Thursday evening, the last day of the group stage of the Europa League, saw many Belgians in action in groups B and C, where everything remained to be played. Leicester, with Tielemans and Castagne, failed to validate their ticket for the next round against Napoli, and will play in the Conference League after the winter.
In Group C, the very Belgian duel between Naples and Leicester ended in a victory for the Neapolitans, 3-2. They quickly took the advantage in the 1st half via Ounas (4th) and Diamond (24th), but Leicester came back before half-time thanks to Evans (27th) and Dewsbury-Hall (33rd). Elmas offered himself a double (53rd) to bring the 3 points synonymous with qualifying to his own. Timothy Chestnuts and Youri Tielemans were titular for Leicester, while Dries Mertens replaced Ounas in the 63rd minute. Tielemans, back in the Foxes team after several weeks of absence due to a calf injury, gave way to Soumare in the 77th.
In the other meeting, Spartak Moscow secured 1st place by defeating Legia 0-1, with a goal of Bakaev (17th). The Legia did have the opportunity to equalize, but Pekhart missed his penalty in the dying seconds (90th + 8). Maximiliano Caufriez started for the Russians, and played the entire game on the right side of the defense.
Finally, Spartak finished 1st, tied on points with Napoli, 2nd with 10 points. Leicester fell to 3rd place after their defeat, and ended the group stage with 8 points, 2 more than Legia, permanently eliminated from any European competition. The Foxes will play in the Conference League.
In group B, Real Sociedad also validated their qualification by beating PSV, 2-0, with a brace ofOyarzabal (43rd from the penalty spot and 62nd) and a goal of Sorloth (90e+3). Adnan Januzaj was in the Basque starting XI, but was replaced by Turrientes in the 70th minute. Yorbe Vertessen, who started on the PSV bench, climbed to 68th instead of Bruma.
The other meeting of the group saw the division between Sturm Graz and Monaco, 1-1. The Austrians opened the scoring on the penalty spot thanks to Jantscher (7th), and the Monegasque response came from Volland (30e). Eliot Matazo defended the colors of AS Monaco during the 90 minutes.
Thus, Monaco finished 1st in group B with 12 points, followed by Real Sociedad, 9 points. PSV fails a length of qualification and is transferred to the round of 16 of the Conference League. Sturm Graz is last, with 2 points.
