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.
The first legs of the ties will take place on February 16, with the return match a week later on February 23.
Former Barcelona and Chelsea veteran Samuel Eto'o may be heading to Anfield.
PSV Eindhoven clinched their fourth Dutch league title in a row on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem to finish above rivals Ajax Amsterdam.
Schalke 04 hit back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and overcome fellow Germans Borussia Moenchenglach on away goals in their Europa League last 16 tie while Manchester United edged Rostov 1-0 to progress on Thursday.
Striker Eduardo Da Silva scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 2-1 win over Lazio in the opening game of the Amsterdam tournament on Thursday.
The Ajax coach and former ace Dutch striker has been approached to take over the national team.
Netherlands head coach Louis Van Gaal was quickly installed as the bookmakers' favourite to succeed David Moyes as Manchester United manager after the English Premier League club announced the end of the Scot's ill-fated spell in charge on Tuesday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg matches played on Wednesday
The defender later became the club's assistant coach before embarking on an eventful career as a head coach, managing Dutch sides Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord plus Premier League sides Southampton and Everton and La Liga's Valencia.
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino will make his Champions League debut when Ajax Amsterdam visit the Nou Camp on Wednesday with a run of patchy defensive performances and a lack of killer instinct in front of goal his main concerns.
Manchester City's expensive squad are not ready to win the Champions League, manager Roberto Mancini said ahead of his side's must-win encounter with Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has labelled Lionel Messi has the 'best' player he has seen after the Argentine forward spurred a 2-0 victory over Ajax Amsterdam that secured the Spanish side a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Manchester United scraped into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, narrowly avoiding a humiliating elimination after being outplayed and losing 2-1 at home to Ajax Amsterdam.
Jose Mourinho's side top Group G with a maximum nine points, three clear of second-placed Slavia.
Holders Porto will face Premier League leaders Manchester City while former European champions Ajax Amsterdam will meet Manchester United in two glittering Europa League Round-of-32 ties following Friday's draw.
After a week of controversy caused mainly by FIFA president Sepp Blatter's comments about racism, UEFA will hope that action on the pitch dominates this week's Champions League headlines as the group stage reaches crunch time.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho described some of the Champions League groups as a "joke" after watching his side lose 2-1 at fellow heavyweights Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez believes hiring Jose Mourinho as coach and spending hundreds of millions of euros on players has finally laid the foundation for winning a 10th European title.
Top two teams in each group qualify for the first knockout round. Third placed team to play in the UEFA Cup.
Inter Milan have appointed former Ajax Amsterdam manager Frank de Boer as their new head coach on a three-year contract replacing Roberto Mancini.
Spurs beat Ajax 3-2 in the second leg of the semi-final on Wednesday and will face Liverpool on June 1 in Madrid.
Al-Hilal wrapped up a place in the Asian Champions League semi-finals as a 2-0 win over fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in Jeddah on Tuesday completed a 4-0 aggregate success and set a world record with their 28th straight win in all competitions.
UEFA reprimanded Pierluigi Pairetto after telephone taps showed he had leaked confidential information on a Champions League game
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.
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.
Gonzalo Higuain netted a neat volley to save dominant Real Madrid's blushes, helping the La Liga giants to a 2-0 victory over Ajax Amsterdam in Champions League Group G on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona and Manchester United clash in the Champions League final at Wembley on Saturday (1845 GMT) to decide who are the undisputed kings of Europe.
Bayern will pay a fee in the region of 35 million pounds ($42.71 million) for the signature of Mane
Liverpool have turned down a transfer request from Fernando Torres hours after Kenny Dalglish made his first major transfer impact in his second spell as manager by agreeing to sign Uruguay forward Luis Suarez.
While England boast a formidable attacking threat, there are concerns about their defence which is perhaps why Southgate is prepared to look at new candidates before he has to make his final call for the tournament.
New Barcelona signing Sergino Dest said he "followed his heart" by turning down a move to European Champions Bayern Munich in favour of the Catalan side.
UEFA has reduced on appeal a fine and two-match ban given to coach Jose Mourinho after allegations that two of his Real Madrid players engineered deliberate red cards in last month's Champions League game with Ajax Amsterdam.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has been given a two-match ban for improper conduct by UEFA after allegations that two of his players deliberately got sent off in a Champions League match against Ajax Amsterdam.
PSV Eindhoven are still looking for their first win of the season after sharing the points with Twente Enschede in a 1-1 draw in the Dutch league on Sunday.
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