PARIS: Roma, Athletic Bilbao, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon qualified for the knockout phase of the Europa League on Thursday.

At Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, Roma beat Basel 2-1. Benjamin Huggel headed the Swiss side into an 18th-minute lead but Roma quickly drew level via a Francesco Totti penalty.

The Serie A heavyweights went ahead when Mirko Vucinic finished a sweeping move with a low, left-footed strike just before the hour. Roma now lead Basel by a point in Group E, with Premier League representatives Fulham a point behind the Swiss side after overcoming CSKA Sofia 1-0 through Zoltan Gera’s first-half effort.

Goals in either half from Fernando Llorente and Mikel San Jose earned Bilbao a 2-0 win at Austria Vienna, taking them into the last 32 alongside Group L leaders Werder Bremen, who beat Portuguese side Nacional 4-1. An injury-time own goal from Tomas Repka gave PSV Eindhoven a 1-0 victory over Sparta Prague after a niggly match at the Philips Stadium, enabling the Dutch club to secure top spot in Group K.

FC Copenhagen moved level on seven points with Sparta by beating CFR Cluj 2-0, thereby eliminating the Romanians from the competition, and the Danish side will go through if they avoid defeat at home to Sparta in their last game. Group D leaders Sporting Lisbon needed just a point at home to Heerenveen but they had to wait until the first minute of injury time for Leonardo Grimi to cancel out Oussama Assaidi’s 47th-minute opener and secure a 1-1 draw.