eight points, followed by Porto in second with seven points, Young Boys are third with seven points too, and finally Feyenoord have five points in the fourth place. It’s a very tough group and all the four teams have equal chances to play in the last 16 stage.
