💫 Milan & Marseille seal big wins; Freiburg beat West Ham; Rangers draw | OneFootball

There were seven Europa League last 16 first-leg clashes taking place tonight across the continent.

Milan see off resistance of 10-man Slavia to take command of tie

Scorers: Giroud 34′, Reijnders 44′, Loftus-Cheek 45+1′, Pulisic 85′; Doudera 36′, Schranz 65′

Milan will take a two-goal lead to Prague next week after battling their way to a 4-2 first-leg victory over a determined 10-man Slavia side.

The Serie A giants had more of the ball in the opening periods, unsurprisingly, but failed to create any real chances as Slavia held firm.

The game sparked into life in the 26th minute when Slavia’s El Hadji Malick Diouf saw red for a reckless challenge on Christian Pulisic.

Milan made the man advantage count, scoring shortly after. Rafael Leão put a ball into the box and Olivier Giroud made no mistake from close range.

Slavia shocked the San Siro just two minutes later, however, equalsing through David Doudera.

The Rossoneri retook the lead just before the half-time, Tijani Reijnders firing home from just outside the box, and then extended it through Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who headed from Alessandro Florenzi’s corner.

The 10 men would not drop their heads though and pulled a goal back in the 65th minute, Ivan Schranz reacting to a loose ball to cut the lead to one.

Milan restored their two-goal advantage with five minutes to go. Leão again was the provider, his mazy run bringing him into the box and his cross being met almost on the line by Pulisic.

Slavia will now have to conjure up something special next week if they are to progress.

Freiburg seal narrow first-leg advantage against West Ham

Scorers: Gregoritsch 81′

Freiburg will have a 1-0 lead to protect next week at the London Stadium after overcoming West Ham in a tight first-leg affair.

The hosts dominated the ball in the opening 20 minutes, having close to 80% possession as David Moyes’ side struggled to get a foothold in the game.

The first half as a whole was a rather drab affair, with both sides having just one shot on target each. Perhaps the fact they played at the group stage meant they knew each other a bit too well.

Into the second 45 and things picked up with West Ham coming close to the breakthrough. A typically brilliant James Ward-Prowse corner was met by the head of Konstantinos Mavropanos, but his effort flicked off the base of the post.

Freiburg had Noah Atubolu to thank for keeping them level, the keeper denying Jarrod Bowen’s left-footed strike.

The Bundesliga side took the lead in the 81st minute, Michael Gregoritsch tapping home from two yards out after Roland Sallai’s shot found its way to him.

West Ham thought they had a penalty late on but after a ridiculous four-minute wait, Noah Weisshaup was adjudged not to have committed a handball offence.

The Irons continued to push for an equaliser but could not find one, leaving them with it all to do next week.

Rangers battle to draw in Lisbon after twice leading

Scorers: Di María 45+2′; Lawrence 7′, Sterling 45+5′

Rangers will be the happier of the two sides with the first-leg 2-2 draw despite taking the lead twice against Benfica in Lisbon.

Despite struggling to get out of their own half in the opening minutes, they shocked the Estadio da Luz with the first goal in the seventh minute.

Mohamed Diomande got to the byline and dinked a cross in for Tom Lawrence to head home.

Rangers had Jack Butland and some luck to thank for not conceding an equaliser shortly after, as somehow the ball didn’t go into the net.

Butland continued to thwart Benfica but could do nothing to stop Ángel Di María’s penalty in first-half stoppage time. John Souttar was adjudged to have handled the ball and the Argentinian World Cup-winner made no mistake from 12 yards out.

Rangers regained their lead before the whistle, though, Dujon Sterling tapping home from close range to cap an amazing first half.

The second half was a relatively even affair with both sides having chances to get the crucial fourth goal. Benfica got it and equalised in the 67th minute when Di María’s dangerous free-kick was headed into his own net by Connor Goldson.

Rangers held on for an impressive draw, with it now all to play for at Ibrox next week.

Aubameyang leads Marseille thrashing of Villarreal

Scorers: Veretout 23′, Mosquera (OG) 28′, Aubameyang 42′ (pen), 59′

Marseille defeated Villarreal, and former manager Marcelino, 4-0 to near-seal their spot in the last eight draw.

After an even opening to the game, Marseille took the lead halfway through the first half. Jonathan Clauss found room to put the ball into the box and Jordan Veretout had the simple task of heading home from less than six yards.

They doubled their lead five minutes later as Yerson Mosquera turned the ball into his own net from close range.

It was three before half-time as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored yet again in the Europa League, this time from the penalty spot.

The goal made the Gabonese forward the all-time top scorer in the history of the competition, as well as the UEFA Cup, which preceded it.

He extended his lead at the top of the rankings with his second strike just before the hour.

After being played in on the left, he lobbed Villarreal keeper Pau Lopez. Was it a shot? Was it a cross? He, nor his side, will care.

Things went from bad to worse for the La Liga side just three minutes later when Alberto Moreno was sent off for a second yellow.

Marseille could have scored more but will be more than content travelling to Spain next week with a four-goal advantage.

Czech mate for Sparta as Liverpool run riot in Prague

Scorers: Bradley (OG) 46′; Mac Allister 6′, Núñez 25′, 45+3′, Díaz 53′, Szoboszlai 90+4′

Liverpool have more than one foot in the Europa League last eight after a 5-1 win against Sparta in Prague.

They got off to a dream start, opening the scoring in the sixth minute from the penalty spot through Alexis Mac Allister.

The Argentine midfielder was taken down inside the box but dusted himself down to slot home from 12 yards.

The Reds doubled their lead less than 20 minutes later and what a goal it was from Darwin Núñez. The Uruguayan striker received the ball on the left, just outside the box, stepped inside a defender and curled home a stunning effort.

Núñez got his second and Liverpool’s third in first-half injury-time, smashing home after Mac Allister’s ball evaded the Sparta defence.

Sparta pulled one back right away in the second half when Liverpool sub Conor Bradley put one into his own net in rather shambolic fashion.

Ibrahima Konaté was then substituted with an apparent injury to potentially add to Jürgen Klopp’s current absentee list.

His side got their fourth shortly after, Luis Díaz’s effort deflecting in after neat work from Bradley and Harvey Elliott.

The biggest boost of the night came when Mohamed Salah made his latest injury return from the bench in the 74th minute. He thought he had got a comeback goal 10 minutes later but it was ruled out for offside.

The Reds got their fifth in added time, Dominik Szoboszlai finishing stylishly on a late counter attack, and can now make plans for the quarter-finals with next week’s tie at Anfield now a non-event.

Roma dismantle injury-hit Brighton in the Eternal City

Scorers: Dybala 12′, Lukaku 43′, Mancini 64′, Cristante 69′

Roma’s renaissance under Daniele De Rossi continued with a dominant 4-0 victory over Brighton.

They almost opened the scoring inside three minutes but Jason Steele made a brilliant save from Romelu Lukaku’s close-range header.

They got their goal less than 10 minutes later and it was one Brighton really should have stopped. A ball through the centre of the pitch went past their defence and into the path of Paulo Dybala. He rounded Steele before tapping home.

At first it was disallowed for offside but Dybala’s excellent run was deemed to be inch-perfect by VAR.

Brighton responded well to the setback, getting a foothold in the game and nearly scoring through Danny Welbeck.

However, they went two behind just before the break and, again, it was some slack defending. Lewis Dunk made a mess of trying to control the ball, leading to Lukaku taking it off him before coolly finishing past Steele.

Roma got their third after the hour, Gianluca Mancini finishing smartly from close range after Stephan El Shaarawy’s dangerous cross went across the box.

El Shaarawy got another assist a few minutes later, putting the ball on the plate for a flying Bryan Cristante to head home.

Brighton could not get a consolation goal and Roberto De Zerbi’s side now face a near-impossible task next week.

Leverkusen fight back to keep unbeaten season intact

Scorers: Benzia 26′, Juninho 45+2′; Wirtz 70′, Schick 90+2′

Bayer Leverkusen had to fight from 2-0 down to extend their unbeaten run to 34 games this season against an excellent Qarabağ outfit.

Xabi Alonso’s side struggled to get into their groove in the opening 20 minutes, failing to create any chances of note despite having a bit more of the ball.

They fell behind in the 26th minute when Yassine Benzia finished in style from side the box to send the Qarabağ fans into a frenzy.

The Azerbaijani side doubled their lead right before half-time, again catching out Leverkusen on the counter. A long ball came to Juninho, who sped away from the defence and bundled the ball home.

Florian Wirtz pulled one back with 20 minutes to go, capitalising on a terrible back pass to lift the ball beautifully over Andrey Lunev’s head.

They grabbed a late, late equaliser through another substitute, Patrik Schick, who headed Robert Andrich’s brilliant cross home to break Qarabağ hearts and preserve their incredible unbeaten season.