The first 12 teams to qualify from the group stages of UEFA Europa League 2010/2011 were finalised this evening, Wednesday 15th December 2010, as teams in groups D, E, F, J, K and L played their final group stage matches.
Group D
- Club Bruges 1-2 Villarreal
- Dinamo Zagreb 0-1 PAOK Salonika
Villareal topped Group A with a good 2-1 victory away at Club Bruges. Having originally fallen behind, to a 28th minute strike from Kouemaha, Villareal were quickly back on terms via Rossi on 30 minutes, before the same player added the second – winning – goal from the penalty spot on 34 minutes.
PAOK Salonika grabbed second place with a gritty 1-0 win away at Dinamo Zagreb, achieved courtesy of a 60th minute Salpingidis goal.
Group E
- AZ Alkmaar 3-0 BATE Borisov
- Dynamo Kiev 0-0 FC Sheriff Tiraspol
Dynamo Kiev and BATE Borisov finished first and second respectively in group E, despite neither side managing to produce a final round win.
Group F
- Lausanne Sports 0-1 Palermo
- Sparta Prague 1-1 CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow lost their 100% win record away at Sparta Prague, but boths sides qualify, with Sparta in second place. The draw, this evening, was fair, with both sides sharing the same number of goals on target – 7 – despite CSKA getting the early impetus by scoring on 15 minutes via Dzagoev. Kadlec got the hosts back on terms before half time, on 44 minutes, before the sides played out a slightly slow-paced second period.
Palermo’s 1-0 away at Lausanne Sports was too little too late to make any impact in this season’s UEFA Europa League.
Group J
- Karpaty Lviv 1-1 Paris SG
- Sevilla 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint Germain and Sevilla qualified from Group J in dramatic style.
Dortmund, who began this evening one point behind their Spanish hosts, Sevilla, needed nothing short of victory, and got off to the best of starts when Kagawa opened the scoring on just four minutes. However, Sevilla hit back with a goal from Romaric on 31 minutes before captain Freddie Kanute gave them a little breathing room just four minutes later. Borussia Dortmund fans got something to cheer and hope for when Subotic replied on 49 minuts, with plenty of time to conjure up a vital winner, but it was not to be, and two draws mean Sevilla claimed second in this group.
Group K
- Liverpool 0-0 FC Utrecht
- Napoli 1-0 Steaua Bucharest
Napoli left it ultra-late to break Steua Bucharest hearts and bag themselves second place in Group K. Edinson Cavani scored for the hosts in the 94th minute to send home fans into raptures, and Napoli through just one point ahead of their Romanian guests, mere seconds before the final whistle in the night’s most dramatic climax.
Liverpool’s draw with Utrecht means they top this tight group, which was separated by just five points top to bottom.
Group L
- Besiktas 2-0 Rapid Vienna
- FC Porto 3-1 CSKA Sofia
Porto and Besiktas were already confirmed qualifiers from Group L, and both sides reaffirmed this notion with comfortable home wins tonight.
UEFA Europa League 2010/2011 Results – Wednesday 15th December 2010
- AZ Alkmaar 3-0 BATE Borisov
- Besiktas 2-0 Rapid Vienna
- Club Bruges 1-2 Villarreal
- Dinamo Zagreb 0-1 PAOK Salonika
- Dynamo Kiev 0-0 FC Sheriff Tiraspol
- FC Porto 3-1 CSKA Sofia
- Karpaty Lviv 1-1 Paris SG
- Lausanne Sports 0-1 Palermo
- Liverpool 0-0 FC Utrecht
- Napoli 1-0 Steaua Bucharest
- Sevilla 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
- Sparta Prague 1-1 CSKA Moscow