The European play-off round ties have come to an end, with Real Sociedad and Real Betis having competed in their respective competitions. Both clubs won the first legs of their ties away from home last weekend, so on Thursday, it was all about completing the job, and thus booking their places in the last 16.
Real Sociedad 5-2 FC Midtjylland (7-3 on aggregate)
Real Sociedad had a very eventful second leg of their Europa League play-off round tie against Danish side FC Midtjylland, but nevertheless, they are through to the last 16. They raced into a two-goal lead early on after strikes from Brais Mendez and Luka Sucic, but the visitors responded by drawing level after Adam Buksa and Dario Osorio found the net. However, Sucic netted again before half time to re-establish the lead on the night.
Dani Silva was sent off in the 70th minute for the away side, at which point La Real could afford to relax a little. Soon after, they scored from the penalty spot courtesy of Mikel Oyarzabal, and in the dying stages, substitute Orri Oskarsson found the back of the net to make it 5-2, which is how it finished at the Reale Arena. In the last 16, they will face either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur.
Real Betis 0-1 KAA Gent (3-1 on aggregate)
Real Betis had a much quieter and unsuccessful evening, but they still booked their place in the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Conference League. They failed to add to their three-goal advantage from the first leg, and late on, the visitors secured the victory on the night courtesy of Archie Brown. A few minutes before, Vitor Roque was shown a red card after a VAR review for a nasty foul on the English defender, and that means he will miss the first leg of the last 16, which will be against Chelsea or Vitoria de Guimaraes.
