Europa League & Conference League roundup: Barcelona draw, West Ham lose, Leicester win
By Sean Walsh
With the playoff rounds over and done with, the knockout stages of the Europa League and Conference League kicked off this week.
RB Leipzig have already received a walkover into the knockout stages of the Europa League after Spartak Moscow were kicked out of the competition by UEFA, while Lyon beat Porto 1-0 and Real Betis were beaten 2-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday due to scheduling conflicts.
Here is your roundup of Thursday's matches.
Europa League roundup - Last 16, first leg - 10/3
Sevilla 1-0 West Ham United
Thursday's Europa League action kicked off with specialists Sevilla earning a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to West Ham.
Julen Lopetegui's side came into the match with several injury concerns - Ivan Rakitic even pulled up in the warmups - but managed to get into half-time level with the Hammers.
But Sevilla took control after the break, and Rakitic's replacement Munir fired home the first-leg winner midway through the second half.
FC Barcelona 0-0 Galatasaray
Barcelona have now drawn both of their home Europa League ties since dropping into the competition, this time being held by Turkish giants Galatasaray.
Xavi's men battered down the door but couldn't find an important go-ahead goal at Camp Nou, and will need to be at their best to return from Istanbul as quarter-finalists next week.
Rangers 3-0 Red Star Belgrade
Rangers have one foot in the quarter-finals following an emphatic 3-0 win at home to Red Star Belgrade.
The Gers raced into an early two-goal lead after James Tavernier's spot kick was followed by a strike from Alfredo Morelos, while goalkeeper Allan McGregor denied Aleksandar Katai's penalty after Ryan Jack had brought down Mirko Ivanic.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side added a third shortly after the break when Leon Balogun towered above everyone to head home a Tavernier corner, and the Scottish champions head to Serbia next week knowing that it would take a monumental collapse for them not to be in the last-eight draw.
Atalanta 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Atalanta ran out 3-2 winners against Bayer Leverkusen in a back-and-forth encounter in Bergamo.
Charles Aranguiz put the visitors ahead before a quick-fire double from Ruslan Malinovsky and Luis Muriel - who teed each other up - turned the game on its head.
The Colombian striker was assisted by his Ukrainian teammate once more just after half-time to notch home a third, but Moussa Diaby's low drive just after the hour mark gave Leverkusen hope heading back to Germany.
Braga 2-0 Monaco
Goals at either end of the match ensured that Braga overcame the odds to beat Monaco.
Former Barcelona prodigy Abel Ruiz put the Portuguse hosts ahead, instinctively reacting to Rodrigo Gomes' long-range drive to poke the ball past Alexander Nubel.
Wissam Ben-Yedder had a header ruled out for offside later in the first half, but Monaco were unable to break down a resolute Braga, who grabbed a clincher through Vitor Oliveira with second-half stoppage time looming.
Europa Conference League roundup - Last 16, first leg - 10/3
Leicester City 2-0 Rennes
Leicester's search for European glory continued with a fine 2-0 win at home to French outfit Rennes.
A piledriver from Marc Albrighton gave the Foxes a first-half lead, and they grabbed their second through Kelechi Iheanacho in the 93rd minute to give themselves a two-goal cushion heading into the return leg.
PAOK 1-0 Gent
Greek side PAOK took a step towards their first ever European quarter-final with a 1-0 victory against Gent.
A superb free-kick from Jasmin Kurtic is all that separates these two ahead of their meeting in Belgium next week.
Partizan Belgrade 2-5 Feyenoord
Feyenoord ran out as the victors in their seven-goal thriller with Partizan Belgrade.
The Serbian hosts actually took a fairly early lead when Bebras Natcho found the far corner with an effort from distance, but they were soon pegged back by Jens Toornstra.
Unbelievably, those were the only two goals heading into the break, before a mad second-half ensured that this was a classic.
Nemanja Jovic came racing out of the blocks to put Partizan back in front almost immediately after the break, but Cyriel Dessers and Lutsharel Geerruida managed to turn the tie around in the next 20 minutes.
The pick of the goals came from Luis Sinisterra, whose volley from range left goalkeeper Aleksandar Popovic scrambling, and Toornstra secured his brace with 15 minutes remaining.
Slavia Prague 4-1 LASK
A late charge from Slavia Prague ensured that they're firmly in the driving seat in their tie with LASK.
An early brace from Collins Sor put the Czech side into a comfortable first-half lead, but a 67th-minute goal from Husein Balic threatened to sour the hosts' mood.
However, Peter Olayinka and Ibrahim Traore's goals in the closing stages ensured Slavia have a precious three-goal cushion heading to Switzerland.
Vitesse 0-1 Roma
Jose Mourinho succeeded where Tottenham failed as his Roma side beat Vitesse 1-0 in Arnhem.
Sergio Oliveira's strike on the verge of half-time was the sole goal of the night, though the Portuguese midfielder received two yellow cards in quick succession late in the day as his side clung on to secure the win.
Bodo/Glimt 2-1 AZ Alkmaar
The fairytale of Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt continued with a dramatic victory at home to AZ.
Amahl Pellegrino's effort had the hosts in front for much of the evening, but Zakaria Abdoukhlal found a second-half-leveller for the Dutch visitors.
But a clumsy challenge from Pantelis Hatzidiakos ensured that Bodo/Glimt could seal a win with a stoppage time penalty, and Ola Solbakken kept his nerve to convert from the spot.
Marseille 2-1 Basel
Marseille's quest to win a second European trophy before rivals Paris Saint-Germain lift the Champions League goes on, but head into the second leg with Basel with their tie evenly poised.
Poland international Arkadiusz Milik grabbed two goals as the French side sailed into an assured lead, but Basel managed to pull one back through Inter loanee Sebastiano Esposito to make next week's affair a bit more interesting.
PSV Eindhoven 4-4 FC Kobenhavn
We end tonight's roundup with the pick of the results.
Goals from Isak Bergmann Johannesson, Pep Biel and Lukas Lerager ensured that Kobenhavn lead PSV 3-1 at the halfway point in Eindhoven.
Ritsu Doan pulled one back for the Dutch side, but Cody Gakpo - scorer of PSV's first goal - missed from the penalty spot.
However, the Liverpool and Man City target made amends soon after to level on the night, but the scoring wasn't over just yet.
Biel put Kobenhavn back in front with little over 10 minutes to go, but there was still time for Eran Zahavi to notch home PSV's third equaliser of the evening.
And breathe.