Europa League: Inter Milan, Lyon reach knockout stage

Inter Milan and Lyon were among the six teams to qualify for the Europa League's knockout stage but defending champions Atletico Madrid were made to wait after their 16-match winning run in European competition was ended.

Liverpool's qualification hopes took a dive by losing 1-0 at wealthy Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in Group A while Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani produced the best individual performance of the round, scoring all four of Napoli's goals in a 4-2 win over Dnipro to revive the Italian team's challenge in Group F.

Inter joined Rubin Kazan in progressing from Group H with two games to spare by easing past Partizan Belgrade 3-1 and Lyon ensured a top-two finish in Group I by winning 3-2 at last season's beaten finalist Athletic Bilbao, which slumped to a third defeat in four matches.

Bayer Leverkusen, Metalist Kharkiv and Hannover were the other sides to go through courtesy of victories but Atletico surprisingly lost 2-0 at Academica in Group B, for the Portuguese team's first win in Europe in 43 years.

England striker Jermain Defoe grabbed a clinical hat trick in Tottenham's 3-1 win at home to Maribor that leaves the English side second in Group J, behind Lazio after their 3-0 victory over Panathinaikos. Five teams -- Rosenborg, Rapid Vienna, Neftchi, Partizan Belgrade and Hapoel Tel-Aviv -- were eliminated in the 48-club group stage, which resumes in two weeks' time. The top two teams in each group go through, where they will be joined by the eight third-place finishers in the Champions League groups.

Inter travelled to Partizan buoyed by a 3-1 win at Juventus, which ended the Serie A leaders' 49-match unbeaten run in the league, and picked up where it left off.

Rodrigo Palacio scored twice and Fredy Guarin added Inter's third in Belgrade. Rubin beat Neftchi 1-0 to also move to 10 points and will host Inter next, a match that should determine who finishes top of the group. Lyon are the only team to have won all four of their group games after goals by Bafetimbi Gomis, Yoann Gourcuff and Alexandre Lacazette against Bilbao, which is a shadow of the side that flamboyantly swept to the final in May -- only to lose to Spanish rival Atletico.

... contd.

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