Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
Heavyweights Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Lazio took big steps towards reaching the Europa League semi-finals after convincing home first-leg victories and RB Leipzig also stayed on course with a 1-0 win over Olympique de Marseille on Thursday.
Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague and Villarreal reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday in contrasting fashions.
Liverpool have sacked manager Arne Slot after a disappointing second season where they failed to defend their Premier League title and missed out on Champions League qualification.
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.
Tottenham Hotspur exposed the weaknesses in Anzhi Makhachkala's star-shorn squad, winning 2-0 in Moscow to maintain their perfect start in the second round of Europa League group stage matches on Thursday.
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.
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.
Sevilla clinched a sixth Europa League title with a roller-coaster 3-2 win over Inter Milan after an overhead kick by defender Diego Carlos deflected by the Italian side's top scorer Romelu Lukaku settled a thrilling contest on Friday.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan will face Arsenal in the standout last-16 tie in the Europa League after the draw was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan's 24-match unbeaten run ended
Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann struck twice as the Spanish side outclassed hapless Olympique de Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to win the Europa League for the third time.
UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk thrashed Club Bruges 4-1 away on Thursday when top-level football began experimenting with five-man refereeing teams in the opening Europa League group stage games.
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.
Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.
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.
Juergen Klopp, who has breathed new life into Liverpool in his seven months in charge, would seal his place in the hearts of the club's supporters if he pulls off victory over Sevilla in Wednesday's Europa League final.
Manchester United were handed a tricky Europa League last 16 tie against Real Sociedad while Tottenham Hotspur will play Dutch side AZ Alkmaar after the draw was held on Friday, but both managers are more concerned about their Premier League form.
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli's first-half red card.
Italian football is experiencing a significant crisis following the failure of its clubs in European competitions and the national team's continued absence from the World Cup.
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
Estoril's home Europa League clash with PSV Eindhoven was suspended at halftime on Thursday due to adverse weather and will be finished on Friday, UEFA said.
Arsenal and Chelsea were among seven teams to reach the Europa League knockout stage on Thursday, while last year's runners-up Olympique de Marseille were eliminated at the group phase.
Fiorentina tore apart Italian rivals AS Roma to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-0 win that left their opponents' season in tatters and under-fire coach Rudi Garcia tottering on the brink of the sack.
Three time European champions Inter Milan were stunned 2-0 at home by Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Manchester United were floored by a late goal from Feyenoord as the Europa League group stage got underway on Thursday.
Xabi Alonso will take over as Chelsea's new manager, the Premier League club said on Sunday, with the Spaniard signing a four-year deal beginning on July 1.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
Holders Porto crashed out of the Europa League after a 4-0 thumping at Manchester City completed a 6-1 aggregate win for the English Premier League leaders on Wednesday.
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.
Villarreal's Adrian Lopez produced a stinging sucker punch in stoppage time to leave Liverpool reeling and move the Spaniards closer to a maiden European final after their Europa League last four first leg clash finished 1-0 on Thursday.
IMAGES from the Europa League semifinal played between Manchester United and Sevilla in Cologne on Sunday.
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.
Eintracht Frankfurt won the Europa League final after holding their nerve to beat Rangers 5-4 in a clinical penalty shootout as they claimed their first European trophy in 42 years.
Juventus were astonishingly held to a 3-3 home draw by Lech Poznan as the Europa League group stage kicked off on Thursday while holders Atletico Madrid began the defence of their crown with a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika.
Sevilla coach Unai Emery has been picking the brains of Juande Ramos as he tries to plot the downfall of Ukrainian outsiders Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Wednesday's Europa League final.
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.
Sevilla, winners of the Europa League for the past two years, will play Shakhtar Donetsk in this season's semi-final.
Manchester's Etihad Stadium turned into a tribute to Pep Guardiola -- the man who transformed both the club and English football over his glittering decade as boss.
Kazakhstan's Astana fought back to beat a youthful Manchester United side 2-1 at home, Arsenal's woes continued as Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada scored twice to secure a 2-1 win.
