Betis Sevilla, AS Roma and SC Freiburg are through to the last 16 of the Europa League. Bologna and Nottingham Forest qualify for the play-offs on the final matchday of the league phase.
29.01.2026, 23:20
29.01.2026, 23:55
SDA
Before the final matchday of the league phase of the Europa League kicked off, only two teams had already been confirmed as participants in the round of 16: Lyon and Aston Villa.
However, various teams in places 3 to 30 still had a chance of reaching the round of 16 or the play-offs. Betis Sevilla was one of the teams to qualify directly for the last 16.
Thanks to a 2:1 win against Feyenoord Rotterdam, Ricardo Rodriguez's club finished the group stage in 4th place. The Swiss international watched the game from the bench.
SC Freiburg also remained in the top 8. With Swiss players Johan Manzambi and Bruno Ogbus in the starting eleven, the Bundesliga club lost 0:1 to Lille - Giroud scored in stoppage time thanks to a penalty. Nevertheless, Freiburg still managed to finish in 7th place.
AS Roma also came within a whisker of making it into the top eight away at Panathinaikos Athens. Despite being short-handed for a long time - defender Gianluca Mancini was sent off after a quarter of an hour - and trailing, the Romans hit back in the closing stages. Jan Ziolkowski headed home in the 80th minute to make the final score 1:1. The point was enough for 8th place.
Nottingham Forest, with Dan Ndoye in the starting eleven, also secured their place in the European competition. The result was a commanding 4:0 victory against Ferencvaros. The evening went similarly for Bologna, with the Italians and Remo Freuler winning 3-0 against Tel Aviv to qualify for the play-offs.
The draw for these will take place on Friday(live on blue Sport at 1pm) in Nyon. The teams that finished the league phase in 9th to 16th place are seeded and will face the teams ranked 17th to 24th. The teams will be grouped according to their ranking - the teams ranked ninth or tenth will face an opponent ranked 23rd or 24th, and so on. The first legs of the playoffs are scheduled for February 19, with the second legs a week later.
