Europa League: Manchester United and Tottenham qualify for the last 16

Manchester United advanced to the last 16 of the Europa League after goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo gave the Premier League side a 2-0 win over Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.

Before their trip to Romania, United knew that a win would secure a top-eight finish in the new competition, but they struggled to create any significant chances in a sluggish first half.

The introduction of substitutes Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo revived Ruben Amorim's United side in the second half, with Dalot scoring the opener on the 60th minute. Eight minutes later, Maino's clever strike ended the home side's hopes, netting their second and helping United to third place in the standings. The defeat sent Steaua into the play-off round to qualify for the last 16.

🟣🎥Special Report | Manchester United secured direct passage to the round of 16 after beating host Steaua Bucharest 2-0, while the Romanian team lost the direct ticket and was forced to enter the qualifying play-offs.
🎙️Report | Yasser Marbouh @MarbouhYasser pic.twitter.com/SytC3Vjoj3

— beIN SPORTS News (@beINSPORTSNews) January 30, 2025

Italian Lazio qualified from first place despite losing 1-0 to Sporting Braga, who failed to qualify for the play-off round.

In turn, Tottenham Hotspur breathed a sigh of relief after booking a direct ticket to the round of 16 with a big win over its guest, Elfsborg of Sweden, 3-0, in the eighth and final round of the unified group.

The London team secured one of the eight tickets to the round of 16 by achieving its fifth victory, temporarily forgetting the men of Australian coach Ange Postecoglou's disastrous journey in the Premier League, where they suffered six defeats in the last seven matches, which put them in a struggle to avoid relegation.

Spanish club Athletic Bilbao followed in Spurs' footsteps and reached the last 16 directly after beating its guest, Czech club Viktoria Plzen, with three goals by Nico Williams (25), Yeray Alvarez (64) and Javier Marton (5+90) against one goal by Milan Havel (71), raising its tally to 19 points in second place on goal difference behind Italian club Lazio, who were the only team guaranteed to qualify before the final round.

Despite drawing with its guest, the Bulgarian Ludogorets, with a goal by Corentin Tolisso (54) versus a goal by the Portuguese Denis Almeida (77), the French Lyon secured its direct qualification as sixth in the standings with 15 points.

In the Italian capital, Roma secured a place in the play-offs after beating their guest, Eintracht Frankfurt, 2-0, without preventing the latter from obtaining a direct qualification card thanks to their 16 points.

Dutch Ajax followed Roma's lead and qualified for the play-offs with its guest, Turkish Galatasaray, after defeating it with two goals by Burkinabe Bertrand Traore (23) and Kian Fitz-Gym (58) against one goal by Nigerian Victor Osimhen (4+90).

Real Sociedad of Spain will also play in the play-offs, like its guest PAOK of Greece, after defeating the latter with two headers from Icelander Øri Oscarsson (43 and 48).

Bodo Glimt of Norway were on the verge of returning from Nice with a direct qualification card if they had held on to their third consecutive win and their lead through Fredrik Andre Bjorkan (54), but they had to settle for a draw after receiving a goal from Algerian Badreddine Bouanani (74), to obtain ninth place and a play-off card, while their hosts came in 35th place, the penultimate.

Dutch club Twente also qualified for the play-offs after beating its Turkish guest Besiktas 1-0, while Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev bid farewell to the competition with a moral victory, its first, against Latvian club RFS 1-0.

(Agencies)