Europa League

Rangers and Atalanta displayed their goalscoring prowess once again to open up leads in their ties, with Sevilla and Braga also claiming victories on Thursday. UEFA.com rounds up an intriguing two days of action from the UEFA Europa League round of 16 ...

Porto, on top for much of the first half, finished the second period strongly but could not break through. Bafétimbi Gomis had an effort ruled out for offside, before the game ended in a stalemate – Galatasaray's third 0-0 draw in this season's competition. Moussa Diaby then curled in clinically to give Leverkusen belief ahead of the second leg. The home side struck early and late to take control of this tie. Katai had another effort ruled out and the hosts rubbed salt in the wounds again as Alfredo Morelos scored the second soon after. Rangers will take a strong lead to Belgrade after a pulsating win at Ibrox, where the tone was set early.

The round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League is underway with some unique circumstances as RB Leipzig get an automatic bye into the last eight as a result of ...

Finally, 85 minutes into the match, Zahavi scored a dramatic equalizer after Gakpo's cross into the box met his head for the equalizer to secure a 4-4 draw. Who does not like to see eight goals in a match/ This one did not disappoint as Ísak Jóhannesson opened the score sheet for Copenhagen only six minutes in. He also had two assists on the day as Feyenoord defeated Partizan by a score of five to two. Always a competition for surprises, this was a match that was considered to be the most lopsided of the slate. Barcelona didn't want this match to hang in the balance heading to Turkey but now the second leg becomes quite a tricky tie. Galatasaray are closer to relegation in the Turkish league than they are to qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Sevilla will travel to London for next week's last 16 second leg narrowly ahead from an end-to-end game which saw both sides make several goal-scoring chances.

Now we will rest first and then focus on the return leg in İstanbul.” Good journalism costs a lot of money. “You need to play well as a team,” Galatasaray midfielder Sofiane Feghouli said. “I was told to be prepared in case I needed to come in. I always work to be ready for when the coach needs me.” “We played a good game,” said Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui. “The first half was more even, in the second half we dominated more.”

Fans around the world are not accustomed to seeing FC Barcelona battling for the Europa League, formerly known as the UEFA Cup. Here's how the Blaugrana ...

In all four years, the team that they lost to ended up lifting the trophy. A top-four finish in Spain would be another way for Barcelona to guarantee Champions League football again next season. They only finished third in their group, with a paltry total of seven points.

Clockwatch: Chelsea put their off-field troubles behind them to beat Norwich in the Premier League, while Rangers and Leicester both won in Europe.

Sevilla have won 27 of their last 28 knockout ties in the Europa League. They believe that success here is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And giving half of a city a chance to relive those moments that no other competition could have hoped to provide. Exerting all of its efforts to get into – and stay in – a competition that they have next to no chance of winning? They are incredibly proud that they have reached more European finals this century than any other club and more proud still that they have won seven of them. Perhaps it is an undue nod to sporting romance, but it is impossible not to buy into the notion that in the magic minutes – the late salvos against Zenit in 2015 that changed the tie in both legs, goalkeeper Andres Palop’s goal against Shakhtar in 2016, the extraordinary defensive resilience against Manchester United in 2020 – were only possible because Sevilla believed in their own destiny. The same three clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid) have finished in the top three positions in La Liga in each of the last eight seasons. They overturned a first-leg defeat against Lille, found an extra-time winner from Antonio Puerta (tragically killed a year later) after 200 goalless semi-final minutes and crushed Middlesbrough in the final in Eindhoven.