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.
Celtic winger James Forrest scored a dramatic stoppage time winner to secure his club a Champions League group stage place on Wednesday alongside AC Milan, Real Sociedad, Zenit St Petersburg and Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Inter Milan's aversion to Europa League football continued with a 3-1 defeat at Sparta Prague, while AS Roma ended a continental hoodoo stretching back seven games with a 4-0 home win over Romanian side FC Astra on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from Europa League matches played across Europe on Thursday.
The 41-year old Dutchman has worked with some of the best tacticians in the business like Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat and Frank Rijkaard, tasting success at both international and club level.
On Sunday the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sport's governing body the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organisation and ban Russia from team and individual tournaments. Also, athletes from Ukraine and other nations have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to suspend Russia and Belarus and ban their athletes from events immediately.
Real Sociedad scored two brilliant goals to win 2-0 against a stunned Olympique Lyonnais side who finished with 10 men while AC Milan held PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 draw in Champions League playoff first legs.
The Londoners are fourth in the Premier League table, 13 points behind leaders Leicester City with five games left.
Hulk signs two-year contract with Atletico Mineiro.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
Real Madrid fashioned a stunning comeback to beat Manchester City 3-2 in a classic Champions League match with a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo strike in their Group D opener on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
The Premier League, which has been on hold since March 13, remains suspended until at least April 30 while lockdown measures are in place in the United Kingdom until May 7, when the government is set to review the current restrictions in place. The U.K government's cabinet minister responsible for sport said he has been in talks with the Premier League with the aim of getting football back on the field as quickly as possible.
Benfica coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team without topscorer Jonas against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Spanish prosecutors have won a series of cases against high profile footballers and coaches for tax fraud in recent years, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea struck the woodwork twice but could not find a breakthrough in an entertaining 0-0 Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday that left everything to play for in Group G.
Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed a late goal to send the five-times European champions into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory over a defiant Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
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.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard came off the bench to score a hat-trick in the last 15 minutes as the struggling Premier League side came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.
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.
Yet Milan's defensive frailty was punished when Konstantinos Fortounis scored from the penalty spot in the 81st minute to give his side the win that left them second in Group F on 10 points.
Chelsea reached the Champions League knock-out stage on Tuesday despite a 1-0 defeat by Basel in Group E after a late Mohamed Salah goal shocked the 2012 title winners, with Jose Mourinho saying they deserved to lose. Barcelona, without Lionel Messi but already into the last 16, went two goals down in Amsterdam but looked a different side in the second half after Ajax's Joel Veltman was sent off.
A Roman Abramovich-sponsored soccer tournament involving leading Russian and Ukrainian clubs has been cancelled, organisers said on Monday. The Channel One Cup, which had been held in Israel in January for the past three years, was called off by Russian billionaire Abramovich's National Academy Fund (NAF) after Zenit St Petersburg became the latest top Russian team to pull out.
CSKA Moscow winger Yuri Zhirkov has been voted Russia's Player of the Year for the first time in a nationwide poll conducted by the country's Football Association. The 25-year-old beat Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin, one of the outstanding players at Euro 2008 where the Russians reached the semi-finals for the first time in 20 years.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his remarkable career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday
Russia forward Andrei Arshavin completed his transfer to Arsenal from Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday, the English Premier League club said. British media reported he has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract and has cost Arsenal around 15 million pounds.
Jose Mourinho suffered a nightmare homecoming as Porto, the club he led to the Champions League title in 2004, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on his woefully out-of-sorts Chelsea side in Group G on Tuesday.
A late header by Linas Pilibaitis gave Lithuanians Kaunas a shock 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Champions League second qualifying round second leg on Tuesday.
A late header by Linas Pilibaitis gave Lithuanians Kaunas a shock 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Champions League second qualifying round.
Russia began their Euro 2008 preparations in style by crushing Kazakhstan 6-0 in a Moscow friendly on Friday.
Olympique Marseille let 10-man Ajax Amsterdam off the hook in a UEFA Cup first leg meeting of former European champions on Thursday, while holders Zenit St Petersburg suffered a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. The only other emphatic victory in the first legs came from ambitious Manchester City, 2-0 winners at home to Danish club AaB Aalborg.
Werder Bremen produced a rousing fightback at the San Siro to eliminate favourites AC Milan from the UEFA Cup on Thursday and heap further pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian shrugged off fresh speculation this week that he could be sacked in May but will face further calls for his head after Claudio Pizarro scored twice as Werder hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and reach the last 16 on away goals after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
Inspired by two-goal Alessandro Del Piero, Juventus chalked up their first win at Real Madrid since 1962 by beating the Spaniards 2-0 to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.
Seven-times champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season's competition on Friday.
Everton have agreed to sign Louis Saha from Manchester United subject to the France striker passing a medical.
Dick Advocaat has stepped down as manager of Premier League Sunderland after less than seven months in the job, the club said in a statement on Sunday.
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