Spain became the first country to have five teams in the Champions League group stage in one season after Valencia squeezed past Monaco .
European clubs are anticipating another windfall after changes to the Champions League and say the new system will be fairer as well as making them richer. The European Clubs Association (ECA) said it expected revenue from the Champions League and Europa League to jump from 2.35 billion euros ($2.62 billion) per season to around 3 billion euros from 2018-19, when the changes, announced by UEFA last month, come into force. ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also ruled out talk of a breakaway Super League in the foreseeable future, saying the clubs wanted to remain united.
The home side knew only victory would do for them to grab the final last-16 qualification spot in the group behind Manchester United, and came out for the second half in all-out-attack mode.
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.
Villarreal secured their place in the Champions League qualifying round with a 2-0 win at local rivals Valencia on Sunday, guaranteeing fourth place in La Liga.
Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah as midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored an 88th-minute penalty to give them a 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over on an interim basis.
European soccer's governing body has so far resisted implementation of the VAR system, which allows key incidents to be reviewed with the use of video replays and was used at the World Cup in Russia this year.
Barcelona have been drawn to play Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals. The other last-four tie will see Juventus, in their first semi-final since 2003, take on Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid, the defending champions.
images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Hazard joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012 and won the Europa League in 2013 and 2019 with the London club. He also won the Premier League title in 2015 and in 2017 as well as the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
Cristiano Ronaldo set a record for goals scored in the group stage of the Champions League of 11 when he netted four against Malmo in Group A on Tuesday.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon have been nominated for the UEFA's Player of the Year award, the sport's European governing body said on Tuesday.
Defender Miguel Britos was sent off for head-butting an opponent as Napoli lost 3-1 at champions Juventus on Saturday, all but ending their hopes of Champions League football next season.
Chelsea have completed the signing of Basel's Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, the Premier League club said on their website on Sunday.
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.
VfL Wolfsburg reached the Champions League last 16 and dealt a knockout blow to Manchester United with a 3-2 victory to claim top spot in Group B and condemn their opponents to the Europa League on Tuesday.
The Group L fixture, to be played under tight security in the Serbian capital, comes after England's black players suffered racist abuse at their Euro 2020 qualifier at neighbouring Bulgaria on October 14.
Bayern expect a top performance against Manchester United, says Tuchel
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid have been unable to repeat the magnificent achievements of last season in this campaign but can congratulate themselves on a job well done if they secure a lucrative Champions League berth on Saturday.
Ryan Giggs is optimistic about Manchester United's chances of beating derby rivals Manchester City to the final Champions League spot by ending the Premier League season in fourth place. United, who are sixth in the table, travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday looking to close the gap on their neighbours, who are four points and two places ahead of them. "It's not a big gap," Giggs told the Times. "Especially when you look at the league this season, teams are going to drop points. "It's been a freak season. It's a very tough league where nothing is guaranteed and crazy things have happened. "We have a lot of players back so if you win games the momentum starts and the confidence builds."
Fiorentina fell behind to a spectacular scissors-kick goal from Pandurii's Eric Pereira before hitting back in the last five minutes to win 2-1 on Thursday and lead a charge of teams into the Europa League knockout stages.
Belgian league leaders Antwerp secured a shock 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan extended their unbeaten run to 23 games as they won 3-0 against Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, while Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Dundalk.
Manchester City came from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 and secure their place in the Champions League playoffs
Liverpool and Juventus, forced into the indignity of beginning their season in the Europa League qualifying rounds, both won 2-0 away on Thursday as European club football ventured into deepest Siberia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
European champions Liverpool are second in their Champions League group - a point behind Napoli - and Klopp's side host Genk at Anfield.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
It was a dramatic night at the Champions League as Barcelona's Anssumane Fati -- 17 years and 40 days old - became the youngest to net a goal in the competition. Last season's semi-finalists, Ajax were eliminated by Valencia while Napoli's coach Ancelotti was shown the door despite the team's progress. Here are Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Juventus did the bare minimum as they scraped into the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, a result which also suited the Spaniards who topped the group.
Sevilla missed a chance to get their La Liga campaign up and running when the Europa League holders surrendered the lead and were held to a 1-1 draw at Levante on Friday.
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
'Being back in the Champions League is going back to the natural habitat. Manchester United (have been there) season after season'
Lazio won 2-0 at Legia Warsaw on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after a tie marred by violence when Italian fans fought with Polish police on the way to the stadium.
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.
