TheSportsCampus

A host of Europe's 'next best clubs' booked a place in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League as 24 games took place on a busy Matchday 4.

Group A looks to be pretty much settled with Ajax and Anderlecht locked on 8 points with both sides coming away with easy wins. The Dutch giants beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 while Anderlecht also won by a two goal margin against Timisoara. Group F sees a similar story with Galatasaray and Panathinaikos certain to qualify with 10 and 9 points respectively. Both teams recorded away wins on Thursday night.

Group B on the other hand is one of the most competitive with Lille, Valencia and Genoa separated by just a point. Genoa scored late in injury time to beat Lille 3-2 at home while Valenc ia dropped points on the road at Slavia Praha. Group E is still very open too, FC Basel beat CSKA Sofia 3-1 to keep top spot with 9 points, while Roma moved into second place with 7 points following a 2-1 home win against 9-man Fulham. The London side are on five points and can still sneak through the back door, though they will need their more illustrious rivals to slip up for that to happen.

Group C sees Hapoel Tel Aviv almost through with 9 points following their 3-0 demolition of Rapid Wien in Austria. Hamburger SV will be favourites to join them with 7 points from 4 games despite being held to a 0-0 draw at Celtic. The Scottish giants are as good as out from the competition.

Sporting Club de Portugal also booked a ticket to the next stage by picking up the point they needed at home to Ventspils. Group D is pretty interesting though as the other three teams are all within a point of each other.

Groups G and J see Salzburg and Shakhtar Donetsk as runaway leaders respectively with 12 points each. Villarreal's 4-1 win over Lazio has brought the Spanish side level on points with the Italians in Group G with six apiece, while in Group J Club Brugge gave their qualification hopes a boost with a 4-2 win at FK Partizan.

Group H has Fenerbahce in pole position with 9 points with FC Twente close behind on 7, mathematically speaking both sides can still be caught by FC Sheriff, though it would be a shock if the Moldovan champions did progress to the next round.

Groups I and K are also poised on a knife edge. Benfica is in control in the former following their 2-0 win at Everton last night, and though the Merseyside club are in 2nd place on 6 points despite back-to-back losses, both BATE Borisov and AEK Athens are breathing down their neck with 4 points apiece. Group H is just as thrilling with PSV Eindhoven a point ahead of Sparta Praha with 8 and 7 points respectively, but neither FC Kobenhavn nor CFR Cluj have given up the chase with just marginally off the pace.

Finally (and yes we mean finally), Group L sees Werder Bremen through to the next stage with 10 points following a comfortable 2-0 win against Austria Wien. Athletic Club Bilbao with 7 points should join Bremen in the round of 32. Bilbao have a 5 point cushion over the other two teams in the group.

Thursday's Scores:

RSC Anderlecht 3-1 FC TimiÅŸoara
NK Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 AFC Ajax
SK Slavia Praha 2-2 Valencia CF
Genoa CFC 3-2 LOSC Lille Métropole
Hamburger SV 0-0 Celtic FC
SK Rapid Wien 0-3 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
Sporting Clube de Portugal 1-1 FK
SC Heerenveen 2-3 Hertha BSC Berlin
AS Roma 2-1 Fulham FC
FC Basel 1893 3-1 PFC CSKA Sofia
FC Dinamo 1948 BucureÅŸti 0-3 Galatasaray AÅž
SK Sturm Graz 0-1 Panathinaikos FC
PFC Levski Sofia 0-1 FC Salzburg
Villarreal CF 4-1 S.S. Lazio
FC Twente 2-1 FC Sheriff
Fenerbahçe SK 3-1 FC Steaua Bucureşti
AEK Athens FC 2-2 FC BATE Borisov
Everton 0-2 SL Benfica
Toulouse FC 0-2 FC Shakhtar Donetsk
FK Partizan 2-4 Club Brugge KV
FC København 1-1 PSV Eindhoven
CFR 1907 Cluj 2-3 AC Sparta Praha
Werder Bremen 2-0 FK Austria Wien
CD Nacional 1-1 Athletic Club

File Photograph Copyright: Barry Zee