Paris St Germain went out of the Europa League despite a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, losing their place to fellow big spenders Salzburg who fought back to win 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava. Dynamo Kiev were also knocked out after a squandering a two-goal lead and finishing with nine men in a 3-3 draw at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv as the evening's 12 ties produced 51 goals.
--- Paris St Germain, Dynamo Kiev eliminated
--- Fulham knocked out by last-gasp goal
A last-minute goal cost 2010 runners-up Fulham their place in a 2-2 draw at home to Odense in more drama. Lazio, Besiktas, former European champions Steaua Bucharest and Wisla Krakow reached the last 32, which will include Manchester United after their Champions League elimination last week. Salzburg and PSG finished level with 10 points from six games in Group F, the Austrian side progressing thanks to their better head-to-head record.
Bilbao, led by eccentric former Argentina and Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa, had already qualified. PSG, backed by Qatari investors, spent over 80 million euros ($107.76 million) on new players before the start of the season and their elimination is a setback for coach Antoine Kombouare after he appeared to have got back on track in Ligue 1.
Jon Aurtenetxe gave Athletic a third minute lead but Javier Pastore, the most expensive of PSG's signings, equalised and Mathieu Bodmer put them 2-1 ahead by halftime. Although David Lopez made it 2-2, an Inigo Perez own goal and a Guillaume Hoarau penalty in the last five minutes gave PSG the win which turned out to be in vain after Jakob Jantscher scored twice in Salzburg's win.
Salzburg, who have invested heavily since their take-over and subsequent re-branding by energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull in 2005, were 2-0 behind after six minutes after Milos Lacny scored twice for the Slovakian champions. However, the Austrians, who have never reached the Champions League since the take-over, were level by the 25th minute thanks to a Jantscher penalty and a strike from Leonardo.
Jantscher then sidefooted the crucial goal in the 68th minute. Kiev, two winners of the old Cup Winners' Cup, had needed a large win combined with a Besiktas defeat to qualify from Group E and the evening began promisingly as Seran Yeini's own goal and an Oleh Gusev effort put them two ahead after 17 minutes. Elran Atar and Munas Dabbur made it 3-2 for the visitors but Gusev earned Dynamo a draw.
Besiktas came from behind to beat already-qualified Stoke City 3-1. Fulham, needing a win to qualify from Group K, led 2-0 at halftime against Odense through Clint Dempsey and teenager Kerim Frei. Polish champions Wisla Krakow pipped the London side by one point with a 2-1 win over already-qualified Twente Enschede. Two goals in the last 20 minutes from Stefan Nikolic gave Steaua Bucharest, European champions in 1986, a 3-1 win over AEK Larnaca which secured them second place in Group J behind Schalke 04, whose 3-0 win at Maccabi Haifa ended the Israeli team's chances.