The most impressive performance of the day came from Belgian club Genk, who won 5-1 away to Lech Poznan. It took the visitors 10 minutes to find the opening goal through midfielder Patrik Hrosovsky. Less than 10 minutes later, Filip Jagiello expertly finished off an attack to level the score.
From there, it went downhill for Lech. Just six minutes later, they fell behind again. Hrosovsky was the benefactor once more, as he was played in by Jarne Steuckers. Captain Bryan Heynen made it 3-1 shortly past the half hour mark. Oh Hyeon-Gyu tried to make it four from the spot, but the hosts' goalkeeper Bartosz Mrozek outsmarted his opponent, staying in the middle of his goal to deny the South Korean striker.
However, Mrozek was beaten by Hyeon-Gyu moments later, as the 24-year-old finished off another Genk attack to make it 4-1. The match was all but settled a few minutes into the second half as Michal Gurgul, who came on as a half-time substitute, put the ball in his own goal.
There were two other sides who managed four-goal wins. FC Midtjylland scored twice in each half to top KuPS 4-0. The Danes are now unbeaten in their last nine home games in qualifying. Sporting Braga also won 4-0, beating Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps. Rodrigo Zalazar scored once per half to all but send the Europa League regulars to the competition's league phase.
Jonas Torsvik completed an SK Brann comeback with a 90th minute winner to give them a narrow 2-1 advantage versus AEK Larnaca. North Macedonia's Shkendija and Panathinaikos also won 2-1 on Thursday despite conceding the opening goal. The former stunned Ludogorets, while the latter scored twice in eight minutes to get past Samsunspor.
The only game on Thursday to end drawn came in Scotland, as Aberdeen and FCSB played to a 2-2 stalemate. Daniel Birligea gave the Romanians a 32nd minute lead, but things suddenly got complicated for them seven minutes later as Juri Cisotti earned a red card for a dangerous challenge.
That did not stop the guests from adding a second right after the restart through Darius Olaru. Aberdeen, who have never featured in the Europa League proper under its current guise, roared back after that. Dante Polvara grabbed one back an hour in, before Ester Sokler tied things up in the 90th minute to give the Scottish Cup winners a draw.
Malmo impressed in their clash, as a Sead Haksabanovic first half brace coupled with a Lasser Johnsen penalty late on saw them get past Sigma Olomouc 3-0. Elsewhere, Dutch side Utrecht picked up a 2-0 success at Zrinjski. Young Boys were the only other away winner on the night, as Chris Bedia's 15th minute winner was enough to see them past Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava 1-0.
In a match of several opportunities, it was Rijeka who came out on top with a 1-0 defeat of PAOK at home. It was the Croatian champs' maiden win over Greek opposition in Europe at the seventh time of asking. Luka Menalo scored the only goal of the game six minutes before the break.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have a first leg advantage as well thanks to a 3-1 success over Dynamo Kyiv. The game changed in the 49th minute when Kostiyantin Vivcharenko was given his marching orders. The Israeli side scored twice after that to take a lead with them going into next week's decider.
Next Thursday will have 11 of the 12 second legs, as AEK Larnaca hosts Brann on Wednesday. The winning teams will be in the Europa League's league phase draw the day after, joining 17 sides already in the round, plus the losing sides from the Champions League playoff stage.
Follow the UEFA Europa League playoff round matches on Flashscore.