UEFA Europa League

Turkey's Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş each qualified for the round of 32 knockout stage in UEFA Europa League with a match to spare in the group stages following action on Nov. 27.

Trabzonspor defeated Ukraine's Metalist Kharkiv 3-1 to advance to the next round for the second straight year.

Istanbul’s Beşiktaş seeks to guarantee a happy ending in the UEFA Europa League Group C, at a difficult away game against Asteras Tripolis in neighboring Greece. Meanwhile, Black Sea team Trabzonspor is ready for Metalist Kharkiv, also in a bid to be qualified.

Beşiktaş’ Senegalese international Demba Ba shone over the weekend with two goals against city rivals Kasımpaşa, raising the total number of his league goals this year to five. 

Beşiktaş is ready to host Nov. 6 Belgrade’s FK Partizan on match day four of the UEFA Europa League Group C, as the Serbian side hopes to forget the revenge game of a 4-0 defeat on Oct. 23, its worst European home loss to date.

BELGRADE - Partizan Belgrade lost to Turkey's Besiktas Istanbul 4-0 at home in Round 3 of the UEFA Europa League late Thursday.

It is Partizan's second defeat in the competition - they are now bottom of the group table with one draw, while Besiktas are tied with Tottenham Hotspur at the top.

BAKU - Partizan beat Neftci 2-1 in their second match in Baku on Thursday and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

Skuletic scored the first goal for Partizan in the 24th minute, then Wobay retaliated in the 58th, but Skuletic sealed the victory in the 92nd minute with his second goal.

Partizan won the first match in Belgrade as well, 3-2, bringing the total score up to 5-3.

Partizan football club bus stoned in Azerbaijan

BAKU -- Fans of FC Neftchi from Baku, Azerbaijan, have stoned a bus that was transporting the Partizan Belgrade FC players.

The incident happened late on Wednesday as the team was heading back to their hotel after a training session.

Two Turkish teams, Kardemir Karabükspor and Trabzonspor, hope to protect their advantages and cruise to the Europa League group stages tonight.

Kardemir Karabükspor plays against Saint-Etienne and Trabzonspor meets Rostov in the UEFA Europa League playoff second leg tonight.

Kardemir Karabükspor and Trabzonspor cruised to victories on a good night for Turkish clubs in the UEFA Europa League playoffs on Aug. 21.

European football’s governing body UEFA announced July 17 that no Champions League or Europa League matches could be played in Israel until further notice “for security reasons,” as it also said Ukrainian and Russian clubs will not face each other at its top annual organization.