London: Aston Villa have qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League after a dramatic comeback victory over Salzburg. Aston Villa came from behind to beat Salzburg 3-2 and advance to the Europa League last 16.
According to Thai News Agency, in the final leg of the UEFA Europa League league round, Aston Villa from the English Premier League staged a comeback, defeating Salzburg from Austria 3-2 after trailing 0-2. Salzburg took an early 2-0 lead through Karim Konat© in the 33rd minute and Moussa Gunfolo Yeo in the 49th minute.
However, Aston Villa responded with three goals from Morgan Rogers in the 64th minute, Tyrone Mings in the 76th minute, and Jemaldine Jimoh-Aloba in the 87th minute, securing a comeback and three points. This brings their total to 21 points, level with Olympique Lyonnais, but with an inferior goal difference. Villa automatically qualified for the Round of 16 as the second-placed team in the league phase. Salzburg finished 31st with 6 points and were eliminated.
Other results in the Europa League included Celtic beating Utrecht 4-2, Steaua Bucharest drawing with Fenerbah§e 1-1, Maccabi Tel Aviv losing to Bologna 0-3, and Olympique Lyonnais defeating PAOK 4-2. Additionally, Basel lost to Viktoria Plzen 0-1, Red Star Belgrade drew with Celta Vigo 1-1, and Real Betis beat Feyenoord 2-1.
Further results saw Panathinaikos drawing with Roma 1-1, Lille beating Freiburg 1-0, Go Ahead Eagles drawing with Sporting Braga 0-0, Sturm Graz defeating Brann 1-0, and Stuttgart winning against Young Boys 3-2. Porto overcame Rangers 3-1, Genk beat Malm¶ 2-1, Nottingham Forest triumphed over Ferencv¡ros 4-0, Ludogorets edged past Nice 1-0, and Midtjylland defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2-0.
In summary, the eight teams that automatically qualified for the Round of 16 are Olympique Lyonnais, Aston Villa, Midtjylland, Real Betis, Porto, Braga, Freiburg, and Roma. The teams ranked 9th to 24th qualified for the play-offs: Genk, Bologna, Stuttgart, Ferencv¡ros, Forest, Plzen, Red Star, Celta Vigo, PAOK, Lille, Fenerbah§e, Panathinaikos, Celtic, Ludogorets, Dinamo Zagreb, and Brann.