Europa League: Group Stage Play Concludes; Citizens Win Group A; Atletico Eliminated

Twelve games were played on Thursday as group stage play in the Europa League came to a close.

Group A:

At Walz-Siezenheim, Austria:

Semir Stilic scored the only goal of the match at 30 minutes as Lech Poznan defeated Red Bull Salzburg 1-0 on the road. 

At Turin, Italy:

Jo's equalizer at 76 minutes enabled Manchester City to gain a 1-1 road draw with Juventus, good enough to secure first place in Group A for the visiting Citizens.

FINAL GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Manchester City (GP: 6; GD: +5; PTS: 11)
2. Lech Poznan (GP: 6; GD: +3; PTS: 11)
3. Juventus (GP: 6; GD: 0; PTS: 6)
4. Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 6; GD: -8; PTS: 2)

Manchester United and Lech Poznan advanced to the knockout stage.

Group B:

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

With Danijel Cesarec (45') and Ricardo Faty (45') providing the goals, Aris Salonika advanced to the knockout stage with a 2-0 home win over Rosenborg. 

At Leverkusen, Germany:

With Patrick Helmes scoring at 69 minutes, Bayer Leverkusen gained a 1-1 draw with guests Atletico Madrid.  The draw, coupled with Aris Salonika's home win over Rosenborg, eliminating the visiting defending cupholders from the tournament.

FINAL GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Bayer Leverkusen (GP: 6; GD: +6; PTS: 12)
2. Aris Salonika (GP: 6; GD: +2; PTS: 10)
3. Atletico Madrid (GP: 6; GD: +2; PTS: 8)
4. Rosenborg BK (GP: 6; GD: -10; PTS: 3)

Bayer Leverkusen ad Aris Salonika advanced to the knockout stage.

Group C:

At Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France:

Lille, thanks to goals from Ludovic Obraniak (30'), Pierre-Alain Frau (56'), and Moussa Sow (88'), blasted visiting KAA Gent 3-0 to overtake the Belgian club and into a second-place finish in Group C---and a berth in the knockout stage. 

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Daniel Mladenov scored the game's lone goal at 45 minutes as Levski Sofia, already eliminated from the tournament, knocked off Group C winners Sporting 1-0 at home. 

FINAL GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Sporting (GP: 6; GD: +8; PTS: 12)
2. LOSC Lille Metropole (GP: 6; GD: +2; PTS: 8)
3. KAA Gent (GP: 6; GD: -5; PTS: 7)
4. Levski Sofia (GP: 6; GD: -5; PTS: 7)

Group G:

At Brussels, Belgium:

With Tom De Sutter (11') and Matias Suarez (40') getting on the scoreboard, RSC Anderlecht assured themselves of safe passage to the knockout stage with a 2-0 home win over Hajduk Split. 

At Athens, Greece: 

Alexander Bukharov (44'), Alessandro Rosina (67'), and Igor Denisov (88') each tallied a goal as Zenit Saint Petersburg crushed AEK Athens 3-0 on the road.  Combined with RSC Anderlecht's home win over Hajduk Split, the loss eliminated the Greek club from the tournament.

FINAL GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. Zenit Saint Petersburg (GP: 6; GD: +12; PTS: 18)
2. RSC Anderlecht (GP: 6; GD: 0; PTS: 7)
3. AEK Athens (GP: 6; GD: -4; PTS: 7)
4. Hajduk Split (GP: 6; GD: -8; PTS: 3)

Zenit Saint Petersburg and RSC Anderlecht (the latter because of superior head-to-head competition with AEK Athens) advanced to the knockout stage.

Group H:

At Stuttgart, Germany:

The new Bruno Labbadia regime at VfB Stuttgart got off to a flying start on Thursday as the hosts belted visiting Odense BK 5-1.  Timo Gebhart (20'), Christian Gentner (65'), Pavel Pogrebniak (71'), and Ciprian Marica (90') each scored once for the hosts. 

At Getafe, Spain:

Adrian Corpa scored at 15 minutes as Getafe defeated visiting----and knockout round-bound---BSC Young Boys 1-0.

FINAL GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. VfB Stuttgart (GP: 6; GD: +10; PTS: 15)
2. BSC Young Boys (GP: 6; GD: 0; PTS: 9)
3. Getafe (GP: 6; GD: -4; PTS; 7)
4. Odense BK (GP: 6; GD: -6; PTS: 4)

VfB Stuttgart and BSC Young Boys advanced to the knockout stage. 

Group I:

At Budapest, Hungary:

In a battle of eliminated clubs, Debreceni VSC picked up their first win in group stage play with a 2-0 home win over Sampdoria.  Peter Kabat provided both goals, at 48 and 86 minutes.   

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Despite being held to a 0-0 home stalemate with fellow knockout-stage entrants FC Metalist Kharkiv, PSV Eindhoven won Group I.

FINAL GROUP I STAGE:

1. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 6; GD: +7; PTS: 14)
2. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 6; GD: +5; PTS: 11)
3. Sampdoria (GP: 6; GD: -3; PTS: 5)
4. Debreceni VSC (GP: 6; GD: -9; PTS: 3)

PSV Eindhoven and FC Metalist Kharkiv advanced to the knockout stage.