Real Sociedad had everything in favor to tie its classification for the next phase or to at least leave it quite on track, because to seal the advance pass it also depended on third parties.
But what happened was that
Imanol Alguacil's men
got into a big mess that threatens to expel them from the Europa League early.
They had to win in Anoeta against a very inferior opponent who was already mathematically eliminated - because until this Thursday they had not added a point - and they did not succeed.
They could not get past the tie against Croatian Rijeka and neither the result between AZ and Napoli - another tie - favored them.
And now he has a devilish ballot for the last day.
Because he has to go to San Paolo to face a Naples that is not yet mathematically classified, while AZ visits the eliminated Rijeka.
The victory in southern Italy would serve the Spanish team and also achieve the same result as the Dutch, since the
average
favors Real in the event of a tie on points, which is the situation with which they reach the final match.
Not winning against Rijeka prevented them from enjoying an idyllic setting, in which a draw next Thursday in San Paolo could have been enough for both Napoli and Real to advance to the round.
But the Donostiarras lacked again the point of finesse they had had in the first weeks of competition.
Also the defensive solidity, a new and important characteristic of their own that they had incorporated with respect to the last year.
Rijeka went ahead up to two times, always forcing the Alguacil's men to row against the current against an opponent blatantly locked behind.
They had endless chances, more than enough to take all three points, but the Croatian team defended themselves perfectly despite the fact that they had nothing at stake, frustrating the aspirations of the
Txuriurdin
team
.
Villarreal, first in group
Nor was it a good night for
Granada
, another team that seems to have lost steam over the weeks, but Omonia Nicosia threw a cable by beating PAOK and allowed them to tie their classification despite losing in Los Cármenes against PSV, thanks to a goal from Malen.
With the victory, the Dutch also qualify and it will be the last day that determines who does it as first in the group.
Those of Diego Martínez will enjoy a point of advantage in that fight.
But the important thing, the classification, is already done.
The
Villarreal
, meanwhile, managed to
leave everything resolved during his visit to the Sivasspor and will be the only Spanish with nothing at stake on Thursday.
With their victory, Emery's men are guaranteed the classification as group winners, so they will be able to reserve troops next week at home against Qarabag.
A goal from Chukwueze in the final quarter of an hour declined the result against an opponent who gave the Spanish team a lot of war despite the fact that because of the covid-19 they could only have 15 players in their call.
The Turks will play the pass against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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