Rubin Kazan, down to 10 men after 13 minutes, held on for a 1-1 draw at PAOK Salonika to qualify at the expense of last season's Champions League quarterfinalists Tottenham Hotspur. The under-strength English Premier League side, with only three outfield players on the bench, won 4-0 at Shamrock Rovers but finished third in Group A, one point behind the Russians.
Udinese's Antonio Di Natale volleyed an equaliser in first half stoppage time to give the Italians the point they needed at home to Celtic who had taken the lead through Gary Hooper. The 1-1 draw left Udinese second in Group I behind Atletico Madrid. Bruges also went through with a 1-1 home draw versus last year's Europa League finalists Braga, who played most of the Group H match with 10 men, as did Dutch league leaders Alkmaar by the same scoreline against Metalist Kharkiv in Group G.
Bjorn Vleminckx opened the scoring for Bruges just after the break against a Braga side who had defender Elderson sent off in the 16th minute for a trip on Vadis Odjidja but the Portuguese outfit equalised with a fine strike from Ewerton in the 65th.
English Championship (second division) side Birmingham City beat Maribor 1-0 but finished a point behind group winners Bruges and Braga who had already qualified. Alkmaar's Adam Maher equalised seconds after Metalist went ahead late in the first half through Marko Devic and the point kept the Dutch side in second place just above Austria Vienna, who beat visitors Malmo 2-0, on goal difference.
The draw for the round of 32 will be held on Friday.
Tottenham needed a win combined with a defeat for Rubin and had to make up a difference of five goals to qualify and, although it looked impossible to start with, it was on the cards at the break in the respective games. "At halftime we knew that the other team (Rubin) were losing and thought we had a real chance," Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told ‘ITV4’.
Round of 32 draw (first legs to be played Feb 16, second legs Feb 23): Porto vs Manchester City; Ajax Amsterdam vs Manchester United; Lokomotiv Moscow vs Athletic Bilbao; Salzburg vs Metalist Kharkiv; Stoke City vs Valencia; Rubin Kazan vs Olympiakos Piraeus; AZ Alkmaar vs Anderlecht; Lazio vs Atletico Madrid; Steaua Bucharest vs Twente Enschede; Viktoria Plzen vs Schalke 04; Wisla Krakow vs Standard Liege; Braga vs Besiktas; Udinese vs PAOK Salonika; Trabzonspor vs PSV Eindhoven; Hanover 96 vs Club Bruges; Legia Warsaw vs Sporting.