Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday but eased into the UEFA Cup semi-finals for the first time thanks to their 4-1 lead from the first leg. Zenit, coached by Dutchman Dick Advocaat, had an anxious time defending their advantage as Leverkusen attacked their goalmouth with vigour from the opening whistle.
Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv.
Photos from the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match played between Benfica and Zenit St Petersburg at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon on Tuesday
The Champions League final was set to be staged at Zenit St Petersburg's stadium on May 28.
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.
Paris Saint-Germain took a crucial advantage after beating Chelsea 2-1 in an entertaining UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Tuesday.
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
Photos of the World Cup match being played between Russia and Korea Republic
Images from Europa League matches played across Europe on Thursday.
The 41-year old Dutchman has worked with some of the best tacticians in the business like Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat and Frank Rijkaard, tasting success at both international and club level.
Manchester United will be clutching at the final straw of a sobering season when they attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Greek side Olympiakos and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Celtic winger James Forrest scored a dramatic stoppage time winner to secure his club a Champions League group stage place on Wednesday alongside AC Milan, Real Sociedad, Zenit St Petersburg and Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Real Sociedad scored two brilliant goals to win 2-0 against a stunned Olympique Lyonnais side who finished with 10 men while AC Milan held PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 draw in Champions League playoff first legs.
Twice European champions Benfica reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2006 when goals by Uruguay's Maxi Pereira and Portugal's Nelson Oliveira secured a convincing 2-0 win over Russia's Zenit St Petersburg.
Tottenham Hotspur trounced a sorry Inter Milan 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday while last year's European champions Chelsea were humbled 1-0 by Steaua Bucharest after being stung by a Raul Rusescu penalty.
Russian clubs ruled the Europa League roost on Thursday as Rubin Kazan upset holders Atletico Madrid while Anzhi Makhachkala and Zenit St Petersburg opened up commanding first-leg advantages in their last 32 ties.
Ten-man Zenit St Petersburg beat Dynamo Moscow 2-1 on Saturday to claim a second consecutive Russian Premier League title with three games to spare.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-1 Champions League win at Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday but big spending trio Zenit St Petersburg, Paris St Germain and Manchester City failed to win.
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.
A Roman Abramovich-sponsored soccer tournament involving leading Russian and Ukrainian clubs has been cancelled, organisers said on Monday. The Channel One Cup, which had been held in Israel in January for the past three years, was called off by Russian billionaire Abramovich's National Academy Fund (NAF) after Zenit St Petersburg became the latest top Russian team to pull out.
CSKA Moscow winger Yuri Zhirkov has been voted Russia's Player of the Year for the first time in a nationwide poll conducted by the country's Football Association. The 25-year-old beat Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin, one of the outstanding players at Euro 2008 where the Russians reached the semi-finals for the first time in 20 years.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
Russia forward Andrei Arshavin completed his transfer to Arsenal from Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday, the English Premier League club said. British media reported he has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract and has cost Arsenal around 15 million pounds.
Andrei Arshavin's move to Arsenal from Russian club Zenit St Petersburg is awaiting confirmation by the Premier League, the player's agent said on Monday.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard came off the bench to score a hat-trick in the last 15 minutes as the struggling Premier League side came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.
Real Madrid scored twice in the first half to overcome a spirited Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday. An own goal by Zenit defender Tomas Hubocan and an opportunistic strike by Ruud van Nistlerooy gave the nine-times European champions their second consecutive victory in Group H.
A late header by Linas Pilibaitis gave Lithuanians Kaunas a shock 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Champions League second qualifying round second leg on Tuesday.
A late header by Linas Pilibaitis gave Lithuanians Kaunas a shock 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Champions League second qualifying round.
Zenit St Petersburg coach Dick Advocaat was appointed Belgium manager on Wednesday and will take up the post at the start of next year, the Belgian Football Association said.
Russia began their Euro 2008 preparations in style by crushing Kazakhstan 6-0 in a Moscow friendly on Friday.
Rangers beat Fiorentina 4-2 on penalties while Zenit St Petersburg thrashed Bayern Munich 4-0 in second leg semi-final matches.
Andrei Arshavin, a target of English Premier League side Arsenal, is in London on Monday with Sky Sports News showing pictures of the Russian forward at a snow-bound hotel north of the city.
Zenit St Petersburg became the first Russian team to win the European Super Cup when they earned a 2-1 win over Manchester United on Friday.
In the third-tier Europa Conference League, English Premier League club Leicester City will face Danish side Randers and Scottish club Celtic will take on Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in the knockout playoff round.
Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg won their first European silverware when they secured a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the UEFA Cup final.
Olympique Marseille let 10-man Ajax Amsterdam off the hook in a UEFA Cup first leg meeting of former European champions on Thursday, while holders Zenit St Petersburg suffered a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. The only other emphatic victory in the first legs came from ambitious Manchester City, 2-0 winners at home to Danish club AaB Aalborg.
Werder Bremen produced a rousing fightback at the San Siro to eliminate favourites AC Milan from the UEFA Cup on Thursday and heap further pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian shrugged off fresh speculation this week that he could be sacked in May but will face further calls for his head after Claudio Pizarro scored twice as Werder hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and reach the last 16 on away goals after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
The nine-times European champions finished second on goal difference in Group H of the Champions League behind Juventus, who were held 0-0 at home by BATE Borisov.
Dutchman Pim Verbeek was on Monday named new coach of South Korea's soccer team.
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