Congrats to F91 Dudelange, who became the first club from Luxembourg to make the Europa League group stage after beating CFR Cluj of Romania both home and away. They began their campaign losing in the CLQ1 to Vidi of Hungary (who wound up reaching the CLQ4), then beat Drita (Kosovo), Legia Warsaw (Poland), and Cluj in ELQ2-4. Respectable effort for a club of their stature.
Astana beat APOEL on penalties, which isn't remarkable, but how often do penalty shootouts end 2-1? That's some not great finishing.
A couple of the top leagues lost a club today. Burnley lost to Olympiacos 4-2 on aggregate and Atalanta lost to FC Copenhagen on penalties. RB Leipzig nearly lost on away goals to Zorya Luhansk, but scored a 90th minute penalty to pull ahead.
The top ranked league to have lost all its clubs is...still Poland (#22). But in the 20-30 ranked range, Israel (#25), Romania (29), and Slovenia (30) have been knocked out too. Luxembourg (43), Hungary (33), and Slovakia (31) are the lowest ranked league still alive.
Spain (1), Germany (4), and France (5) are the only leagues that haven't lost clubs yet. England (2), Italy (3), Russia (6), Belgium (9), and Turkey (10) have only lost one. [Not that impressive for England and Italy, since only one of their seven clubs is subjected to qualifying of any type.]
The lowest ranked countries with multiple clubs still alive are Norway (24), Scotland (21), and Cyprus (18). The lowest ranked clubs with three clubs still alive are Czech Republic (17) and Greece (14).
Pots for the draw tomorrow:
Pot 1
Sevilla (ESP)
Arsenal (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Besiktas (TUR)
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Villarreal (ESP)
Anderlecht (BEL)
Lazio (ITA)
Pot 2
Sporting CP (POR)
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
FC Copenhagen (DEN)
Marseille (FRA)
Celtic (SCO)
PAOK (GRE)
AC Milan (ITA)
Genk (BEL)
Fenerbahçe (TUR)
Krasnodar (RUS)
Astana (KAZ)
Rapid Vienna (AUT)
Pot 3
Real Betis (ESP)
Qarabag (AZE)
BATE Borisov (BLR)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
RB Leipzig (GER)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Malmö (SWE)
Spartak Moscow (RUS)
Standard Liège (BEL)
Zürich (SUI)
Bordeaux (FRA)
Rennes (FRA)
Pot 4
Apollon Limassol (CYP)
Rosenborg (NOR)
Vorskla Poltava (UKR)
Slavia Prague (CZE)
Akhisarspor (TUR)
Jablonec (CZE)
AEK Larnaca (CYP)
Vidi (HUN)
Rangers (SCO)
F91 Dudelange (LUX)
Spartak Trnava (SVK)
Sarpsborg 08 (NOR)