Schalke 04 scored twice after being reduced to 10 men to win 3-2 at PAOK and reach the Champions League group stage on Tuesday and there were dramatic playoff victories for Austria Vienna and Steaua Bucharest.
Arsenal, aiming for a 16th successive group stage appearance, outclassed Fenerbahce 3-0 in Istanbul to take control of their Champions League playoff tie as the five home teams failed to muster a win between them in Wednesday's first leg matches.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Spain became the first country to have five teams in the Champions League group stage in one season after Valencia squeezed past Monaco .
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
Real Madrid fashioned a stunning comeback to beat Manchester City 3-2 in a classic Champions League match with a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo strike in their Group D opener on Tuesday.
With the away goals rule no longer in place this season, PSV missed a string of chances to force extra time with Eran Zahavi hitting the crossbar from three metres with the goal at his mercy in the 62nd minute.
UEFA has not detected any irregular betting patterns in Wednesday's Champions League matches to justify an enquiry, the European governing body said on Thursday.
Benfica snatched a 2-2 draw at sloppy Manchester United to reach the Champions League last 16 and leave the three-times winners with work to do, while Inter Milan ambled through before even playing and Bayern Munich also progressed with ease on Tuesday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
AC Milan were handed a comfortable UEFA Cup assignment on Tuesday after being drawn with Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth and Wolfsburg in the group stage.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan hit back from two goals down against Celtic to claim a 4-2 victory that sent them into the Europa League knockout phase on Thursday as they were among 14 teams to progress in Europe's second-tier competition.
AC Milan have been drawn to play Manchester United in what is the standout tie in next month's Europa League round of 16.
A summary of Thursday's matches in the Europa League.
Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam made a shock exit from the UEFA Cup on Thursday after a 3-2 home defeat by Dinamo Zagreb gave the Croatians victory on the away goals rule.
Croatian midfielder Luka Modric, one of the most promising young players in Europe, has agreed terms to join Tottenham Hotspur.
Croatia striker Eduardo has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
The Serie A side progressed from Group D with a game to spare after beating Dinamo Zagreb 2-1. Galatasaray, the 2000 winners, Standard Liege, Twente Enschede and Ukraine's Metalist Kharkiv also reached the last 32, joining favourites AC Milan, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City and St Etienne who had already qualified.
Arsenal look set for a place in the Champions League group stage after they beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 in qualifying.
Arsenal's captain will miss next week's Champions League qualifier due to a lack of pre-season training, while keeper Jens Lehmann is suspended for the third round, first leg tie.
Clubs from Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova and Macedonia on Tuesday became the first four to progress from 11 Champions League first qualifying round ties.
After damaging losses to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos Piraeus in their first two fixtures, the Gunners have to win to advance to the knock-out stages
If two or more clubs are level on points at the end of the group stage, a number of criteria will be taken into consideration to decide the qualifiers for the next round, starting with the head-to-head record among the teams in question. It then goes to superior goal difference and then goals scored in those matches.
Liverpool received a relatively kind draw for the group stage of this year's Champions League
Images from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger still believes his side have a "strong chance" to qualify for the Champions League last 16 for a 16th consecutive season as the Premier League side and Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb face a do-or-die contest.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
The 24-year old central midfielder, who has made three international appearances for Macedonia, failed the test after Dinamo's 2-1 home win over Arsenal in their Group F opener on September 16. The Ademi ban was a second blow for Dinamo in quick succession after the club's chief executive Zdravko Mamic was arrested on Wednesday for player transfer irregularities.
In the day's other fixtures, Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb took a big step towards the next stage with a 2-0 win at Georgians Saburtalo and Copenhagen won at Welsh side The New Saints by the same score.
Barcelona were held 1-1 at home by Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League knockout stage playoff
AC Milan grabbed a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the blockbuster Europa League last-16 first-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus failed to find the net in over 700 minutes on the pitch in a run of 10 games between October and November for club and country, as City struggled to keep pace in the Premier League title race and dropped to third. Jesus is City's second-choice striker behind Sergio Aguero and he had admitted to being frustrated earlier this season when Pep Guardiola benched him in favour of the Argentine.
Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric broke his country's scoring record by netting eight times as top flight Rijeka thrashed third division Zmaj Blato 11-0 in a cup match on Wednesday.
Tottenham said former midfielder Ryan Mason will be in charge of the first team on Monday.
Napoli kept alive their hopes of advancing from Group C after Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano secured a 3-0 home win over Legia Warsaw.
Eight police officers needed hospital treatment and more than 15 soccer fans were arrested following violent clashes ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match between Scotland's Celtic and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday.
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