Europa League: Six knockout spots up for grabs
Europa League: Six knockout spots up for grabs
Atletico Madrid and two-time winner Sevilla yet to make the last 32.

London: Six qualification places are up for grabs in the final round of the Europa League group stage, with defending champion Atletico Madrid and two-time winner Sevilla yet to make the last 32.

Atletico is level on points with second-place Aris in Group B ahead of its match at already-qualified Bayer Leverkusen. The holders need to better the result of the Greek side to clinch a top-two finish.

Fellow Spanish side Sevilla hosts Borussia Dortmund in a winner-takes-all match to see who joins Paris Saint-Germain in qualifying from Group J.

Napoli is another high-profile team yet to secure a place in the knockout stage of Europe's second-tier club championship. The Italian club will go through if it beats Steaua Bucharest in Group K.

Eighteen teams have already sealed progression out of their group and Atletico has left it late as it attempts to repeat its exploits of last season, when it defeated Fulham in the final in Hamburg.

Aris completed a group-stage double over Quique Sanchez Flores' side by rallying to a 3-2 win in the Spanish capital two weeks ago and therefore has a better head-to-head record. It means Atletico must finish above Aris on points to qualify and the Greek club is at home to Rosenberg, which has already been eliminated.

Atletico should benefit from Leverkusen having clinched top spot.

"What happened (against Aris) won't happen again," said Atletico striker Sergio Aguero, in reference to his side losing a 2-1 lead to slip to defeat against Aris.

Tensions are running high as Atletico's European future hangs in the balance, with Diego Forlan and Mario Suarez seen tussling during a training session on Monday.

Leverkusen will be without goalkeeper Rene Adler, who has a knee injury, so Fabian Giefer will come in as a replacement.

Sevilla, which won the competition in 2006 and 2007 when it was called the UEFA Cup, is in a slump which has seen the team lose its last four matches in the Primera Liga. Its latest defeat was a 3-1 loss at bottom side Almeria.

The Andalusian team is a point clear of Dortmund, which is nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, and needs just a draw to qualify.

"We haven't had any luck and that's been an influence inside a group whose morale is already low," coach Gregorio Manzano said.

Spain winger Jesus Navas, who hasn't played since September, trained with the team on Sunday for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery last month.

Dortmund, which lost 1-0 to Sevilla at home earlier in the group stage, gave itself a chance of progression by easing past Karpaty Lviv 3-0 last time out.

"I'm glad we have to win this game. That way, everyone knows what's at stake," coach Juergen Klopp said.

Influential midfielder Nuri Sahin has overcome groin problems and should play.

Eight other teams remain hopeful of clinching a place in the last 32.

Second place in Group C — behind Sporting Lisbon — will be settled when Gent visits Lille, which needs to win to make up a two-point deficit and get in the top two.

Dinamo Zagreb needs to beat PAOK away if it is to overtake the Greek side to second place in Group D and Napoli has a win-or-bust match at home to Steaua, which is second and two points clear of its rival.

In Group G, AEK Athens requires just a point from its home game against Zenit St. Petersburg, which is one of two teams with a perfect record after five matches, to go through.

If AEK loses, third-place Anderlecht would jump into second with a home win over Hajduk Split on Thursday because the Belgian side has a better head-to-head record.

CSKA, like Zenit, has a maximum 15 points so far and goes to Sparta Prague in search of a sixth straight victory.

Top spot in Group A is still up for grabs, with leader Manchester City visiting eliminated Juventus and Lech Poznan, which is two points back in second, at Red Bull Salzburg

Dynamo Kiev and BATE Borisov are both on 10 points ahead of their last group matches in Group E and 1988 European champion PSV Eindhoven needs only to avoid defeat at home to Metalist Kharkiv to finish top of Group I.

Eight teams — FC Twente, Benfica, Rangers, Rubin Kazan, Basel, Spartak Moscow, Ajax and Braga — will drop into the competition from the Champions League for the last-32 stage.

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