Man United into Europa League playoff round

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – Manchester United reserved their place in the UEFA Europa League knockout round playoff with a 1-0 win against Real Sociedad on Thursday.

Argentine forward Alejandro Garnacho scored the winning goal for Man United in the 17th minute at Reale Arena in San Sebastian, Spain.

Real Sociedad won Group E on goal difference, despite losing to Manchester United.

Both the Spanish club and United had 15 points after the sixth matches.

Real Sociedad qualified for the Round of 16 in the Europa League.

However, group runners-up United will play a playoff stage prior to the last 16.

Sheriff came in third with six points to qualify for the third-tier UEFA Europa Conference League. Omonoia lost all six of their matches to be eliminated.

- Europa League knockout stage format

The eight Europa League group winners directly advance to the Europa League Round of 16.

Meanwhile, the eight Europa League group runners-up will face the eight third-ranked teams of the UEFA Champions League groups in the playoff phase.

A draw on Nov. 7 will decide the pairings.

Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona, Sporting, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla and Juventus reached the Europa League from the Champions League after Wednesday's matches.

- Feyenoord, Midtjylland get out of balanced Group F

Dutch club Feyenoord and Denmark's Midtjylland were the best two sides in Group F, where all the teams finished on the same points.

After Thursday's matches, Feyenoord, Midtjylland, Italy's Lazio and Austrian club Sturm Graz had eight points each.

But Feyenoord and Midtjylland remained in the Europa League thanks to their goal differences.

Midtjylland went to the playoff stage.

Third-placed Lazio made their way to the Europa Conference League.

Separately, Freiburg and Ferencvaros secured top spots in their groups to be in the Europa League's last 16 directly.

Meanwhile, Nantes and Monaco booked their place in the playoff phase.

- Trabzonspor finish 3rd

Turkish club Trabzonspor beat Hungary's Ferencváros 1-0 at home but ended Group H in third position.

Greek midfielder Anastasios Bakasetas scored outside the area in the first half.

Trabzonspor bagged nine points to reach the Europa Conference League.

Group winners Ferencvaros had 10 points. Monaco took the same points after beating Serbia's Crvena zvezda 4-1 in France.

Crvena zvezda had six points to be eliminated.

- Results:

Midtjylland - Sturm Graz: 2-0

Feyenoord - Lazio: 1-0

Real Sociedad - Manchester United: 0-1

Sheriff - Omonoia: 1-0

Olympiacos - Nantes: 0-2

Qarabag - Freiburg: 1-1

Trabzonspor - Ferencvaros: 1-0

Monaco - Crvena zvezda: 4-1