Europa League wrap: Juve´s late show, Atletico shocked at home

A late Vincenzo Iaquinta goal was not enough for Juventus to avoid being dumped out of the Europa League at the group stage on Wednesday.

In freezing temperatures in Poland, Juve were held to a 1-1 draw by Lech Poznan – ensuring that they will fail to progress from the group stage.

Polish side Lech Poznan claimed a terrific 3-3 draw in Italy in the Group A meeting between the pair, and the home side started well again when Artjoms Rudnevs – scorer of a hat-trick in the earlier clash – headed home a corner.

Both sides had their share of chances but neither could convert as temperatures in Poland dropped well below freezing point, with an orange coloured ball required for play in the second half due to the excessive snow covering on the pitch.

A neat ball from Milos Krasic gave Iaquinta an opening and the striker took his goal well, finishing with power on his right foot to give Juventus a chance of progression with six minutes remaining.

But despite their best efforts, Juve could not find the all-important winner and will now turn their attention to the Serie A – where they sit third.

Remarkably, Juve have drawn all five of their Europa League games and have been knocked out despite losing a game. The Italian side sits three points behind second-placed Poznan on the table, but cannot progress because of the Polish club’s away goal advantage in the two club’s head-to-head record.

In the other Group A fixture, a Mario Balotelli double fired Manchester City to a 3-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg and sealed progression for Roberto Mancini’s side.

The former Inter striker netted the game’s opener after 18 minutes before two goals in 13 second-half minutes from Balotelli and Adam Johnson wrapped up the result.

In Group B, Bayer Leverkusen will finish on top after a 1-0 away win at Rosenberg thanks to a terrific first-half strike from Sidney Sam, while Atletico Madrid and Greek side Aris will fight it out for second place.

Atletico could have progressed with a victory on Wednesday but were instead stunned by Aris, who won 3-2 in Spain.

Koke gave Aris a 10th minute lead but Atletico led just six minutes later, courtesy of goals from Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero.

But Koke was not to be denied – striking a 51st minute penalty – before Nikos Lazaridis scored with nine minutes to go to give the visitors a famous win.

A first-half goal to Anderson Polga gave Sporting Lisbon a 1-0 Group C win over Lille to hand the Portuguese side progression, while Gent’s 1-0 home triumph over Levski Sofia gives them a great chance of qualifying.

PSV Eindhoven and Metalist Kharkiv both will play in the last 32 after the pair won qualification in Group I.

A terrific 2-1 away win at Sampdoria sealed PSV’s progress in Italy, with a sensational Ola Toivonen double helping the Dutch side clinch a come-from-behind victory.

Giampaolo Pazzini gave the hosts the lead just before half-time, but Toivonen’s brace – sandwiched by a red card to Sampdoria’s Guido Marilungo – sealed their progress.

Metalist also trailed before emerging victorious in their 2-1 win over Debrecen, thanks to an Adam Bodi own goal and a Denis Oliynyk strike with just two minutes remaining.

Young Boys Bern joined Stuttgart as the sides to progress in Group H, after the Swiss side won 4-2.

Stuttgart – already qualified after they won their first four matches – made changes to their side and quickly found themselves behind when David Degen opened the scoring for Young Boys.

Quick goals to Pavel Pogrebnyak and Sven Schipplock put the Bundesliga side back in front, before three goals in the last 15 minutes to Scott Sutter and a Emmanuel Mayuka double handed Young Boys victory.

In the group’s other match, Getafe and Odense drew 1-1, meaning both sides have no chance of qualification.

Zenit St Petersburg kept their 100 percent record alive with a 3-1 win over Anderlecht in Group G while AEK Athens won by the same scoreline away at Hajduk Split.

Goals to Alexei Ionov, Alexander Bukharov and Szabolcs Huszti gave Zenit their win in a match in which they were rarely troubled, while three second-half goals in just over half an hour sealed AEK’s victory in Croatia.