Defending champions Sevilla manage to hold off Lucien Farve’s men in green in a nail-biting match at Borussia Park while the other green-clad men from Germany, Wolfsburg, progress to the round of 16 to play out their 59th European football match. Everton becomes the sole representative of the English Premier League in the round of 16 as Tottenham fail to outscore Fiorentina and Liverpool crash out on penalty kicks in a not-so-memorable night in Istanbul.
Defending Champions Sevilla Cruise on After Monchengladbach Thriller
The spectators at Borussia Park were treated to a European matchup that had it all: goals, box-to-box action, a red card and lots of drama that high-stake European games bring out in players. Sevilla traveled to Germany with a 1-0 advantage and wasted no time making that 2-0. Within eight minutes, Bacca caught Gladbach’s back line sleeping and knocked in an early goal. Their advantage didn’t last for long when the Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka smashed home a wicked shot following a long stretch of possession and good chances for the home team. While the German side had all of the momentum in the opening half, Sevilla were lightning-fast on the counter. Again, they frazzled Gladbach’s back line and this time Vitolo was on the ball and with a fantastic touch into space, he smashed the ball home for his first goal of the game. The hosts refused to back down. In the 28th minute, Thorgan Hazard, who just signed permanently for the Germans from Chelsea FC, showed that he was worth every penny of his contract and cooly converted a cross resulting from a fantastic team effort. With a half hour gone the score was tied 2-2.
In spite of his fantastic play in the attack, Xhaka got too caught up in the defense and received a second yellow with twenty minutes left to play. With just ten men, the hosts were overwhelmed by the Europa League title holders and conceded a final effort from Vitolo with ten minutes left in play. Sevilla left the victors with a final aggregate score of 4-2.
Salzburg 3-1 Villareal (2-5 agg.)
Sevilla will face fellow Spaniards Villareal in the next stage as they move one step closer to defending their title. Villareal finished second in a tough Group A earlier in the campaign and had no problem dismissing their Austrian opposition in the round of 32.
Athletic Bilbao 2-3 Torino (4-5 agg.)
Athletic Bilbao narrowly miss out on joining their Spanish counterparts after they battled it out against Italian opposition at the San Mames. Torino registered the first win for an Italian side at Bilbao’s new stadium.
Sporting 0-0 Wolfsburg (0-2 agg.)
While their neighbors Borussia Monchengladbach were unable to brush off the defending champions, Wolfsburg made easy work of Sporting Lisbon. Their 2-0 victory at home in the first leg was the difference as the two teams played out a 0-0 draw in Portugal. Wolfsburg advance to the round of 16 as the team with the least amount of European football experience at 58 games in their club history. They will face Inter Milan, who saw off Celtic with a 1-0 win at the San Siro and boast the most European experience of 387 matches.
Liverpool Can’t Capitalize
Besiktas keep their cool and come away the victors in a dramatic penalty shootout that ended 5-4 in favor of the Turkish side.
Brendan Rodgers men have been on a dramatic up-turn in their play both domestically and in Europe following a switch in his formation and the return of striker Daniel Sturridge. Mario Balotelli’s penalty at Anfield was the goal that separated the two sides who battled it out in Istanbul, a city with beautiful memories for Liverpool fans and captain Steven Gerrard. There was no reliving of the glory days for the Reds, who were crowned UEFA Champions League winners in the 2005 season when they defeated AC Milan in one of the most enticing and dramatic UCL finals in history. In spite of a hard-fought match and some excellent chances for Liverpool from Sturridge and the hit-or-miss Mario Balotelli, the Reds couldn’t find the back of the net. Besiktas were also busy on their end forcing some swan-dive saves from the Belgian Simon Minoglet. Tolgay Arslan’s goal followed a long stretch of dominance from the home side. The substitute slammed home a screamer after he found himself perfectly placed at the top of the box with the ball at his feet.
After extra time, the sides were still tied 1-1 with a home-goal apiece and the advancing team was to be decided on penalties. Besiktas were five for five when Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren stepped up to take the final kick for Liverpool and sent the ball just over the crossbar. Besiktas are through to the round of 16.
Fiorentina 2-0 Tottenham (3-1 agg.)
Mohammad Salah was a handful for Tottenham Hotspur once again on the European stage after he was a thorn in their side when they played Basel in the 2012/2013 Europa League knockout stage. His goal in the 71st minute to make it two for the home side was the nail in Spurs coffin. 2-0 proved to be too big of a score to overcome in Florence and the Italian side advances to face off against league rivals AS Roma in the round of 16.
Everton 3-1 Young Boys (7-2 agg.)
Everton were the only English side to survive the round of 32 as they made easy work of Young Boys Bern, blowing by 7-2 on aggregate with two dominant performances. Romeu Lukaku now boasts the top scoring record of the remaining players in the round of 16, having found the back of the net ten times since the start of the group stage.
Ten-Man Feyenoord Nearly Battle Back Against Roma
A 57th minute goal from Feyenoord’s Manu just three minutes after he came into the game off the bench was almost enough for the Dutch side to rally at home against AS Roma. Following a questionable straight red card to the home side’s Te Vrede (who himself came into the match in the 30th minute), Manu made a brilliant run into the box after Roma turned the ball over just inside their half and made no mistake sliding a smooth finish past Skorupski. Gervinho’s goal for the Italians just three minutes later sealed the deal for Roma but not without a dramatic final thirty minutes. Both Vermeer and Skorupski made some mad dashes across their goalmouth to deny the oppositions strikers, an exhausting close to a brilliant game of football.
Legia 0-3 Ajax (0-4 agg.)
While Feyenoord failed to make it past the first round of the knockouts, their fellow Dutchmen Ajax blew by Legia 4-0 on aggregate.
Club Brugge 3-0 Aalborg (6-1 agg.)
The current Belgian league leaders continued their dominant streak as they added another match to their unbeaten run in the Europa League, bringing their tally to twelve consecutive matches. A dominant home performance against the Danish side Aalborg gave Brugge the momentum they will need against Besiktas in the round of 16.
No Ukrainian Opposition for the Russians
Both Dinamos from Eastern Europe qualified for the round of sixteen but will not meet each other in competitive play due to quick action from UEFA due to concerns about political conflict. Dynamo Kyiv turned a 2-1 deficit from leg one into a 4-3 aggregate victory when they faced French side Guingamp. Ukrainian counterparts Dnipro advanced thanks to a 2-0 victory against Olympiacos in the first leg, going through 4-2 on aggregate.
Dinamo Moscow made easy work of Anderlecht, defeating them 3-1 on aggregate and their fellow countrymen Zenit St. Petersburg saw off PSV with a dominant 4-0 aggregate win. The round of 16 draw was rigged to ensure that a Russian side would not face a Ukrainian one for the time being.
