The fate of 22 teams has been decided in the final round of group-stage matches in the Europa League, on what was a mixed night for British and Irish sides.
Manchester United made certain of their place in the first knockout stage thanks to a 1-0 victory over winless minnows Zorya Luhansk in Ukraine, seeing them join Fenerbahce - triumphant over Feyenoord - in progressing out of Group A.
There was to be real disappointment for Southampton, though, who failed to pick up the result required - a goalless draw or victory - to advance out of Group K, with Hapoel Be'er Sheva escaping with a 1-1 tie at St Mary's to confirm their place in the round of 32.
Dundalk also fell just short in their aim to become the first Irish side to make it out of the group stage of a UEFA competition, going down 2-1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel to bring their season to a close, with their opponents also missing out on progression due to AZ's 3-2 win over Group D winners Zenit St Petersburg earlier in the evening.
That was Zenit's first defeat in the competition proper so far this term, while another previously perfect side in Schalke 04 also fell to a 2-0 reverse to Red Bull Salzburg in the final round of fixtures - a result that did little to change the standings as FC Krasnodar claimed second place in Group I behind the dominant Germans.
Shakhtar Donetsk are therefore the only side to go all six games without dropping a point, beating Braga 4-2 to prevent the Portuguese outfit from themselves claiming one of those two automatic berths in Group H, which instead went to Gent.
Elsewhere on Thursday evening, APOEL beat Olympiacos 2-0 in a straight shootout for top spot in Group B, but there was more excitement in Group J where Fiorentina beat Qarabag FK 2-1 and PAOK saw off Slovan Liberec 2-0 to progress from a group that had been left wide open.
All in all, 11 teams confirmed their place in the next stage of the competition this evening and 11 missed out at the final hurdle, with eight more sides now dropping down from the Champions League ahead of Monday's draw.
Matchday six results in full: Braga 2-4 Shakhtar, Konyaspor 0-1 Gent, Osmanlispor 2-0 FC Zurich, PAOK 2-0 Slovan Liberec, Qarabag FK 1-2 Fiorentina, Villarreal 2-1 Buceresti, Anderlecht 2-3 St Etienne, APOEL 2-0 Olympiacos, Astra 0-0 Roma, AZ 3-2 Zenit, Feyenoord 0-1 Fenerbahce, Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 Dundalk, Mainz 05 2-0 Gabala, Rapid Vienna 1-1 Athletic Bilbao, Viktoria Plzen 3-2 Austria Vienna, Young Boys 3-0 Astana, Luhansk 0-2 Manchester United, Inter Milan 2-1 Sparta Prague, Nice 2-1 Krasnodar, Panathonikos 0-2 Celta Vigo, Salzburg 2-0 Schalke, Southampton 1-1 Be'er Sheva, Standard Liege 1-1 Ajax
Daniel Lewis
