Teenage winger Alejandro Garnacho scored his first goal for Manchester United in a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad in the Europa League but they had to settle for second place in their group Thursday.
United needed to win by at least two goals to top Group E and avoid a knockout-round playoff tie that it must now play in February against a team dropping out of the Champions League — with Ajax, Barcelona and Juventus being among the potential opponents.
Both teams were certain of a top-two finish but United needed the two-goal margin after losing to Sociedad 1-0 at Old Trafford at the start of group play. Both teams finished the group with 15 points. Moldova’s Sheriff placed third with six after a 1-0 win over Omonoia.
The beginning looked promising for the Premier League team.
The 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo released the 18-year-old Garnacho on the left before the Argentine forward burst into the box to score high into the net past goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro 17 minutes into the game as United looked in control.
But the second goal didn’t come despite in-form striker Marcus Rashford coming on as a substitute.
Only the group winners advance directly to the last 16. Those in third place drop into the third-tier Europa Conference League.
Real Betis, Union Saint-Gilloise, Freiburg and Ferencváros had already qualified to the round of 16.
In Group F, Feyenoord forward Santiago Gimenez scored the decisive goal in the 64th, a minute after coming on as a substitute, a 1-0 victory over Lazio that sealed a place in the last 16 for the Dutch club.
Anders Dreyer had a goal in each half for Denmark’s Midtjylland to beat Sturm Graz 2-0 and reach the next round from the second spot.
All four teams completed the group stage with eight points.
Late goals from Mostafa Mohamed and substitute Ludovic Blas lifted Nantes into the second place in Group G after a 2-0 away win at Olympiacos.
Leader Freiburg drew 1-1 at 10-man Qarabağ, which finished third.
Monaco had to win to advance from second place in Group H after winner Ferencváros, and forward Kevin Volland took care of it with a hat trick en route to a 4-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Istanbul Başakşehir completed the group stage of the Europa Conference League with a 3-1 win over Hearts to advance to the round of 16.
Başakşehir topped Group A with 13 points ahead of Fiorentina that won 3-0 at Latvian team RFS to finish second, also with 13 points.
Group winners in Europe’s third-tier club competition go directly to the last 16, while second-place teams face a playoff against the clubs placing third in Europa League groups.
AZ Alkmaar advanced from first place in Group E after beating second place Ukrainian Dnipro-1 2-1.
In Group F, Gent routed Molde 4-0 to advance from second.
In Group G, Sivasspor held Slavia in Prague 1-1 to make the round of 16, with Cluj joining the Turkish team from second following a 1-0 home win over Kosovo’s Ballkani.
Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava took first place in Group H, followed by Basel.
West Ham, Villarreal and Djurgården already qualified for the last 16 by winning their groups before the last round of matches.
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