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.
Ajax Amsterdam produced a performance worthy of the club's illustrious past when they crushed Olympique Lyonnais 4-1 on Wednesday to move to the brink of their first European final since 1996.
An 87th-minute goal from Luis Suarez took Liverpool through to the Europa League main draw at the expense of Scotland's Hearts as CSKA Moscow crashed out to AIK Solna on Thursday.
Manchester United's teenage striker Marcus Rashford struck a stunning second-half free-kick to secure a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo in their Europa League semi-final, first leg on Thursday.
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.
IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Manchester United earned comfort in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Europa League with a 2-0 win at Ajax on Thursday while their English rivals Manchester City fought back against holders Porto to also take control of their round of 32 tie.
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.
Bobby Zamora and Bjorn Helge Riise twice combined to set Fulham on their way to a 3-2 win at snowy Basel on Wednesday, sealing the London club's berth in the final 32 of the Europa League. Hertha Berlin, in last place in the Bundesliga, scraped through thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Group D winners Sporting and Panathinaikos of Greece secured second place in Group F when Djibril Cisse scored two in a 3-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest.
An injury-time strike by Jonathan Reis sent PSV Eindhoven into the Europa League knockout rounds with a 1-0 home win over Sparta Prague on Thursday.
A summary of the concluding day's action in the German Cup, French Cup and La Liga.
IMAGRS from the soccer matches played across European leagues on Friday
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.
Porto deservedly beat Braga 1-0 to win the Europa League after a superb header by Colombian striker Falcao decided the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Arsenal's title hopes hit with 2-0 loss to Villa as Man City get boost
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.
Alex Ferguson said his remark that having to play in the Europa League was Manchester United's "penalty" for not reaching the Champions League knockout stage was not a criticism of the second-tier competition and they wanted to win the trophy.
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.
Manchester United took a big step towards the Europa League quarter-finals by thrashing Austrian side LASK Linz 5-0 on Thursday in their last 16 first-leg tie at an empty Linzer Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
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.
Jonatan Soriano's love affair with the Europa League continued as last season's top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.
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.
Sevilla stayed firmly on course for a second consecutive Europa League crown when an Aleix Vidal double and a Kevin Gameiro strike secured a thumping 3-0 win at home to Fiorentina in their semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Jose Mourinho has been charged with using abusive language against a match official, governing body UEFA said
In just a few months at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has been dismissed from the touchline and fined for his conduct as his side endured a poor start to the season -- yet the Portuguese is still enjoying being Manchester United manager.
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.
Egemen Korkmaz's second-half header earned Fenerbahce a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Benfica and eased the tears of team mate Cristian on Thursday.
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Salzburg forced Lazio into a second-half capitulation as the Italians crashed out in the Europa League quarter-finals after losing 4-1 but Olympique de Marseille staged a thrilling fightback to see off visitors Leipzig 5-2 on Thursday. Arsenal also reached the semi-finals after recovering from a wobble to draw 2-2 at CSKA Moscow and progress 6-3 on aggregate, while favourites Atletico Madrid reached the last four after losing 1-0 at Sporting to go through 2-1 over the two legs.
Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague and Villarreal reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday in contrasting fashions.
Images from the Europa League semi-final first leg matches on Thursday.
Colombian super-sub Jhon Duran scored two late goals as Aston Villa salvaged a 3-3 home draw with Liverpool.
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.
Rodrigo Palacio snatched an 88th minute win for Inter Milan over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday while Lazio were on the wrong end of some late drama in a 1-1 draw at Panathinaikos.
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Liverpool will be without key duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for Thursday's Europa League playoff second leg away to Trabzonspor.
Antoine Griezmann and Samuel Lino scored in each half to give Atletico Madrid a 2-0 win over Lazio on Wednesday that secured them top spot in Champions League Group E, the first time since 2016 that they had reached the knockouts as group winners.
