Bilbao, PSV advance in Europa Cup

Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven qualified for the knockout phase of the Europa League yesterday, while Toulouse maintained their hopes of going through with a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade.

Bilbao, PSV advance in Europa Cup

Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven qualified for the knockout phase of the Europa League yesterday, while Toulouse maintained their hopes of going through with a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade.

Goals in either half from Fernando Llorente and Mikel San Jose earned Athletic a 2-0 win at Austria Vienna, taking them into the last 32 alongside Group L leaders Werder Bremen, who beat Portuguese side Nacional 4-1.

There were no away fans at Toulouse's home game with Partizan, following the death of Toulouse fan Brice Taton after an attack by rival supporters prior to the reverse fixture in Serbia in September.

The Ligue 1 side won thanks to a 54th-minute strike from Norwegian forward Daniel Braaten and moved a point behind second-placed Club Brugge in Group J.

The Belgian club drew 0-0 at already-qualified defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk and will host Toulouse in a winner-takes-all final group match.

An injury-time own goal from Tomas Repka gave PSV Eindhoven a 1-0 victory over Sparta Prague after a niggly match at the Philips Stadium, enabling the Dutch club to secure top spot in Group K.

FC Copenhagen moved level on seven points with Sparta by beating CFR Cluj 2-0, thereby eliminating the Romanians from the competition, and the Danish side will go through if they avoid defeat at home to Sparta in their last game.

Groups D, E and F were in action later on Thursday, with Sporting Lisbon looking for the point they need to qualify from Group D at home to Heerenveen and Serie A giants Roma looking to leapfrog Swiss side Basel at the top of Group E.

Everton, Benfica, Hamburg, Fenerbahce and Red Bull Salzburg all confirmed their places in the knockout phase on Wednesday.

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