In the knockout stage of the 2013-2014 Europa League or the round of 32 as some refer to it, we have four teams with a Champions League title in their past – Ajax from the Netherlands, Juventus from Italy, Benfica and Porto from Portugal, all dropouts of the Champions League group stage.
We have four teams from Italy and Ukraine; three teams from Spain; two teams from England, Russia, Netherlands and Czech Reuplic; Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Turkey, Swizterland, Denmark, Slovenia, Israel and Greece each send one team to the next stage.
Ajax
The Dutch champions almost made it out but eventually finished behind Barcelona and AC Milan. Lasse Schöne led the team in scoring with two goals. At the moment they are second in the Dutch league.
Anzhi Makhachkala
Doing terribly in the Russian Premier League (dead last) due to the financial cut backs, but finished behind Tottenham yet ahead of Sheriff and Tromso to make it through. Four different players scored the four goals for the side.
AZ
The Dutch team finished first in a group that included PAOK, Maccabi Haifa and Shakhter Karagandi. Johann Berg Guðmundsson led the scoring with three goals. At the moment they’re sixth in the Dutch league.
Basel
The Swiss champions and league leaders finished behind Chelsea and Schalke in their group stage. Egyptian star Mohamed Salah led the team in scoring with two goals.
Benfica
Finished third behind PSG and Olympiacos. No player scored more than one goal for them as they missed out the next stage due to a head to head record. They’re third at the moment in Portugal.
Chornomorets Odesa
The Ukrainians finished behind Ludogorets and ahead of PSV and Dinamo Zagreb. Oleksiy Antonov and Franck Dja Djédjé led the team with two goals each. At the moment, the team is in fifth place in the Ukraine.
Dnipro
Finished behind Fiorentina and ahead of Pacos and Pandurii. Yevhen Konoplianka was the team’s leading scorer with three goals. The team are currently fourth in the Ukraine.
Dynamo Kyiv
The Ukrainian slipping giants finished second behind Genk yet ahead of Rapid Wien and Thun. Andriy Yarmolenko led the team with 4 goals during the group stage. They’re currently in second place in the Ukraine, behind Shakhtar.
Esbjerg
The Danish side finished behind Salzburg yet ahead of Elfsborg and Standard Liege. Mick van Buren led the team with three goals during the group stage. They are only 11th at the moment in the Danish league.
Fiorentina
One of the favorites to win the competition at the moment, the Italians finished first, ahead of Dnipro, Pacos and Pandurii. Matos, with three goals, was the team’s top scorer. At the moment they are fifth in the Serie A.
Frankfurt
Finished first in a a group that included Maccabi Tel Aviv, APOEL and Bordeaux. Vaclav Kadlec, Srdan Lakic and Alexander Meier each scored two goals to lead the team. At the moment they are a very disappointing 15th in the Bundesliga.
Genk
Finished undefeated, on top of a group that included Dynamo Kyiv, Rapid Wien and Thun. Julien Gorius and Jele Vossen each scored three goals for the team. They are currently fifth in the Belgian league.
Juventus
The Italian champions and league leaders in the Serie A finished third in a group behind Real Madrid and Galatasaray. Arturo Vidal, with four goals, led the team in scoring.
Lazio
The Italian side finished behind Trabzonspor but ahead of Legia Warsaw and Apollon Limassol. Sergio Floccari, with four goals, was their top scorer. They are only 12th at the moment in the Serie A.
Ludogorets Razgrad
The surprising Bulgarian side finished first in their group, ahead of Odesa, PSV and Dinamo Zagreb. Roman Bezjak, with four goals, was the team’s top scorer through the group stage. The team is currently in second place in Bulgaria.
Lyon
Having a terrible season in Ligue 1 (only 10th at the moment) didn’t stop them from finishing first in their group, ahead of Betis, Guimaraes and Rijeka. Bafetimbi Gomis, scoring two goals, was their top scorer in the competition.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
The Israeli team finished second behind Frankfurt but ahead of APOEL and Bordeaux. Eran Zahavi and Barak Yitzhaki led the team with three goals each. They’re also in the lead of the Israeli league at the moment.
Maribor
The Slovenian team become the first ever side from the country to make it into a knockout stage after the groups, finishing second behind Rubin Kazan and ahead of Waregem and Wigan. Dejan Mezga led the team with three goals. They are currently leading the league in Slovenia.
Napoli
Were unlucky to finish with 12 points and still not make it out of the group, finishing behind Dortmund and Arsenal. At the moment they are third in Italy, with Gonzalo Higuain leading them scoring four goals in the group stage.
PAOK
Currently second in Greece, PAOK finished behind AZ and ahead of Maccabi Haifa and Shakhter Karagandy in the group stage. Dimitrios Salpingidis led the team with two goals.
Porto
Only second right now in the Portuguese league, finishing third in the Champions League behind Atletico Madrid and Zenit. Lucho Gonzalez and Jackson Martinez each scored twice to lead the team in scoring.
Real Betis
Not the best of group stage campaigns, but Betis make it through, finishing behind Lyon and ahead of Vitória de Guimarães and Rijeka. They scored only three goals in six matches, but conceded only twice. In the league, they’re doing horribly, ranked dead last with only 10 points in 15 matches.
Red Bull Salzburg
The Austrian team finished first in their group with a perfect 6-of-6 in their campaign, ahead of Esbjerg, Elfsborg and Standard Liege. Alan and Jonathan Soriano each scored 4 goals to lead them through. They are leading with nine points difference in the Austrian league.
Rubin Kazan
The Rusian side finished first in their group, ahead of Maribor, Zulta Waregem and Wigan. Salomon Rondon, Roman Eremenko, Aleksandr Ryazantsev and Bibras Natkho each scored twice. They are only 10th at the moment in the Russian league.
Sevilla
The Group H “champions”, Sevilla finished ahead of Slovan Liberec, Freiburg and Estoril. Three players – Kevin Gameiro, Vitolo and Diego Perotti scored two goals each during the group stage. In the league, Sevilla are currently 8th.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Finished third in their Champions League group, behind Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen. Leading the league in the Ukraine, Alex Teixeira was their leading scorer with three goals.
Slovan Liberec
The Czech side finished behind Sevilla, yet ahead of Freiburg and Estoril, having Michael Rabušic and Josef Šural each score two goals for the team. They are only sixth at the moment in the Czech league.
Swansea
The Welsh side move through from second place, finishing behind Valencia and ahead of Kuban and St. Gallen. Wilfried Bony and Michu led the team with two goals each. At the moment they are 10th in the Premier League.
Tottenham
A perfect 6 for 6 for Spurs, probably the favorites to win the competition along with some of the Champions League dropouts. They finished ahead of Anzhi, Sheriff and Tromso. Jermaine Defoe led the scoring with four goals. They are 6th at the moment in the Premier League.
Trabzonspor
The Turkish side finished first in a group that included Lazio, Apollon Limassol and Legia Warsaw. Olcan Adin, scoring five goals, was their top scorer in the competition. They are only 7th at the moment in the Turkish league.
Valencia
One of the biggest names left in the competition, Valencia finished first in Group A, ahead of Swansea, Kuban and St. Gallen. Francisco Alcacer was the team’s top scorer with three goals. In the La Liga, things haven’t been going as well, with Valenica ranked only 9th so far.
Viktoria Plzen
The Czech side finished third in a group that included Bayern Munich, Manchester City and CSKA Moscow, winning only once in six matches to go through. Right now they are second in their domestic league.