Sporting and Braga will join FC Porto in Monday's Europa League draw. The Lisbon club came back from a goal down to beat Besiktas 3-1 at the Alvalade and book their place in the knockout stage of the competition.
Braga, who had already qualified for the next phase, finished top of Group F thanks to a goalless draw in the Netherlands against Groningen. Belenenses succumbed to a single goal defeat in Italy against Fiorentina to go out.
Lions roar back
Jorge Jesus's men looked in real danger of taking an early exit from Europe after accumulating just 4 points from their first 4 group games, especially as two of those matches had been against the weakest team in Group H, Skenderbeu. But a 4-2 victory in Moscow against Lokomotiv reignited their hopes of qualification, and in Lisbon tonight Jorge Jesus picked a full-strength team for the first time in the Europa League this season.
However, it was the visitors who created the only moments of danger in a lacklustre first half from the hosts. Sporting improved after the break, half-time substitute Gelson Martins bringing a new zest and energy to the attack as he so often does. But when Mario Gomez netted shortly before the hour mark from a typically superb "trivela" cross by Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma, it again looked like Portuguese team's European adventures would be coming to a premature end in 2015/16.
But Jorge Jesus's Sporting are made of sterner stuff. Bryan Ruiz chipped a pass into the path of Islam Slimani, who took advantage of hesitation by Besiktas goalkeeper Zengin to slot in the equaliser. Five minutes later and Sporting were ahead. Ruiz smashed a rasping angled drive inside the near post, although Zengin will again feel he should have done better.
The home fans were soon celebrating again as a quick break saw Gelson Martins slip a pass to Teo Gutiérrez, who skilfully turned his marker before slotting a firm right-foot shot into the net. The Colombian cheekily took the referee's spray to paint a picture on the pitch by way of celebration, and was duly booked for his troubles.
Sporting qualify as runners-up, meaning they will be facing one of the top seeds when the Europa League resumes in February.
Braga clinch top spot, Belenenses bow out
Braga rounded off a highly impressive campaign with a draw in Holland against Groningen, a result that was enough to see Paulo Fonseca's team finish top of Group F, ahead of Marseille. "The most important thing was to finish top of the group," said Fonseca. "The players have done something historic for this club, and it should be pointed out we finished above a team with a budget 10 times greater than ours."
Despite finishing bottom of their group, Belenenses can be proud of their efforts in their debut appearance in the Europa League group stage. Sá Pinto's side accumulated 5 points in total, and until 25 minutes from the end of their final match they were just one goal away from what would have been a sensational qualification. But Babacar's strike for Fiorentina proved the only goal of the game, and it is Paulo Sousa's Italian outfit who progress to the next round.
by Tom Kundert
