Europa League: Premier League Representative and Seven Other Teams Advance Through Play-offs

Nottingham Forest from the Premier League, along with seven other teams, successfully navigated the Europa League play-off round to book their places in the last 16.

The Premier League side, Nottingham Forest, held a 3-0 lead over Fenerbahce after the first leg in Turkey. However, Kerem Akturkoglu brought Fenerbahce back into contention in the play-off return leg with two goals, one in each half, the second coming from a penalty after a foul by Jair Cunha.

Callum Hudson-Odoi eased the tense atmosphere at City Ground by pulling a goal back for Forest in the 68th minute. Despite the Premier League side's 1-2 home defeat, they progressed with a 4-2 aggregate victory. Forest, who are struggling in a relegation battle under new manager Vitor Pereira, will face either Real Betis or the Danish side Midtjylland in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Celtic exited the Europa Conference League after a 2-4 aggregate defeat to Stuttgart, despite securing a 1-0 away win in the play-off second leg.

Last week's 1-4 home defeat in Glasgow left Martin O'Neill's team with a difficult task. They made an ideal start in the return leg when Luke McCowan scored in the very first minute.

However, Celtic failed to create further breakthroughs and had to settle for their first-ever club victory on German soil. Meanwhile, Stuttgart secured their place in the round of 16 and will face either Porto or Braga in the next round.

The French club Lille overcame Red Star Belgrade after extra time in Serbia. Former French international striker Olivier Giroud equalized early in Belgrade after Lille's 0-1 home loss in the first leg last week. Nathan Ngoy scored the decisive goal in extra time. Lille won the second leg 2-0 after losing the first leg 0-1. In the round of 16, Lille will face either Aston Villa or Lyon.

Panathinaikos needed a penalty shootout to overcome Viktoria Plzen. The two sides drew 1-1 in the Czech Republic, resulting in a 3-3 aggregate score. The Greek representatives then won 4-3 on penalties. In the next round, they will face either Midtjylland or Real Betis.

Celta Vigo secured their progression with a 1-0 victory over PAOK thanks to a goal from Williot Swetberg, winning 3-1 on aggregate over the two legs. In the next round, Celta Vigo will face either Lyon or Aston Villa.

Ludogorets Razgrad lost 0-2 to Ferencvaros in the second leg. With this result, Ferencvaros advanced with a 3-2 aggregate score and will face either Porto or Braga in the round of 16.

The Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb drew 3-3 with Genk after 120 minutes. Genk ultimately progressed with a 6-4 aggregate score. They will face either SC Freiburg or Roma in the round of 16.

The Italian representative, Bologna, won 1-0 against Brann in the second leg, securing their place in the round of 16 with a 2-0 aggregate victory. They will face either Roma or SC Freiburg in the next round.

Match Results

Red Star Belgrade 0–2 Lille

Ferencvaros 2–0 Ludogorets

Plzen 1–2 Panathinaikos

Stuttgart 0–1 Celtic

Bologna 1–0 Brann

Celta Vigo 1–0 PAOK

Genk 3–3 Dinamo Zagreb

Nottingham Forest 1–2 Fenerbahce