UEL: Lyon finish top, Lille qualify, Nice end with defeat
The 'League Phase' of this season's Europa League concluded on Thursday, with three Ligue 1 McDonald's teams in action. We take you through the results.
Lyon 4-2 PAOK
With Endrick, who netted the first hat-trick of his career against Metz over the weekend, ineligible, it was Rémi Himbert who led the line for Lyon at the Groupama Stadium. His place in the starting XI was confirmed by Paulo Fonseca during the pre-match press conference, and it didn't take him long to make his mark.
However, OL did fall behind early and relied on his strike to level the scores. He was played down the side by Afonso Moreira, who has registered a goal contribution in each of his last home games for Lyon. But latching onto the Portuguese forward's ball through, Himbert, making just his second appearance for his formative club, had plenty to do, but cut back onto his right foot and curled into the far corner.
Ladies and gentlemen, the #UEL 2025/26 league phase leaders:
OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS 🦁☝️ pic.twitter.com/6igm25HzqU— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 29, 2026
Lyon were then given a boost when PAOK went down to 10 men just before half-time, and when Khalis Merah allowed OL to seize the lead for the first time, it looked like being easy sailing. However, the Greek side struck back and it wasn't until Adam Karabec's goal in the 88th minute that Les Gones were finally out of sight, with Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez adding a late fourth in a 4-2 win.
With Aston Villa also winning, the three points were necessary to keep OL top of the table, thus improving their chances of a favourable draw in the next round.
Lille 1-0 Freiburg
This could have been a nervy night for Lille, whose place in the play-offs was not guaranteed heading into the game at Freiburg. It was a close-run affair at the Stade-Pierre Mauroy.
LOSC headed into the game in search of their first win of 2026 and they were made to wait to secure it tonight. Ultimately, results elsewhere were always going in favour of Bruno Genesio's men, who were in search of confidence as much as the three points.
And the victory was ensured late on, aided by Maximilian Eggestein's red card for the Bundesliga side in the 74th minute. It was Olivier Giroud who got the only goal of the game, converting from the spot in the 92nd minute, after Matias Fernandez-Pardo had won the foul.
Ludogorets 1-0 OGC Nice
Nice headed into Thursday night's game in Sweden already eliminated from this season's Europa League. Last time out, they earned their first points of the competition, beating Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles at the Allianz Riviera.
But having salvaged pride thanks to that result, Claude Puel opted to rest many key players, with Sunday's Ligue 1 McDonald's game against Brest in mind. It provided a chance for academy products such as Everton, Djibril Coulibaly, and Brad-Hamilton Mantsounga to start and to impress their manager.
However, Le Gym didn't manage to add to their solitary win in this season's competition, losing thanks to Petar Stanic's first-half strike.
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