Lazio have one foot in the Europa League Round of 16 after their late winner over FC Porto left them as the only team with a perfect record, but Roma are in real danger.
This is the first season with the new format of the tournament, where each team plays eight different opponents and all the results go into a single table.
The top eight go directly into the Round of 16, while those from ninth place to 24th enter a play-off phase.
The sides from 25th place to 36th are eliminated from Europe altogether.
We are now at the midway stage of the tournament after four rounds and the only club with a perfect record of 12 points is Lazio.
They fought to the bitter end for a 2-1 victory over FC Porto in stoppages, giving them a two-point cushion from the chasing pack.
More importantly, they are already five points clear of the play-off zone, so have one foot in the next round.
The others who had won the opening three were Tottenham Hotspur (who lost 3-2 to Victor Osimhen’s Galatasaray today) and RSC Anderlecht (held 1-1 by RFS in Riga).
As for Roma, they will face a battle just to secure a play-off spot and avoid automatic elimination, because they are currently in 20th place.
The Giallorossi have just one Europa League victory, 1-0 over Dynamo Kyiv, along with two stalemates and the defeat away to Elfsborg.
With just three goals scored in four games, it is not difficult to see where the problem lies for Ivan Juric’s side, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Union Saint-Gilloise in Brussels this evening.
There are some surprises, as Real Sociedad, FC Twente, Nice, PAOK and Dynamo Kyiv are all in the Europa League elimination zone.
Europa League table
| Rank | Teams | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lazio | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Ajax | 12 | 10 |
| 3 | Galatasaray | 4 | 10 |
| 4 | Frankfurt | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | Anderlecht | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | Athletic | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Tottenham | 4 | 9 |
| 8 | FCSB | 2 | 9 |
| 9 | Lyon | 4 | 7 |
| 10 | Rangers | 3 | 7 |
| 11 | Olympiacos | 2 | 7 |
| 12 | Bodø/Glimt | 1 | 7 |
| 13 | Midtjylland | 1 | 7 |
| 14 | Ferencvárosi | 3 | 6 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 2 | 6 |
| 16 | Viktoria Plzeň | 1 | 6 |
| 17 | AZ | 0 | 6 |
| 18 | Beşiktaş | -4 | 6 |
| 19 | Hoffenheim | 0 | 5 |
| 20 | Roma | 0 | 5 |
| 21 | Fenerbahçe | -1 | 5 |
| 22 | Porto | 0 | 4 |
| 23 | Slavia Praha | 0 | 4 |
| 24 | Elfsborg | -1 | 4 |
| 25 | Real Sociedad | -1 | 4 |
| 26 | Braga | -3 | 4 |
| 27 | Twente | -2 | 3 |
| 28 | Malmö | -3 | 3 |
| 29 | Qarabağ | -6 | 3 |
| 30 | Union SG | -2 | 2 |
| 31 | RFS | -4 | 2 |
| 32 | Nice | -4 | 2 |
| 33 | PAOK | -5 | 1 |
| 34 | Ludogorets | -5 | 1 |
| 35 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | -9 | 0 |
| 36 | Dynamo Kyiv | -10 | 0 |