Villarreal's Arnaut Danjuma (L) celebrates with teammate Alberto Moreno during their Champions League clash with Atalanta at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, December 9, 2021. /CFP
Villarreal's Arnaut Danjuma (L) celebrates with teammate Alberto Moreno during their Champions League clash with Atalanta at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, December 9, 2021. /CFP
Villarreal clinched the final place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Thursday, while Leicester failed to advance in the Europa League.
Villarreal beat Atalanta 3-2 away in a game postponed from Wednesday because of heavy snow in northern Italy.
The Spanish side only needed a draw to advance as runner-up from Group F but jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 51st minute, with Arnaut Danjuma scoring twice. Atalanta answered with goals from Duvan Zapata and substitute Ruslan Malinovskyi but it was too late to turn things around.
Atalanta finished third in the group and will enter a playoff to get into the last 16 of the second-tier Europa League, the competition Villarreal won last season.
Leicester faced a must-win game at Napoli to advance in the Europa League but lost 3-2. Spartak Moscow secured top spot of Group C with a 1-0 away victory at Legia Warsaw.
Ryan Bertrand (R) of Leicester City vies with Hirving Lozano of Napoli during their Champions League clash at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy, December 9, 2021. /CFP
Ryan Bertrand (R) of Leicester City vies with Hirving Lozano of Napoli during their Champions League clash at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy, December 9, 2021. /CFP
Also, Eintracht Frankfurt, Galatasaray and Red Star Belgrade made the next round while Bayer Leverkusen, Lyon, Monaco and West Ham had already qualified with a game to spare.
Only the eight group winners go straight into the round of 16, while the runners-up enter a playoff with the eight teams who finish in third place in the Champions League groups.
In the inaugural Europa Conference League, Jose Mourinho's Roma reached the next round after a 3-2 win at CSKA Sofia and Basel was the last to reach the round of 16.
Another big team in the competition, Tottenham, had its game against Rennes postponed after a coronavirus outbreak at the English club that would have deprived manager Antonio Conte of at least eight players who have tested positive. A new date for the match has not been announced.
AZ Alkmaar, Copenhagen, Feyenoord, Gent, LASK and Rennes had already won their groups in the third-tier competition.
The draw for the next stage is scheduled for Monday.
Source(s): AFP