Benfica and Bournemouth remain the leading teams in the Europa League after Thursday's fourth round of league-phase fixtures, with both clubs maintaining their perfect records.

The two sides have collected maximum points from their opening four matches, although Benfica occupy first place with a superior goal difference of +10 compared to Bournemouth's +9.

Ferencváros are third with 12 points after extending their winning run with a 2-0 away victory against AC Milan.

Union Saint-Gilloise occupy fourth place on 10 points, ahead of Juventus and Olympiakos, who also have 10 points.

Bayer Leverkusen remain seventh despite suffering a 1-0 home defeat against Marseille.

Beşiktaş complete the top eight with seven points following their 3-2 loss to Celtic.

Dinamo Zagreb moved into ninth place after defeating Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.

They have seven points, level with Levski Sofia, who occupy 10th position.

Sunderland dropped to 11th following their first defeat in the competition.

They have seven points from four matches, the same tally as NEC Nijmegen and Olympique Lyonnais, who occupy 12th and 13th positions respectively.

Crystal Palace are 21st with five points after drawing 1-1 against Hoffenheim.

The London club have recorded one victory, two draws and one defeat.

Sparta Prague and Hoffenheim occupy 22nd and 23rd positions respectively, with four points each. Their defeats and draws on Thursday leave both sides outside the top 24.

Under the Europa League league-phase format, the top eight teams qualify automatically for the round of 16, while clubs finishing between ninth and 24th enter the knockout play-offs.

With four matches remaining, the battle for automatic qualification and places in the knockout play-offs remains open.

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