Lazio top Europa League standings, Braga out as Fenerbache survive
Fenerbahce and Porto avoided early exits from the Europa League on Thursday, as Lazio topped the standings and Braga crashed out.
Lazio finished top of the Europa League standings despite losing 1-0 at Braga on matchday eight, with the Portuguese club eliminated on goal difference despite their victory.
Ricardo Horta's low finish in the sixth minute was the only goal of the game, with Carlos Carvahal's men needing to win and hope other results went their way.
Lazio were already all but guaranteed to top the pile, and Athletic Bilbao's 3-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen was not enough to overhaul the Biancocelesti.
Braga, meanwhile, were left cursing goal difference as they finished 25th. As it turned out, one more goal would have been enough to pip Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce to a play-off place.
The Istanbul giants led 2-1 at Midtjylland through strikes from Youssef En-Nesyri and Edin Dzeko, but Valdemar Byskov equalised for the Danish side with four minutes to play.
They could not force a winner, though, so Fenerbahce will face Bodo/Glimt or Anderlecht – who finished ninth and 10th respectively – in the play-offs.
Mourinho's former club Porto also avoided an embarrassing exit despite starting matchday eight outside the play-off places.
Nico's 58th-minute strike was enough to see them past already-eliminated Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade, earning an 18th-placed finish.
Hoffenheim and Besiktas were two high-profile casualties, with the former seeing their likely elimination confirmed by results elsewhere despite a thrilling 4-3 win at Anderlecht.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Besiktas would have made the play-offs with a win, but they were beaten 1-0 at Twente as Daan Rots hit a 76th-minute winner.
Further up the standings, Olympiacos joined Rangers in gatecrashing the top eight as they trounced Qarabag 3-0 in Piraeus, Ayoub El Kaabi grabbing a brace and being joined on the scoresheet by Giulian Biancone.
Slip-ups from Anderlecht and Bodo/Glimt – who drew 1-1 with Nice – allowed the Greek giants to finish seventh, joining Lazio, Athletic, Manchester United, Tottenham, Eintracht Frankfurt, Lyon and Rangers in skipping the play-offs.