Back to BlogPublished 2026-08-27

Beşiktaş Are In, Trabzonspor Are Out: the Europa League Play-off Round Is Over

Twelve ties, all decided on the same Thursday night, and the Europa League league phase is full. Two of them went to extra time, one of those after a three-goal first-leg deficit had been overturned. Beşiktaş are in and Trabzonspor are out. And the twelve clubs who lost are not going home — they drop into the Conference League league phase instead.

Cover card: Beşiktaş in, Trabzonspor out, twelve ties done. Widest aggregate Lech Poznań 9-2, best comeback Plzeň from 3-0 down, Türkiye left with three clubs in Europe, twelve losers dropping to the Conference League. — One night settled the whole round.

12ties decided in one night

9-2the widest aggregate, Lech Poznań

5-4Plzeň, after losing the first leg 3-0

12losers dropping to the Conference League

All twelve ties

Table card listing all twelve play-off aggregates, winner first: Lech Poznań 9-2 Thun, Anderlecht 6-0 Kairat, Jagiellonia 6-1 Iberia 1999, Benfica 6-2 AGF, Ferencváros 5-0 Trabzonspor, OFI 5-0 CSKA Sofia, Plzeň 5-4 Red Star, Salzburg 4-0 Mjällby, Omonia 4-3 Sint-Truiden, Beşiktaş 3-1 Kauno Žalgiris, Ararat-Armenia 2-1 Universitatea Craiova, Lillestrøm 2-1 Egnatia. — Four of the twelve were decided by a single goal or less.

Lech Poznań9-2FC Thun

Anderlecht6-0Kairat Almaty

Jagiellonia Białystok6-1Iberia 1999 Tbilisi

Benfica6-2AGF Aarhus

Ferencváros5-0Trabzonspor

OFI Heraklion5-0CSKA Sofia

Viktoria Plzeň5-4Red Star Belgrade

Salzburg4-0Mjällby AIF

Omonia Nicosia4-3K. Sint-Truidense VV

Beşiktaş3-1Kauno Žalgiris

Ararat-Armenia2-1Universitatea Craiova

Lillestrøm SK2-1Egnatia Rrogozhinë

Aggregate scores over two legs. The winner is listed first.

Plzeň were three goals down

Red Star Belgrade won the first leg 3-0 at home. That is normally the end of a tie. Viktoria Plzeň then won the return 5-1 after extra time — five goals against a side that had conceded none a week earlier — and went through 5-4. It is the sort of night that decides a country coefficient as much as a club’s season: Czechia had Slavia in the Champions League already, and Plzeň keep a second Czech club in the Europa League rather than the Conference League.

Beşiktaş through, Trabzonspor gone

Beşiktaş took a 3-0 lead to Kaunas and lost the second leg 1-0, which was enough to go through 3-1 but ended the run this site wrote about a week ago: six European matches without conceding, finished by a goal in a tie they had already won. Trabzonspor’s night was simpler and worse — beaten 1-0 in Trabzon, then 4-0 in Budapest, out 5-0 on aggregate to Ferencváros. Türkiye ends the qualifying rounds with three clubs still in Europe: Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe in the Champions League, Beşiktaş in the Europa League.

Bar chart of goals scored by each qualified club across both legs: Lech Poznań 9, Anderlecht 6, Jagiellonia 6, Benfica 6, Plzeň 5, Ferencváros 5, OFI 5, Salzburg 4, Omonia 4, Beşiktaş 3, Ararat-Armenia 2, Lillestrøm 2. — Plzeň scored five of theirs in one night, after extra time.

Losing here is not elimination

This is the part of the system that confuses people every August. The twelve clubs beaten in this round do not leave European football — they enter the Conference League league phase. Red Star Belgrade, Trabzonspor, CSKA Sofia, Kairat, Thun, Sint-Truiden, Mjällby, AGF, Kauno Žalgiris, Iberia 1999, Egnatia and Universitatea Craiova all still have eight matches to play, and every point they take there still counts towards their country’s coefficient. A tie lost in the Europa League play-off is a demotion, not an exit.

All twelve aggregates verified against UEFA match reports, 28 August 2026. Live in-play scores were not used as a source for any final result.