Manchester United kicked off their Europa League campaign poorly, losing 0-1 at home to Real Sociedad, while Arsenal's new signing Marquinhos scored in a 2-1 win at FC Zurich on Thursday.
The 20-year-old was the fourth Indian woman footballer to sign for an overseas club when she landed a multi-year contract with Cypriot top division winners Apollon Ladies.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Rashford scores a brace as Man United fight back to beat Omonia
Thirteen teams have now qualified for the last 32 including Bayer Leverkusen, FC Zurich and Lazio who had already secured places in the next stage of the competition.
Bayern Munich cantered into the Champions League group stages after a 1-0 victory at FC Zurich on Tuesday while two goals from Giuseppe Rossi rescued Villarreal against Odense.
Arjen Robben set up the first goal and scored a superb second to give Bayern Munich a comfortable 2-0 win over FC Zurich in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Wednesday.
Denmark's Superliga to resume on May 28 says Danish League Association
Real Madrid reaped their first Champions League dividends from Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's most expensive player converted two free kicks to help his team to a 5-2 victory over FC Zurich on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's return to fitness has strengthened Real Madrid in time for their eagerly anticipated trip to face Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Sunday.
Bayern Munich, facing an early Champions League exit, revived their chances of reaching the last 16 on Wednesday as they beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 and rivals Juventus lost at Girondins Bordeaux. AC Milan missed a chance to qualify when they were held 1-1 at home by Olympique Marseille and Real Madrid produced an uninspiring 1-0 win over Swiss champions FC Zurich in the same group.
Seven-times European champions AC Milan eased some of the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti with a 3-1 UEFA Cup win at home to FC Zurich on Thursday.
Senegal showed their teeth on the opening day of qualifiers for the 2021 African Cup of Nations but other continental heavyweights struggled to find form on Wednesday.
They were joined in the second knockout round by Bayer Leverkusen, who enjoyed a 5-1 demolition of Galatasaray, and now meet league rivals Hamburg SV, who dispensed with FC Zurich. Werder Bremen cruised through 4-0 on aggregate against Braga.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord and Tottenham Hotspur came through testing away ties on Thursday to progress to the group stage of the competition. Feyenoord overturned a 1-0 home defeat to win 2-1 against Swedish league leaders Kalmar and go through on away goals while a 1-1 draw for Spurs in Poland helped the Premier League strugglers eliminate Wisla Krakow 3-2 on aggregate in the first round.
Tottenham were joined in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup by Bayer Leverkusen, Spartak Moscow, FC Zurich and Girondins Bordeaux.
The fixtures for the group stages in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League, which kicks-off on Wednesday.
Arsenal and Chelsea were among seven teams to reach the Europa League knockout stage on Thursday, while last year's runners-up Olympique de Marseille were eliminated at the group phase.
Yet Milan's defensive frailty was punished when Konstantinos Fortounis scored from the penalty spot in the 81st minute to give his side the win that left them second in Group F on 10 points.
From cardboard cut-outs of real fans to an app allowing supporters to influence the volume of noise piped into stadiums, people are developing ideas for how to put some matchday atmosphere back into the stadiums -- though whether their ideas are accepted is a different matter.
Valencia sign Kondogbia on loan from Inter
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Holders Sevilla maintained their Europa League challenge with a 1-0 win over Rijeka in a winner-takes-all clash on Thursday.
Jonatan Soriano's love affair with the Europa League continued as last season's top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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