Exciting Thursday in the Europa League

Bet Brothers Football
Exciting Thursday in the Europa League
newsJanuary 28, 2026By: Antxon Pascual

Exciting Thursday in the Europa League

Eighteen matches will be played simultaneously on Thursday night to determine which teams finish in the top eight, which teams must play in the play-offs, and which teams will be eliminated from the Europa League.

The Europa League group stage will be decided on Thursday night, with the final matchday determining the last six teams to qualify directly for the round of 16 and secure a home leg in the second leg. The only teams already qualified are Olympique Lyonnais and Aston Villa.

Ten teams separated by four points will battle it out for a direct ticket to the round of 16, including clubs such as Roma, Real Betis and Porto, among others. The vast majority depend on themselves, as whether or not they make it into the top eight may be decided by goal difference. Furthermore, there are no direct duels. Everyone's goal is clear: to win and do so with as big an advantage as possible.

19 qualified and 6 eliminated

Another of the night's highlights will be seeing which teams manage to finish in the top 16 to play the second leg of the play-off round prior to the round of 16 at home. It is significant that 19 teams have secured their place in the Europa League, and it is almost 20 considering that Dinamo Zagreb has a 99% chance of finishing in the top 24.

Thus, one of the most interesting aspects of this final matchday of the Europa League group stage will be to see which teams are eliminated. Only six are out of contention:

  • Sturm Graz
  • Glasgow Rangers
  • Nice
  • Utrecht
  • Malmö
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Eleven teams, including Lille, Celtic Glasgow and Feyenoord, are separated by four points. Five will advance and six will join the other six already eliminated to watch the knockout stages on television.

Leagues mentioned in this article

Europa League

Europa League

Season 2025/2026

Current Round:8 / 8
24-0929-01

Teams mentioned in this article

Celta

Celta de Vigo

Spain
Stadium: Abanca Balaídos (Vigo) Capacity: 28,700
Coach: Claudio Giráldez
Real Betis

Real Betis

Spain
Stadium: Benito Villamarín (Sevilla) Capacity: 60,721
Coach: Manuel Pellegrini
Aston Villa

Aston Villa Football Club

England
Stadium: Villa Park (Birmingham, Inglaterra) Capacity: 42,788
Coach: Unai Emery
Freiburg

SC Freiburg

Germany
Stadium: Europa-Park Stadion (Freiburg) Capacity: 24,000
Coach: Julian Schuster
Olympique Lyon

Olympique Lyon

France
Stadium: Groupama Stadium (Lyon) Capacity: 59,168
Coach: Paulo Fonseca
Porto

FC Porto

Portugal
Stadium: Estádio Do Dragão (Oporto) Capacity: 50,948
Coach: Francesco Farioli
Sporting Braga

SC Braga

Portugal
Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Braga (Braga) Capacity: 30,286
Coach: Carlos Vicens
Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest

England
Stadium: The City Ground (Nottingham) Capacity: 30,576
Coach: Sean Dyche
Roma

AS Roma

Italy
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico di Roma (Roma) Capacity: 70,634
Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini
Celtic

Celtic FC

SS
Stadium: Celtic Park (Glasgow) Capacity: 60,005
Coach: Martin O'Neill
Rangers

Rangers FC

SS
Stadium: Ibrox Stadium (Glasgow) Capacity: 51,000
Coach: Danny Röhl
Bologna

Bologna Football Club 1909 S.p.A.

Italy
Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara (Bolonia, Italia) Capacity: 36,532
Coach: Vincenzo Italiano
Panathinaikos

Panathinaikos FC

GR
Stadium: Apostolos Nikolaidis Capacity: 16,003
Coach: Rafa Benítez
Feyenoord

Feyenoord Rotterdam

Netherlands
Stadium: Stadion Feijenoord (Rótterdam) Capacity: 51,777
Coach: Robin van Persie
Midtjylland

FC Midtjylland

DK
Stadium: MCH Arena (Herning) Capacity: 12,000
Coach: Mike Tullberg
Nice

OGC Nice

France
Stadium: Allianz Riviera (Nice) Capacity: 35,624
Coach: Claude Puel