With leg two of the Europa League fixtures today, the final 16 teams are set for the stretch run, and all three Premier League teams left in the competition will be a part of it. Spanish teams also completed their dominance that was evident after the first legs, with Valencia, Sevilla, Villareal and Athletic Bilbao all advancing.
Here is a roundup of the final results from today, with the team that advanced from each fixture in italics.
Liverpool 1-0 Augsburg
The Reds came into this game on thin ice after a 0-0 draw away from home, and thus a draw would not do. They got the win on a fifth-minute penalty slotted home by James Milner, and although Liverpool looked the better side, it wasn’t exactly easy. Daniel Sturridge also notably put in 65 minutes.
Tottenham 3-0 Fiorentina
Spurs moved on comfortably, as Ryan Mason and Erik Lamela bookended halftime with a goal each. The 1-1 first leg result away from home meant Spurs needed just a stout defensive performance and they were likely through, and that they got with Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer holding down the fort at the back.
Manchester United 5-1 FC Midtjylland
With Louis van Gaal hanging onto his job by a shoestring, Manchester United fittingly got the win after a bumbling first half. Down 1-0 on a 27th minute goal by Pione Sistro, they came back strong to equalize on a Nikolay Bodurov own-goal before the break. Then 18-year-old Marcus Rashford took over on his debut, scoring twice in the second half to put the Red Devils through. Also, Memphis Depay was incredible, and he scored as the Red Devils overwhelmed the Danes late.
Lazio 3-1 Galatasaray
After a 1-1 first leg result in Turkey, it was even in the second leg as well...if you remove 14 wild minutes of play from the books. Those 14 minutes midway through the second half provided all four goals, seeing Miroslav Klose score his first of the season two minutes after coming on to seal the deal. Felipe Anderson and Marco Parolo scored the others for the Italians as they move on.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Sporting CP
The Germans backed up a 1-0 first leg win in Portugal by repeating as victors behind a brace from Karim Bellarabi, the man who scored the winner the first time around. Chicharito assisted the first of Bellarabi’s two which opened the scoring in the 29th minute, and although Sporting hit back before halftime, it was all Leverkusen from there as they put seven shots on target throughout the match.
Napoli 1-1 Villareal
The Italians led after 17 minutes through Marek Hamsik, but a 59th-minute strike by Tomas Pina was enough to put Villareal through 2-1 on aggregate.
FC Porto 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
Porto bowed out alongside their countrymates Sporting as a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang header that Iker Casillas fumbled over the line eased Dortmund through 3-0 on aggregate.
FC Basel 2-1 St. Etienne
An injury-time winner from Swiss midfielder Luca Zuffi - his second of the game - sent FC Basel dramatically through over St. Etienne on away goals, with the aggregate finishing at 4-4.
Olympiakos 1-2 Anderlecht
This one needed added time as the aggregate sat at 1-1 after 90 minutes, but Anderlecht scored twice in added time to move on without needing penalties.
Other results:
Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 Fenerbahce
Rapid Vienna 0-4 Valencia
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Marseille
Schalke 0-3 Shakhtar Donetsk
Kuban Krasnodar 0-3 Sparta Prague
Molde 1-0 Sevilla
*Also through: SC Braga with a 4-3 aggregate win over Sion completed on Wednesday.
