Barcelona have reached the semis only once since winning the Champions League in 2014-15.
With Crystal Palace dangerously close to being relegated, manager Patrick Vieira was sacked after 20 months in charge.
Shakhtar dominated possession as expected but were toothless up front and Inter opened the scoring with their first chance after 19 minutes.
West Ham United, reduced to 10 men after defender James Tomkins was sent off in the first half, won 5-3 in a penalty shootout against Maltese Cup winners Birkirkara to scrape into the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday.
Kiev's Olympic stadium will host the final of the 2018 Champions League, the first final of Europe's top club competition to be held in Ukraine, UEFA said on Thursday.
Images from UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
The three Premier League and three La Liga clubs in the last eight avoided each other, with Manchester City up against Atletico Madrid and Liverpool to face Portuguese side Benfica.
Portuguese trio Porto, Benfica and Braga reached the Europa League semi-finals in contrasting styles as Europe's second-string club competition produced another goal feast on Thursday.
Florian Thauvin headed in Payet's free kick after 15 minutes and Clinton Njie calmly slotted home in the 63rd to put Marseille in the driving seat against the Austrian champions.
Arsene Wenger's team look likely to return to Europe's most prestigious competition next season.
Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao should serve up a Europa League final to remember on Wednesday and remind the continent that Spain is not just about Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Several records and milestones were set after Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in the Champions League final on Saturday. With the victory Real became the first team to win three straight titles in the Champions League era.
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.
Spain may have an iron grip on Europe's club competitions but the English Premier League is the dominant power when it comes to the number of players competing at Euro 2016. Spain have won the last two European championships and La Liga clubs have claimed Europe's major club trophies, the Champions League and Europa League, for the last three seasons. Yet a quarter of the 552 players going to Euro 2016 play in the English leagues, nearly four times as many as those from La Liga, according to figures from Grosvenor Casinos.
Al-Nassr have appointed Stefano Pioli as manager to replace Luis Castro, the Saudi Pro League club said on Wednesday.
The win left Chelsea in 11th position, a point and one place behind Newcastle but with a game in hand.
Bayer Leverkusen won their first trophy in 31 years with five matches left in the season, snapping Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City will play Borussia Dortmund with the winners to face either Bayern or PSG in the semi-finals.
Manchester City celebrated their Premier League title on Sunday, beating Chelsea 1-0 with an early goal by Julian Alvarez in the team's home finale at a sun-drenched Etihad Stadium.
Porto's Radamel Falcao scored a hat-trick to help the newly-crowned Portuguese champions thrash Spartak Moscow 5-1 as goals flowed and South American players shone in Europa League quarter-final first leg ties on Thursday.
Jarrod Bowen converted a last-gasp penalty to lift West Ham United to a 2-1 Premier League victory over Manchester United in a fluctuating clash between two struggling sides on Sunday.
Five-times European champions Liverpool survived a late scare to move into the last 32 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Italian side Udinese on Thursday.
Liverpool hammered Sparta Prague 6-1 on Thursday to storm into the Europa League quarter-finals 11-2 on aggregate.
Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp has said his team will be 'on fire' for the Champions League final
Liverpool resumed their march to a second Premier League title on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United.
Jose Mourinho has been charged with using abusive language against a match official, governing body UEFA said
Bayer Leverkusen are the first team in the history of the Bundesliga to complete a full season without a loss.
Romanians Astra handed West Ham United their first competitive defeat at the London Stadium as Slaven Bilic's team were beaten in the Europa League playoffs on Thursday.
The race for Premier League places in next season's Europa League warmed up on Sunday when Aston Villa and Everton fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw and Fulham came from behind to win 3-1 at Manchester City.
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.
Fernando Torres left Chelsea fans wondering if they would ever see the striker who once terrorised defences after another forlorn performance as they limped into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Lazio have been fined 40,000 euros for racist behaviour by their fans during the Europa League tie at Tottenham Hotspur last month, UEFA said on Thursday.
Diego Forlan's extra-time effort sent Atletico Madrid into the Europa League final on away goals at the expense of Liverpool after a 2-2 aggregate draw on Thursday. Atletico will meet Fulham in the May 12 final in Hamburg where they will bid to win their first major European trophy since the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962.
Chelsea are in the last chance saloon as far as a trophy goes and Fernando Torres, complete with his 'Mask of Zorro', must continue his recent improvement in swashbuckling style in Thursday's Europa League semi-finals.
Liverpool full back Nathaniel Clyne is eager to end Manchester United's Europa League campaign after losing both Premier League matches against their arch rivals for a second successive season. English football's most successful clubs meet for the first time in Europe on Thursday in the first leg of their last-16 clash at Anfield, with Liverpool aiming for revenge after a 1-0 home loss in January and 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford in September. "I think we owe them from the Premier League games, which we probably should have got more out of. But we have time now to put things right and progress through the cup," Clyne told British media.
Unai Emery's side were heading for a demoralising defeat, three days after losing meekly to Sheffield United in the Premier League, but substitute Pepe's late intervention kept the Gunners top of Group F with a maximum nine points.
Former UEFA Cup winners Anderlecht reached the Europa League knockout stage with the only perfect record on Thursday and were joined in the last 32 by Athletic Bilbao, Legia Warsaw, PSV Eindhoven and Twente Enschede with two games to spare.
AC Milan grabbed a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the blockbuster Europa League last-16 first-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland faces Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski meets Bayern Munich after the Champions League group-stage draw was made on Thursday.
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