Nottingham Forest held off a Fenerbahce fightback to qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League with a 4-2 win on aggregate despite losing Thursday’s second leg, while Celtic exited after coming up short against Stuttgart.
Vitor Pereira made a dream start as Nottingham Forest boss with a 3-0 win over Fenerbahce in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs, while Stuttgart thrashed Celtic 4-1 to ruin Martin O’Neill’s 1,000th match as a manager on Thursday.
Nottingham Forest will go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros on Thursday, while Celtic secured their place in the knockout phase with victory over Utrecht.
Aston Villa secured their place in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday with a 1-0 win at Fenerbahce, while Nottingham Forest slid to a costly defeat away to Braga.
Villa travel to Fenerbahçe knowing control may matter more than tempo in a pivotal Europa League fixture.
Aston Villa beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in the Europa League on Thursday in a match dominated by tight security measures in Birmingham with travelling fans barred over safety concerns.
Sean Dyche got off to a winning start as Nottingham Forest boss thanks to two penalties to beat Porto 2-0 in the Europa League, while Aston Villa were stunned 2-1 by Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday.
Aston Villa ended their winless run by beating Bologna 1-0 to open their Europa League campaign, while Rangers manager Russell Martin’s job was placed into peril by a 1-0 home defeat to Genk on Thursday.
Athletic Bilbao defender Yeray Alvarez has been hit with a 10-month ban after testing positive for a prohibited substance following a Europa League clash against Manchester United last season, European football’s governing body UEFA said on Monday.
Crystal Palace ground out a goalless draw at Fredrikstad in Norway on Thursday to scrape through their UEFA Conference League playoff 1-0 on aggregate.