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.
Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-time winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday he is happy with how new signing Kylian Mbappe is settling into life with the Spanish soccer giants and he has no concerns about his team's slow start to the LaLiga season.
An 87th-minute goal from Luis Suarez took Liverpool through to the Europa League main draw at the expense of Scotland's Hearts as CSKA Moscow crashed out to AIK Solna on Thursday.
Manchester United earned comfort in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Europa League with a 2-0 win at Ajax on Thursday while their English rivals Manchester City fought back against holders Porto to also take control of their round of 32 tie.
Bobby Zamora and Bjorn Helge Riise twice combined to set Fulham on their way to a 3-2 win at snowy Basel on Wednesday, sealing the London club's berth in the final 32 of the Europa League. Hertha Berlin, in last place in the Bundesliga, scraped through thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Group D winners Sporting and Panathinaikos of Greece secured second place in Group F when Djibril Cisse scored two in a 3-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest.
An injury-time strike by Jonathan Reis sent PSV Eindhoven into the Europa League knockout rounds with a 1-0 home win over Sparta Prague on Thursday.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in four minutes as Tottenham Hotspur overturned a two-goal aggregate deficit to beat 10-man Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2 over two legs on Thursday to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
Ajax Amsterdam produced a performance worthy of the club's illustrious past when they crushed Olympique Lyonnais 4-1 on Wednesday to move to the brink of their first European final since 1996.
West Ham United, reduced to 10 men after defender James Tomkins was sent off in the first half, won 5-3 in a penalty shootout against Maltese Cup winners Birkirkara to scrape into the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday.
Manchester United's teenage striker Marcus Rashford struck a stunning second-half free-kick to secure a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo in their Europa League semi-final, first leg on Thursday.
A player in Sevilla's first team squad has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their Europa League last-16 tie against AS Roma, the La Liga club announced on Wednesday. The Spanish club said they conducted tests on Sunday on players, coaches and staff. The player, who was not named, is asymptomatic and is self-isolating at home.
Porto deservedly beat Braga 1-0 to win the Europa League after a superb header by Colombian striker Falcao decided the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition on Wednesday.
Former UEFA Cup winners Anderlecht reached the Europa League knockout stage with the only perfect record on Thursday and were joined in the last 32 by Athletic Bilbao, Legia Warsaw, PSV Eindhoven and Twente Enschede with two games to spare.
PSV Eindhoven's disappointing season took a turn for the worse as they went out of the Europa League after losing 1-0 at home to Ukrainians Chernomorets Odessa, who pipped them to second place in Group B on Thursday.
The attractive football preached by Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup was displayed to great effect when the Welsh side stunned 10-man Valencia with a 3-0 away victory in the Europa League.
Jonathan Soriano scored an incredible goal from near the halfway line to complete a stunning 3-0 win for Salzburg away to once-mighty Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday.
Alex Ferguson said his remark that having to play in the Europa League was Manchester United's "penalty" for not reaching the Champions League knockout stage was not a criticism of the second-tier competition and they wanted to win the trophy.
Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow and Stoke City sealed places in the last 32 of the Europa League but a 2-0 defeat at Salzburg left Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare looking over his shoulder on Thursday.
Anderlecht kept up their 100 percent record in the Europa League with a 2-0 win at Sturm Graz while Udinese struck late to sink Atletico Madrid by the same score in Thursday's top match.
Chelsea are in the last chance saloon as far as a trophy goes and Fernando Torres, complete with his 'Mask of Zorro', must continue his recent improvement in swashbuckling style in Thursday's Europa League semi-finals.
The much-maligned Europa League threw up a bumper mix of goals, controversy and defensive blunders on Thursday as Chelsea, Benfica and Fenerbahce won by two-goal margins at home and Basel held Tottenham Hotspur.
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.
Sevilla stayed firmly on course for a second consecutive Europa League crown when an Aleix Vidal double and a Kevin Gameiro strike secured a thumping 3-0 win at home to Fiorentina in their semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Egemen Korkmaz's second-half header earned Fenerbahce a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Benfica and eased the tears of team mate Cristian on Thursday.
Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro grabbed a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday to send the Europa League holders into the semi-finals after woeful goalkeeping had threatened to ruin their night.
Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague and Villarreal reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday in contrasting fashions.
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
In just a few months at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has been dismissed from the touchline and fined for his conduct as his side endured a poor start to the season -- yet the Portuguese is still enjoying being Manchester United manager.
Five-times European champions Liverpool survived a late scare to move into the last 32 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Italian side Udinese on Thursday.
Salzburg forced Lazio into a second-half capitulation as the Italians crashed out in the Europa League quarter-finals after losing 4-1 but Olympique de Marseille staged a thrilling fightback to see off visitors Leipzig 5-2 on Thursday. Arsenal also reached the semi-finals after recovering from a wobble to draw 2-2 at CSKA Moscow and progress 6-3 on aggregate, while favourites Atletico Madrid reached the last four after losing 1-0 at Sporting to go through 2-1 over the two legs.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played across England, on Sunday.
Pinpoint headed goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson earned Chelsea a 2-0 victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday, dealing a blow to Spurs' hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Liverpool will be without key duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for Thursday's Europa League playoff second leg away to Trabzonspor.
Rodrigo Palacio snatched an 88th minute win for Inter Milan over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday while Lazio were on the wrong end of some late drama in a 1-1 draw at Panathinaikos.
Manchester United took a big step towards the Europa League quarter-finals by thrashing Austrian side LASK Linz 5-0 on Thursday in their last 16 first-leg tie at an empty Linzer Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic.
David Luiz, lucky to be on the pitch after a shocking challenge, scored with the last kick of the game to give Chelsea a 2-1 win at FC Basel in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final after the Swiss side had levelled with an 87th minute penalty on Thursday.
A stunning late goal from Benfica's Lima left Juventus's hopes of reaching a home Europa League final hanging in the balance after a 2-1 first-leg defeat, while Sevilla won 2-0 against Valencia in Thursday's all-Spanish last-four clash.
A Romelu Lukaku hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Everton at Young Boys and a thrilling 3-3 draw between Celtic and Inter Milan.
Napoli's Marek Hamsik enjoyed a memorable return to his former club Slovan Bratislava, scoring one and creating another, in a 2-0 victory on Thursday as the Italians joined five others who made it two wins from two in the Europa League group stage.
