PARIS: A 4-2 win at home against Greek side PAOK secured Olympique Lyonnais a top finish in the Europa League standings as Italian side AS Roma scraped into eighth place and direct passage to the last 16 on the final league phase matchday on Thursday.

Despite conceding an early goal, Lyon were seemingly in control after PAOKs Giannis Konstantelias was sent off just before the break, with a late surge ensuring top spot.

Aston Villa finished second on goal difference after recovering from two goals down to beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured.

Villa looked to be sliding to just a second defeat in Europe this campaign when Salzburg surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham through goals from Karim Konate and Moussa Yeo.

Morgan Rogers reduced the deficit and Tyrone Mings headed Villa level, with 19-year-old Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba netting his first senior goal to complete the turnaround for Unai Emery’s men.

“It’s a proud moment for me on my European debut,” Jimoh-Aloba told TNT Sports. “It’s just really nice to make my family proud and stuff because of all the hard work. I’ve had a lot of lows this season and a lot of highs, but this is top.”

Villa, who sit third in the Premier League, will get a welcome break before the last 16 — where they could meet Lille, PAOK, Red Star Belgrade or Celta Vigo.

Emery has won the Europa Lea­gue a record four times as a manager and Rogers believes that is a considerable advantage for Villa.

“He knows how to get his way through a competition, especially this one. To have him in our corner guiding us through it is going to be massive,” said Rogers.

Like in the Champions League, the top eight finishers advance automatically to the last 16. The teams placed from nine to 24 enter a two-leg playoff.

Denmark’s FC Midtjylland secured third place, two points back of Lyon and Villa, with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Real Betis sealed fourth place with a 2-1 win over eliminated Feyenoord and took the lead inside 17 minutes after a breathless opening in which both sides had chances. Brazilian Antony curled in a shot from 25 yards.

It was 2-0 in the 32nd minute when Antony’s cross was headed into the corner by Abde Ezzalzouli. It already looked a long way back for Feyenoord, though Casper Tengstedt halved the deficit after Betis took their foot off the pedal in the second half.

Fighting to remain in the top eight, FC Porto conceded a sucker-punch goal to Rangers in the sixth minute but they bounced back with three goals before the break to grab a 3-1 win and fifth place in the table, just ahead of fellow Portuguese side Braga and German side Freiburg.

For Rangers the campaign came to a disappointing end as they finished 32nd out of 36.

Braga drew 0-0 at Go Ahead Ea­g­les, and 10-man Freiburg slip­p­ed to seventh with a 1-0 loss at Lille.

The biggest thriller of the night came when Roma suffered a blow early at Panathinaikos after Gianluca Mancini was sent off in the 15th minute for bringing down Milos Pantovic as the last defender.

The Greek side made the most of their numerical advantage with Vicente Taborda scoring just before the hour mark, but a goal from Jan Ziolkowski 10 minutes before time secured the Italian side a spot in the top eight.

FOREST, CELTIC INTO PLAY-OFFS

Nottingham Forest made it thro­ugh to the playoff phase after a 4-0 victory at home against Ferencvaros.

Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way.

Sean Dyche’s side did their bit as Igor Jesus struck twice for Forest after Ferencvaros defender Bence Otvos scored an own goal. James McAtee tucked away a late penalty, but the win was only enough for the Premier League club to finish 13th overall.

“It has not been easy through various games, the schedule, planning, travelling and all that sort of stuff. To come out of a disappointing one in Braga [1-0 loss last week] and then to deliver that I am very pleased,” Dyche told TNT Sports.

There was no luck for the Dutch sides as Utrecht, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles were all eliminated in what became a last-second thriller to get the last unseeded playoff phase spots.

Swiss side Young Boys conceded a goal in the 90th minute that cost them their chance to advance as they lost 3-2 to VfB Stuttgart, forcing them into 25th spot and bringing their European adventure to an end. SK Brann clinched the last spot despite a 1-0 loss at Sturm Graz.

In Scotland, Benjamin Nygren gave Celtic an early lead and then forced an own goal minutes later to give his side a good start, but there were some nervy moments for the Scottish side before they eventually secured a 4-2 win over Utrecht that had them finish 21st.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2026