Tomorrow, Thursday, the teams that will qualify for the playoffs and the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's second-most important club tournament, will be decided. On this day, 18 matches will be played simultaneously.
The only two teams that have already secured a place in the top eight and, consequently, a ticket to the round of 16 are France's Lyon and England's Aston Villa, where Argentines Nicolás Tagliafico, Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez, and Emiliano Buendía play a very important role. Both teams, having had an excellent campaign, have accumulated 18 out of 21 possible points, although the French lead due to their superior goal difference.
A little further down, with their qualification to the round of 16 practically assured, are Germany's Freiburg, Denmark's Midtjylland, and Portugal's Sporting Braga, with 17, 16, and 16 points respectively.
The other teams that would currently be qualifying for the round of 16 are Italy's Roma, Hungary's Ferencváros, and Spain's Betis, although they must not be complacent as they are being closely followed by Portugal's Porto, Belgium's Genk, Serbia's Red Star, Greece's PAOK, Germany's Stuttgart, Spain's Celta de Vigo, and Italy's Bologna.
On the other hand, teams that will start the final matchday in the playoff qualification zone but with almost no chance of finishing in the top eight are England's Nottingham Forest, Czech Republic's Viktoria Plzeň, Turkey's Fenerbahçe, Greece's Panathinaikos, Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb, France's Lille, Norway's Brann, Switzerland's Young Boys, and Scotland's Celtic.
Finally, the teams that are out of contention entirely but still have a chance to reach the playoffs are Bulgaria's Ludogorets, Netherlands' Feyenoord, Switzerland's Basel, Austria's Red Bull Salzburg, Romania's Steaua București, and Netherlands' Go Ahead Eagles.
