Story highlights
Tottenham on the brink of Europa League elimination after a 2-1 defeat by PAOK Salonika
They need to win their final Group A match and hope PAOK beat Russians Rubin Kazan
2010 winners Atletico Madrid clinch their place in the last 32 after a 1-0 victory at Celtic
English Premier League form side Tottenham are on the brink of going out of the Europa League after Greek outfit PAOK Salonika claimed a shock 2-1 Group A victory at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham have been in superb form in recent weeks, winning nine of their last 10 league games to move up to third place in the table.
However, their European form has not been as strong, and this month’s 1-0 reverse at Rubin Kazan was followed by another defeat on Wednesday to leave Harry Redknapp’s side needing PAOK to win their last game next month in order to help Tottenham achieve qualification through to the last 32.
The visitors went ahead in the sixth minute when an unmarked Dimitris Salpingidis guided the ball home from Giorgos Georgiadis’ right-wing cross.
And PAOK doubled their lead seven minutes later when Stefanos Athanasiadis tapped home from close range after more suspect Spurs marking.
The home side pulled one back seven minutes before the break when Luka Modric scored from the penalty spot after Konstantinos Stafylidis was dismissed for handball on the line.
However, despite having a numerical advantage for the whole of the second half, Tottenham failed to find the goal they needed.
The result means PAOK are top on 11 points and have qualified for the last 32 knockout stage. Russian side Rubin Kazan are second on 10 points after thrashing Shamrock Rovers 4-1 in the other group game.
For Spurs to qualify, they will now need to win heavily at Shamrock in their final match, and hope Rubin Kazan are beaten at PAOK in the other tie.
Also through to the last 32 are 2010 winners Atletico Madrid, after the Spanish side won 1-0 at Celtic in Group I thanks to a superb long-range strike from Turkish international Arda Turan on the half-hour mark.
The other match between Rennes of France and Italians Udinese ended 0-0, a result that means Atletico have qualified with 10 points ahead of the final round of matches.
Udinese are second on eight points and they will secure their place in the knockout round if they draw at home to Celtic in their final game, with the Scottish side needing a victory to progress.
Group C is the only group where both qualifiers have now been decided, after PSV Eindhoven won 3-0 at Legia Warsaw.
That result means both sides have gone through, on 13 points and nine points respectively. Romanians Rapid Bucharest needed to beat Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home to retain any hope, but they were beaten 3-1.
Another side to reach the knockout stage is Standard Liege, who saw off Germans Hannover 2-0 to make it three wins and two draws from their five Group B matches so far.
The Belgian outfit are on 11 points, three ahead of Hannover, who need a point from their final match against Vorskla Poltava to also secure qualification.
Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkov continued their impressive run of form in the competition, thumping Austria Vienna 4-1 to secure their qualification from Group G with 13 points from their five matches.
Malmo and AZ Alkmaar drew 0-0 in the other match to leave Alkmaar needing to beat Kharkov in their final match to join their opponents in the last 32.
However, there is all to play for in Group H, with any two of three teams still able to qualify. Last year’s beaten finalists Sporting Braga beat Birmingham City 1-0, while a remarkable match in Slovenia saw Bruges of Belgium fight back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in injury time against Maribor.
That means Bruges and Braga are level on 10 points and they play each other in the final match. A draw there will see them both qualify with Birmingham, who are three points behind in third place, needing to beat Maribor in their final match and hoping the other game does not end in a draw.
There was a suprise result in the English League Cup quarterfinals, where Manchester United were beaten 2-1 at home by Championship side Crystal Palace in extra time.
That result means Palace now play fellow-second tier side Cardiff City in the semifinals, while Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City face each other in the second semifinal.