There will be nine UEFA Europa League round of 32 places up for grabs on matchday six after FC Schalke 04, FC Lokomotiv Moskva and Stoke City FC sealed progress on Thursday evening.
With ten minutes to go Group E was wide open, only for Kenwyne Jones's late equaliser at home against FC Dynamo Kyiv to take Stoke through, avoiding the spectre of a daunting trip to Beşiktaş JK. Instead they will head to Istanbul in a fortnight to contest top spot after Ricardo Quaresma's stunning last-minute effort earned the Turkish side a 3-2 win at Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC that leaves them three points ahead of Dynamo with a superior goal difference.
There was another late goal at FC Twente, where Marc Janko's 89th-minute winner wrapped up top spot for the Dutch outfit in Group K and left opponents Fulham FC needing to beat Odense BK on matchday six to confirm their own progress. Any slip-up and Polish champions Wisła Kraków, 2-1 victors at OB, lie in wait.
Dušan Švento's effort at the death could also be decisive, sealing a 2-0 victory for FC Salzburg over Paris Saint-Germain FC that puts the pair level on points; though crucially the Austrian team now have a superior head-to-head record. They will travel to ŠK Slovan Bratislava needing only to match PSG's performance against Group F winners Athletic Club.
Raúl González's predatory skills appear as sharp as ever as his first UEFA Europa League goal – to add to 71 in the UEFA Champions League – earned Schalke a 2-1 victory against FC Steaua Bucureşti and passage as Group J winners. The Romanian outfit could join them in the last 32 as AEK Larnaca FC's 2-1 triumph over Maccabi Haifa FC means second spot is up for grabs.
RSC Anderlecht maintained the competition's 100% record with a 2-1 win at AEK Athens FC, though that does not guarantee top spot in Group L. Lokomotiv, who had substitute Maicon to thank for a 3-1 victory over SK Sturm Graz, could supplant the Belgian outfit if they beat them by more than two goals in Brussels on 14 December.
Sporting Clube de Portugal, who booked their place in the knockout stage on matchday three, sealed top spot in Group D with a 2-0 defeat of FC Zürich. They ended the Swiss side's ambitions in the process, but the headlines were being made elsewhere in the section as a 0-0 draw with S.S. Lazio at Peatra Neamt left Romanian minnows FC Vaslui well-placed to finish second.
Through to round of 32
Athletic Club
Club Atlético de Madrid
FC Lokomotiv Moskva
FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Schalke 04
FC Twente
Hannover 96
Legia Warszawa
PAOK FC
PSV Eindhoven
RSC Anderlecht
R. Standard de Liège
SC Braga
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Stoke City FC
* The eight teams that finish third in their UEFA Champions League groups will transfer to the UEFA Europa League for the knockout phase.
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