Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck a vital late goal to seal a 3-1 win over Valencia on Thursday and give his side breathing space for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final in Spain next week.
Chelsea will face Dynamo Kiev at home in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, while London rivals Arsenal will travel to Rennes following Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
We want to fight for that title and we are very excited to see the draw, says Ander Herrera
Defender Kolo Toure believes Liverpool can recover from Sunday's painful League Cup final shootout defeat against Manchester City at Wembley and rescue their season by winning the Europa League. Juergen Klopp's side, seeking their first trophy in four years, face bitter rivals Manchester United this month in the last-16 of the continent's second tier competition. "You have to learn to lose sometimes before you win. We learn as a team together. The Europa League can save the season and the Premier League is not over yet," Toure told British media. Liverpool, who are ninth in the table, can quickly avenge Sunday's defeat when they host fourth-placed City in the Premier League on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet said it was important for the five-times European champions to bounce back quickly from their Wembley disappointment.
Arsenal are not only hoping to win a first European trophy since 1994, but know their hopes of qualifying for next year's Champions League depend on winning the Europa League in the French city of Lyon next month.
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker says the players are focused on winning the Europa League as well as their four remaining Premier League games to give manager Arsene Wenger the perfect send-off.
United captain Jesse Lingard fired them ahead in the 10th minute with a fizzing low shot from 20 metres before Dmitri Shomko and a Di'Shon Bernard own goal turned the match on its head shortly after half-time.
An early penalty by Alexis Mac Allister and a Darwin Nunez brace helped Liverpool to thrash Sparta Prague 5-1.
Manchester United, Sevilla and Celtic led a parade of clubs with continental pedigree to book the first places in this season's Europa League knockout stage.
While Spurs play Inter Milan at home in Champions League on Wednesday, on Thursday, Arsenal face a long trip to Ukraine to play Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League, needing a victory to consolidate first place in the group.
Olympique de Marseille were the fall guys on a hectic opening night of Europa League group stage action as German club Eintracht Frankfurt returned from the south of France with a surprise 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Alex Ferguson may have been stripped of his Manchester United ambassadorial role last week but his legacy as manager remains a stifling cloud for those following in his footsteps, with Erik ten Hag the latest to be jettisoned after failing to measure up.
After scoring twice in Chelsea's 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final, Eden Hazard said it was the moment to call time on his magnificent career with the London club to seek new challenges.
Shakhtar dominated possession as expected but were toothless up front and Inter opened the scoring with their first chance after 19 minutes.
La Liga club Villarreal have been given Real Mallorca's place in this season's Europa League pending a Mallorca appeal.
'The Europa League is a massive thing for us now -- it's a trophy and it gives us qualification for the Champions League. With the players we have got, we can be unstoppable'
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has been left out of the 18-man squad travelling to face Danish side FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday, the Premier League club said on their website (www.manutd.com). With United fifth in the league table, six points off the top-four, the 30-year-old striker recently said that winning the Europa League or the FA Cup could save their disappointing season. Combative midfielder Marouane Fellaini was another notable absentee and full back Matteo Darmian will not be involved after dislocating his shoulder during Saturday's 2-1 league defeat by Sunderland.
Manchester City have now won only once in 11 games in all competitions.
Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee bagged two goals apiece as Manchester United thumped Everton 4-0 on Sunday in new manager Ruben Amorim's first Premier League match at Old Trafford.
Five-time winners Sevilla made light work of AS Roma when first half goals from Sergio Reguilon and Youssef En-Nesyri gave them a 2-0 win over AS Roma and sent them into the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.
Tottenham Hotspur have been fined 15,000 euros ($18,600) by UEFA after their Europa League game against Partizan Belgrade last month was suspended for several minutes following three separate pitch invasions, the governing body said on Thursday.
European champions Chelsea will play Czech side Sparta Prague in the last 32 of the Europa League after the draw was made in Switzerland on Thursday.
Arsenal's young guns continued to shine as they dismantled Standard Liege 4-0 on a hectic night of Europa League action that produced a full house of Spanish victories on Thursday. A summary of the matches.
'Jose's been a bit unlucky because they've been absolutely brilliant in most of their home games and drawn (seven of) them. If they had got the wins they would be challenging for the league, no doubt about that'
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
AC Milan grabbed a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the blockbuster Europa League last-16 first-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Besiktas's Europa League game at home to Tottenham Hotspur was suspended twice on Thursday after the floodlights failed in each half before the Turkish side won 1-0.
Fulham will play in the Europa League next season after qualifying via the Fair Play League, the Premier League said on Thursday.
Mohamed Salah's early penalty in the return match on Thursday gave Liverpool a 1-0 victory in Italy but Klopp's side went out 3-1 on aggregate.
Images from Europa League matches played across Europe on Thursday.
IMAGES from an exciting Europa League semi-final first leg match played at Emirates Stadium on Thursday
Manchester United fans are planning to protest against being asked to pay 71 pounds ($101.5) per ticket for their Europa League away match against Danish league winners Midtjylland on Thursday, according to reports in the British media.
Bayer Leverkusen are the first team in the history of the Bundesliga to complete a full season without a loss.
Kazakhstan's Astana fought back to beat a youthful Manchester United side 2-1 at home, Arsenal's woes continued as Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada scored twice to secure a 2-1 win.
IMAGES from football matches played across European leagues on Saturday
Former European champions Steaua Bucharest and English Premier League Southampton suffered shock defeats by Scandinavian teams in Europa League qualifiers on Thursday.
Liverpool overcame an early scare and came from a goal down to claim a 3-1 win at Austria's LASK Linz.
Manchester United must learn to ignore their critics as their performances may have been affected by the intense scrutiny the team have been under throughout the campaign, manager Louis van Gaal said on Wednesday.
AS Roma head coach Jose Mourinho has been suspended for their next four matches in the Europa League.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been left out of Manchester United's Europa League squad by coach Jose Mourinho, as the midfielder continues to be marginalised at the club.
