Roma is eliminated undefeated, Lyon advances, and the heat of the Group of Eight rises

With a new leader and tense victories, the fifth round of the Europa League stage ended on Thursday. Lyon took advantage of Midtjylland’s defeat against Roma and became the new leader of the competition after defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv 6-0.

On the pitch, Les Gones was easily outmatched from start to finish. Brazilian Abner Vinicius opened the scoring in the first half, Tolisso increased the lead, and Nyakhate scored the fourth goal. In the second half, Tolisso scored two goals and Karabek gave the final numbers for the match.

Midtjylland remain at the top of the table, missing the surprise of their unbeaten record after losing to Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. In a difficult match, El Aynaoui opened the scoring in the first half, El Shaarawy expanded in the final phase, while Brazilian Paulinho reduced the score.

With this result, only three remained unbeaten in the competition: Freiburg, Real Betis and Ferencvaros. The team of Anthony Los Verdeblancos, the former Manchester United player, defeated Dutch club Utrecht 2-1 in La Cartuja. Colombian Cucho Hernandez opened the scoring and El Azzouli doubled the lead. On the other hand, Miguel Rodriguez expanded.

In a close match in the Czech Republic, Viktoria Plzeň drew 0-0 with Freiburg, and as a result, the German club maintained its unbeaten record. While in Türkiye, Ferencvaros drew 1-1 with Fenerbahce. Varga opened the scoring for the team led by former striker Robbie Keane, who played for Liverpool and Tottenham, and Brazilian Anderson Talisca left things as they were for the Canaries.

Those who took advantage of the missteps were Aston Villa, who finished third after their difficult victory over Swiss club Young Boys 2-1 at Villa Park. Malin scored two goals in the first half, and Montero scored for Switzerland.

In England, at the City Ground, Nottingham Forest beat Malmo 3-0, with goals from Yeats, Kalimuendo and Milinkovic. With this result, the Reds team ranks sixteenth and is approaching the Group of Eight. Another traditional team in the middle of the competition table is Celtic, which beat Feyenoord 3-1 at De Kuip Stadium. Brazil’s executioner, Ueda, opened the scoring for the home team, but Young, Hattat and Nygren switched to the Hoops, potentially bidding farewell to interim Martin O’Neill.