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After a remarkable night of drama in the Champions League on Wednesday, it’s fair to say Thursday night was a more low-key affair in the Europa League as far as qualification for the play-off round was concerned.<\/p>\n
Of the 16 teams that occupied positions nine to 24 before a ball was kicked, 14 of them sealed a place in the play-offs when the full-time whistles sounded out across the continent.<\/p>\n
The two exceptions to that trend were Porto and Young Boys.<\/p>\n
In the case of the Portuguese giants, it was in joyful circumstances as a 3-1 home win against Rangers was enough to fire them up to fifth and secure direct qualification to the last-16 stage.<\/p>\n
But it was contrasting emotions for Young Boys <\/p>\n
The Swiss side started the night in 23rd place and appeared on course for a place in the play-offs until they suffered a cruel 3-2 defeat in the last minute against Stuttgart.<\/p>\n
The loss – which came after Gerardo Seoane’s side fought from 2-0 down – saw them finish the eight-game league phase in 25th place. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Celtic <\/b>ensured they would be one of the 16 clubs in the hat for Friday’s draw as they held off a second-half fightback from Utrecht to claim a 4-2 win at Parkhead. <\/p>\n
The win moved Celtic up three positions to 21st – and sees them join fellow British side Nottingham Forest<\/b> in the play-off round.<\/p>\n
Two-time European champions Forest recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over Ferencvaros to climb to 13th in the table. <\/p>\n
Despite the win, not enough results went in their favour for them to be able to sneak automatic qualification to the knockout round.<\/p>\n
The two British clubs will be joined by Genk, Bologna, Stuttgart, Ferencvaros, Viktoria Plzen, FK Crvena Zvezda, Celta Vigo, PAOK, Lille, Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos, Ludogorets, Dinamo Zagreb and Brann.<\/p>\n
The draw for the Europa League play-off round takes place in Switzerland on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n