Manchester United must learn to ignore their critics as their performances may have been affected by the intense scrutiny the team have been under throughout the campaign, manager Louis van Gaal said on Wednesday.
The Manchester clubs' wretched continental seasons ended on Thursday as outclassed United and battling City suffered contrasting Europa League last-16 exits to an exhilarating Athletic Bilbao and a fortunate Sporting respectively.
Olympique de Marseille were the fall guys on a hectic opening night of Europa League group stage action as German club Eintracht Frankfurt returned from the south of France with a surprise 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Chelsea will face Dynamo Kiev at home in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, while London rivals Arsenal will travel to Rennes following Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
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.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen cruised into the Europa League knockout stage with emphatic wins on Thursday but holders Atletico Madrid and former winners Liverpool suffered surprise defeats.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been left out of Manchester United's Europa League squad by coach Jose Mourinho, as the midfielder continues to be marginalised at the club.
Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo's well-taken double fired Benfica into a Europa League final with Chelsea after they beat Fenerbahce 3-1 in Lisbon to win their semi-final 3-2 on aggregate.
Images from the Europa League matches played across Europe on Thursday.
Triple European champions Manchester United and their under-fire coach Louis van Gaal face a tricky task against little-known Midtjylland in the last 32 of the Europa League following Monday's draw.
Chelsea FC made a loss despite a rise in revenue as they finished fourth in the Premier League and won the Europa Conference League in the 2024-25 season.
Liverpool twice squandered the lead, trailed 3-2 and then scored three times in the last 25 minutes to win 5-3 at Young Boys in an enthralling but blunder-prone Europa League tie on Thursday.
Napoli put a foot in the Europa League semi-finals with a perfectly crafted 4-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday as Marek Hamsik scored twice in an Italian masterclass to bring cheer to beleaguered coach Rafael Benitez.
Fulham shrugged off the effects of 17 hours travelling on a coach to hold Hamburg SV to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
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.
Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Roberto De Zerbi as their manager on a long-term contract, the Premier League club said on Tuesday, and the Italian coach has seven games to steer the North London side to safety.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
United's Ibrahimovic, Roma's Dzeko find the net thrice to give clubs first leg advantage
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.
Manchester United loosened Arsenal's grip on the Premier League title race with a 3-2 win in north London on Sunday.
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.
Napoli kept alive their hopes of advancing from Group C after Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano secured a 3-0 home win over Legia Warsaw.
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.
Liverpool romed into the Europa League final with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on another magical night at Anfield to tee up a showpiece clash with holders Sevilla who swatted away visitors Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 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.
IMAGES from an exciting Europa League semi-final first leg match played at Emirates Stadium on Thursday
Manchester United, Sevilla and Celtic led a parade of clubs with continental pedigree to book the first places in this season's Europa League knockout stage.
Images from the Europa League semi-finals first Leg between Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bodo/Glimt.
Tottenham Hotspur could face punishment from European soccer's governing body UEFA after their Europa League game with Partizan Belgrade on Thursday was suspended for several minutes following three separate pitch invasions.
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.
Carlos Bacca claimed the plaudits with a superb double strike, including a late winner to decide a pulsating clash that began at a hair-raising pace with four goals in the first half.
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.
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.
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