Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Pinpoint headed goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson earned Chelsea a 2-0 victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday, dealing a blow to Spurs' hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
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.
Athletic Bilbao, conquerors of Manchester United in the previous round, continued their Europa League run by scoring three times in the last 20 minutes to win their quarter-final first leg tie 4-2 at Schalke 04 on Thursday.
Rubin Kazan, Udinese, Bruges and AZ Alkmaar qualified for the Europa league knock-out stages on Thursday and will go into the draw for the round of 32 with big guns Manchester United and Manchester City after their Champions League elimination.
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.
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.
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.
Bruges scored four times in the last 17 minutes to beat Maribor 4-3 in the Europa League on Wednesday while Atletico Madrid and PAOK Salonika were among six teams to qualify for the knockout stage.
The UEFA Cup will be renamed the UEFA Europa League from next season in an effort to boost the competition that has lost much of its appeal, European soccer's governing body said on Friday.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp enjoyed a satisfying return to Borussia Dortmund as his new side frustrated his former charges and claimed a valuable away goal to draw 1-1 in their Europa League quarter-final, first leg on Thursday.
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.
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.
A summary of Thursday's matches in Europe's second tier club football tournament
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa haunted Arsenal again by firing his side to a 1-0 win in Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg to send the Spaniards into the final and deny Arsene Wenger a dream end to his long reign as Arsenal coach.
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard will miss Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica with a hamstring strain while John Terry's ankle problem is still being assessed, interim manager Rafa Benitez said.
Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam, who have won the European Cup nine times between them, failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League after making embarrassing exits from the competition 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.
Aris Salonika maintained their 41-year unbeaten home record in European competition by holding Manchester City to a 0-0 draw in their Europa League last-32 first leg on Tuesday.
A stoppage-time goal from Branislav Ivanovic helped Chelsea become the first English club to win all three of UEFA's major trophies as they beat Benfica 2-1 in the Europa League final.
On Sunday, after Liverpool's final game of the season, a 2-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Klopp led the Anfield crowd in a song for the incoming manager.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
The return fixtures will be played on May 11 and the final in Stockholm on May 24.
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.
Manchester United flirted with calamity before coasting into the Europa League last 16 as debutant Marcus Rashford helped them overcome an early blow with two goals in a 5-1 home victory over Midtjylland on Thursday.
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.
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.
Thirteen teams have now qualified for the last 32 including Bayer Leverkusen, FC Zurich and Lazio who had already secured places in the next stage of the competition.
Samuel Eto'o scored twice to give ambitious Anzhi Makhachkala a 2-0 Europa League win over Young Boys on Thursday while Liverpool lost 3-2 at home to Udinese and Videton, Sparta Prague and Molde pulled off surprise wins.
Benfica's Paraguay forward Oscar Cardozo converted two second-half penalties to help them come from behind and beat 10-man Liverpool 2-1 as the Europa League dished up more drama in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
A player in Sevilla's first team squad has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their Europa League last-16 tie against AS Roma, the La Liga club announced on Wednesday. The Spanish club said they conducted tests on Sunday on players, coaches and staff. The player, who was not named, is asymptomatic and is self-isolating at home.
Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid overcame German opposition to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday while fellow Spaniards Valencia joined them by demolishing AZ Alkmaar.
Five-times European champions Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat at Lille after a late goal by forward Eden Hazard while Juventus beat underdogs Fulham 3-1 in Europa League last 16 first leg matches on Thursday.
Liverpool are "100 percent" ready for the Europa League final against defending champions Sevilla on May 18, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday.
Barcelona made a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign by losing 2-1 to AS Monaco on Thursday.
Bayer Leverkusen crushed hosts VfL Bochum 5-0 to stretch their remarkable unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 50 consecutive matches.
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.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Freiburg 3-2 to edge closer to a first ever Bundesliga title.
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.
