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Lucky 13 seal their knockout phase spots

There were 13 clubs to qualify on UEFA Europa League matchday five as Levante UD and KRC Genk took historic steps while holders Club Atlético de Madrid also made it through.

It was a case of lucky for some on matchday five as 13 clubs qualified for the round of 32 to join the six already through.

FC Anji Makhachkala were the first of the teams to qualify on Thursday, Christopher Samba and Samuel Eto'o scoring second-half goals to help them past visiting Udinese Calcio, for whom defeat meant elimination. Group A's other qualifying spot will be between Liverpool FC and BSC Young Boys, who drew 2-2 at Anfield.

Fenerbahçe SK were on the brink of qualification after their work over the first four matchdays, but rubber-stamped their ticket to the knockout phase with a 1-0 win at Olympique de Marseille, who bow out. VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach prevailed 2-0 at home to AEL Limassol FC to claim the other spot in the section.

For certain other sides, a point was enough to secure progress with AC Sparta Praha ending the group stage's only 100% record by drawing with already-qualified Olympique Lyonnais in Prague. Sparta will finish second in Group I, while S.S. Lazio also drew at home, 0-0 against Tottenham Hotspur FC in Group J, to gain their place in the hat. The London club now need only avoid defeat on matchday six to progress.

Holders Club Atlético de Madrid are safely into the hat after showing their matchday four defeat at A. Académica de Coimbra was a mere blip by beating Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC 1-0 at home. A 1-1 draw for FC Viktoria Plzeň at Académica helped the Czech team take the other qualification berth in Group B.

In their first European season, Levante UD made it through with a game to spare in Group L after triumphing 3-1 at Helsingborgs IF, while KRC Genk will also play in UEFA competition in the new year for the first time ever. The Belgian side won 1-0 at Videoton FC while FC Basel 1893 appear a good bet to join them from Group G after overcoming Sporting Clube de Portugal 3-0 at home.

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk continued their excellent campaign by downing PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the Netherlands to earn their passage – and knock the Dutch team out. Also in Group F, Edinson Cavani scored an added-time penalty at AIK to put SSC Napoli through.

In Group D, Newcastle United FC and FC Girondins de Bordeaux will occupy the top two places and will meet on the last matchday to decide who finishes first. The only section from which no club has yet advanced is Group E, where VfB Stuttgart strode into a 4-0 half-time lead at pacesetters FC Steaua Bucureşti. They won 5-1 in the end and FC København were victorious at Molde FK to keep all three sides in the hunt on 6 December.

Clubs in bold qualified tonight. Those that clinched their progress on matchday four are listed below:

Olympique Lyonnais
FC Rubin Kazan
FC Internazionale Milano
Hannover 96
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
FC Metalist Kharkiv

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