UEFA Europa League, Matchday 6: Tottenham, Celtic Both Fail To Progress

Celtic needed a win to go through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, and they nearly got it. Gary Hooper scored early for his side against Udinese and had a number of other chances, but Antonio Di Natale netted a goal of his own as Celtic came up just short in a 1-1 draw. The other spot in Group I was already decided, with Atletico Madrid going through.

In Group G, AZ Alkmaar did enough against Metalist Kharkiv in a 1-1 draw to join their Matchday 6 foes in the knockout stages. Things went according to plan in Group H, as Braga and Club Brugge held off Birmingham City to advance.

Scores

Austria Vienna 2-0 Malmo

AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Metalist Kharkiv

Birmingham 1-0 Maribor

Club Brugge 1-1 Braga

Atletico Madrid 3-1 Stade Rennes

Udinese 1-1 Celtic

Progressing to the knockout stage

Group G

Metalist Kharkiv, AZ Alkmaar

Group H

Braga, Club Brugge

Group I

Atletico Madrid, Udinese

Tottenham Hotspur got close to finding the miracle they needed to advance to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, but came up just short. They needed a win, a PAOK win over Rubin Kazan, and results that helped them make up a five-goal deficit and tiebreakers. At halftime of the two games, PAOK was up 1-0 over ten-man Rubin, while Tottenham led Shamrock Rovers 3-0. Unfortunately for Spurs, things did not go their way in the next 45 minutes. Rubin Kazan found an equalizer, while they only scored one more goal in their match.

Elsewhere, the knockout stage places were set previously, but they played games anyway! Favorites Hannover 96 and PSV Eindhoven both notched wins.

Scores

PAOK Salonika 1-1 Rubin Kazan

Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur

FC Copenhagen 0-1 Standard Liege

Hannover 96 3-1 Vorskla

Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-0 Legia Warsaw

PSV Eindhoven 2-1 Rapid Bucharest

Progressing to the knockout stage

Group A

PAOK Salonika, Rubin Kazan

Group B

Standard Liege, Hannover 96

Group C

PSV Eindhoven, Legia Warsaw

2009-10 UEFA Europa League runners-up Fulham are out of the competition, thanks to a dramatic equalizer by Odense. The Cottagers were up 2-0 in the first half of their match against the Danish side and appeared to be going through comfortably, but played poorly in the second half and allowed Odense to fight their way back to a draw, eliminating Fulham from the competition. They would have gone through with a win or if Wisla Krakow failed to win, but Wisla grabbed an impressive victory against FC Twente.

Baye Djiby scored the equalizer for Odense in their 2-2 draw with Fulham, nodding in a close-range header with literally the final touch of the ball in stoppage time, as the referee blew the final whistle just after the ball went into the back of the net. Clint Dempsey and Kerim Frei netted for Fulham, with Hans Henrik Andreasen scoring Odense's first with a great free kick.

Elsewhere, there wasn't much going on with Schalke having already won Group J and Anderlecht and Lokomotiv both having already advanced from Group L. Steaua Bucharest grabbed the second spot in Group J, jumping over Maccabi Haifa.

Scores

Maccabi Haifa 0-3 Schalke 04

Steaua Bucharest 3-1 AEK Larnaca

Fulham 2-2 Odense BK

Wisla Krakow 2-1 FC Twente

Anderlecht 5-3 Lokomotiv Moscow

SK Sturm Graz 1-3 AEK Athens

Progressing to the knockout stage

Group J

Schalke 04, Steaua Bucharest

Group K

FC Twente, Wisla Krakow

Group L

Anderlecht, Lokomotiv Moscow

Despite their many millions spent and a victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain are out of the UEFA Europa League. They needed some help from Slovan Bratislava to go through to the knockout stages, but the Slovakian side fell at home to SV Salzburg, who go through ahead of PSG.

PSG's failings will likely be the biggest story of the day, but there was one positive set of results for a big club. Lazio entered the day a doubt to go through, but thanks to a victory over Sporting Lisbon and FC Zurich's victory over FC Vaslui, the Roman side has progressed through Group D. 

Scores

FC Zurich 2-0 FC Vaslui

Lazio 2-0 Sporting Lisbon

Besiktas 3-1 Stoke City

Dynamo Kiev 3-3 Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Athletic Bilbao

Slovan Bratislava 2-3 SV Salsburg

Progressing to the knockout stage

Group D

Sporting Lisbon, Lazio

Group E

Besiktas, Stoke City

Group F

Athletic Bilbao, SV Salzburg