The situation, the draw and the effects after the last matches of the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
In the Champions League, winning the organization is vital to securing a home match in the second leg of the round of 16. In the Europa League, finishing in first position promises a team to skip a round of matches.
The organization’s eight winners secure a direct position in the knockout stages of the competition, while finishing in second position only gives the team a play-off against clubs that qualify for the Europa League as third in the Champions League organizations.
This season, that includes the likes of AC Milan, Benfica and Feyenoord, who came third in their respective Champions League groups.
West Ham had already advanced in their group but secured top spot with a 2-0 win over Freiburg at the London Stadium.
The German team also secured a position in the next tournament and qualified for the play-offs.
Olympiakos qualified for the Europa Conference League play-offs after beating Backa Topola in their last match of organization.
Brighton made progress in their second-to-last game in Athens, but had to beat Marseille to finish in the best way: they did so with a goal from Joao Pedro in the 89th minute.
Ajax’s victory over AEK Athens in the final qualifies them for the Europa Conference League play-offs.
Rangers achieved a historic 3-2 victory against Real Betis to win their group. At one point they were looking to qualify for the Europa Conference League play-offs, with Sparta Prague comfortably beating Aris. But a late goal from Kemar Roofe helped the Scottish side to victory.
Betis will head to the Europa Conference League play-offs, while Sparta will qualify for the Europa League play-offs for a place in the round of 16 with Rangers.
Atalanta had already clinched first place and Sporting were booked for second.
Sturm Graz propelled Rakow to third place and the Europa Conference League play-offs thanks to goal difference.
Liverpool secured first place with a 4-0 thrashing of LASK in November, but suffered a 2-1 defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise in the final game.
Toulouse secured second place on the final day by beating LASK 2-1.
Villarreal snuck into top spot at Rennes’ expense after the Yellow Submarine won 3-2 in France thanks to Dani Parejo’s late winner.
Both groups had already secured a place in the last 16 of the competition, leaving Maccabi Haifa resigned from the Conference League and Panathinaikos eliminated.
Slavia Prague secured first place against Jose Mourinho’s Roma after a 4-0 win over Servette.
Roma had to hope for a mistake in this match, even though Serie A escaped safely with a 3-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol.
After their 5-1 win over Molde, Bayer Leverkusen have six wins from six which puts them into the last 16 with ease.
Qarabag’s win over Hacken overtook Molde in second place in the standings and will participate in the play-offs.
The 8 who finished 3rd in their Champions League groups will qualify for the Europa League play-offs, where they will face one of the 8 runners-up from the Europa League groups.
The draw for the play-offs will take place on Monday 18 December at 12:00. The first legs will take place on Thursday 15 February and the matches a week later.
The eight teams entering the play-offs from the Champions League are:
Aston Villa have secured the most sensible spot in Group E, meaning they will advance to the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League.
Had Villa lost to Zrinjski on Thursday night, they would have made it through to the play-offs in February.
Aberdeen clinched third place in Group G with a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankurt in Pittodrie.
The meeting had nothing to do with the Dons already eliminated from the festival and PAOK Thessaloniki was already presented as the winner of the organization.