🏆 Milan and Benfica win; Qarabağ shock Braga, Lens-Freiburg draw in UEL | OneFootball

The Europa League returned with a bang tonight, with eight knockout round playoff first-leg clashes that brought goals, drama and more.

Here is what happened.

Loftus-Cheek and Leão star as Milan turn on the style against Rennes

Scorers: Loftus-Cheek 32′, 48′, Leão 53′

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leão starred as Milan comfortably defeated Rennes 3-0 at the San Siro.

The Italian giants started much the stronger with Leão, in particular, looking very sharp. He could have opened the scoring inside 10 minutes but his shot skimmed the crossbar.

They took a deserved lead just after the half hour mark, Ruben Loftus-Cheek heading home from an Alessandro Florenzi cross.

Three minutes into the second half and it was 2-0 to the Rossoneri, Loftus-Cheek again scoring and, again, with a header. The former Chelsea man now has seven goals for the season, six of which have come since the turn of the year.

Rennes keeper Steve Mandanda saved from Simon Kjaer but the England man was on hand to dive in and put the ball into the back of the net.

Minutes later and it was three. Theo Hernández intercepted Mandanda’s kick out, and after some neat play between the pair, Leão stylishly side footed the ball in from inside the box. What a stunning goal!

Milan saw out the remainder of the game with relative ease and can now start sorting plans for the last 16 barring a miracle next week.

Benfica leave it late to grab first-leg lead against Toulouse

Scorers: Di María (pen) 68′, (pen) 90+8′; Desler 76′

Benfica left it late to grab a 2-1 victory against a resolute Toulouse side at Estádio da Luz.

They had more of the ball in the opening 15 minutes, which was to be expected as the home side, as well as the side that has played Champions League football this season.

Toulouse held out for the first half, despite being peppered with shots as Benfica had nine to their lowly one after 45 minutes.

The Portuguese side finally broke the deadlock halfway through the second half via their most experienced player, Ángel Di María. The World Cup winner slotted home from the penalty spot after Logan Costa handled the ball inside the box.

Toulouse equalised just eight minutes later, Mikkel Desler brilliantly volleying home after Benfica made a mess of clearing their lines.

The Portuguese league leaders left it until the eighth minute of added time to grab a winner, Di María again netting from the spot after Christian Mawissa was sent off for a second yellow for a foul.

Benfica will fancy their chances of qualifying next week but Toulouse still have hope.

Qarabağ stun Braga with four-star performance and famous win

Scorers: Banza 45′, Moutinho 90+1′; Jankovic 21′, Zoubir 54′, 69′, Juninho 64′

Qarabağ pulled off a result for the ages with a 4-2 victory in Braga that puts them in an incredible position to qualify for the last 16.

The first 15 minutes saw both sides look to find the opening goal, which made for some great end-to-end action.

Qarabağ took a shock lead in the 21st minute through Marko Jankovic from the spot. Victor Gomez was adjudged to have fouled Elvin Jafarquliyev inside the area.

Braga, finalists in 2011, found an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Qarabağ failed to deal with a corner and Simon Banza reached out his leg to finish from close range.

The Azerbaijani side regained the lead early into the second half, Abdellah Zoubir coolly finishing inside the box after a free-kick deflected into his path. It went to VAR but the goal eventually stood.

Things got even better for Qarabag after hour, as they grabbed two quick goals to stunningly make it 4-1. Zoubir teed up Juninho for a very fine finish before he grabbed his second and his side’s fourth five minutes later.

João Moutinho’s late penalty gives Braga hope for next week but it will require a heroic effort in Baku next week.

All to play for next week as Lens and Freiburg cancel each other out

Lens and Freiburg could not be separated in an edgy 0-0 draw that had little in the way of entertainment.

It was an even start to the game with few chances and possession largely shared between the sides.

Lens began to dominate possession as the first half wore on but seemingly left their shooting boots at home – all seven of their efforts were off target.

On the other hand, Freiburg twice tested keeper Brice Samba but it stayed scoreless as the sides went in for the break.

The home side thought they had opened the scoring in the 70th minute but Massadio Haidara’s strike was ruled out by VAR for offside.

Both sides seemed to settle for a draw and it is now all to play for next week.

Earlier results

Lukaku rescues a draw for Roma in Rotterdam

Scorers: Paixão 45+1′; Lukaku 67′

Roma will be the happier of the two sides after a tense and tight first leg encounter in Rotterdam, which saw them hold on towards the end for a 1-1 draw against a strong Feyenoord side.

The visitors started the stronger, playing some very neat football in the opening minutes. Romelu Lukaku’s delightful backheel pass into the path of Edoardo Bove was the pick of the play, but the ball just did not roll right for the young midfielder.

They had another chance shortly after, Paolo Dybala just shooting over after Lorenzo Pellegrini split the Feyenoord defence with a brilliant pass.

Feyenoord came back into the game as the half progressed and got the game’s first goal in the first minute of first-half added time. Some brilliant team play led to Igor Paixão finishing with an excellent low header.

Roma equalised halfway through the second half and it was Lukaku yet again in the Europa League. He met Leonardo Spinazzola’s left-sided cross with a looping header that drew his side level. It is now 17 in his last 18 games in the competition.

Feyenoord almost grabbed a late winner and could be left to rue their missed chances next week.

Late Icardi goal gives 10-men Galatasaray a precious first-leg lead

Scorers: Demirbay 19′, Krejci (OG) 61′, Icardi 90+1′; Preciado 47′, Kuchta 65′

Despite going to 10 men, Galatasary battled their way to a precious 3-2 victory over a determined Sparta Praha side in Istanbul.

After dominating the ball in the opening minutes but not having much in the way of goal attempts, Galatasaray broke the deadlock in the 19th minute.

Kerem Demirbay found himself with some space on the left-hand side and kept moving, eventually firing a low drive through Sparta keeper Peter Jensen.

Sparta responded early into the second half and in some style. A whipped free-kick was cleared only to Angelo Preciado, who drilled a low shot into the corner of the Gala net for a precious equaliser.

Gala regained the lead just after the hour, Dries Mertens seeing his shot deflect off Ladislav Krejci II and into the net.

This kickstarted a crazy few minutes. Victor Nelsson was sent off almost immediately after his side took the lead for a last-man foul.

Sparta then equalised with Previado turning provider, crossing for Jan Kuchta to power home a great header.

Late into added time, Gala grabbed what could be an absolutely vital winner through Mauro Icardi, who finished coolly after being set up by Baris Yilmaz.

Both sides will fancy their chances of progression, which should make for a brilliant game in Prague next week.

Late drama as Shakhtar and Marseille play out thrilling four-goal draw

Scorers: Matvienko 68′, Eguinaldo 90+3′; Aubameyang 64′, Ndiaye 90+1

Shakhtar Donetsk twice came from behind to keep their hopes of Europa League knockout football well and truly alive with a 2-2 draw against Marseille.

Inside the Volksparkstadion, the home ground of Hamburg, Shakhtar started the brighter of the two sides as they looked to take a first-leg advantage to the south of France next week.

Marseille were content to play on the counter in the opening 20 minutes, breaking in numbers whenever they retrieved the ball.

There was little in the way of chances for the remainder of the first-half, with a cagey feel to proceedings.

The second half saw the game spring into life, with two goals in the space of four minutes. Marseille were the first to strike, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finishing neatly at the back post after a nice team move.

The goal tied him with Radamal Falcao on 30 goals in the Europa League, a record.

Shakhtar responded, Mykolo Matvienko thumping home an equaliser after some poor Marseille defending from a free-kick.

The Ligue 1 side retook the lead in the 90th minute, Iliman Ndiaye coming off the bench to score what he thought was the winner.

However, three minutes into added time, the Ukrainian side equalised for the second and final time, Eguinaldo heading home from a Oleksandr Zubkov cross.

That was the final act of a pulsating second half in Germany, which leaves the tie in the balance heading to the Stade Veledrome next week.

Sporting make light work of Young Boys to put one foot in the last 16

Scorers: Ugrinic 43′; Amenda (OG) 31′, Gyökeres 41′, Inácio 48′

Sporting can start making plans for the last 16 after a convincing and comfortable 3-1 win away to Young Boys.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sporting enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession in the opening 20 minutes, although they had little to show for it with Young Boys having more of the efforts on goal.

Sporting took the lead in the 31st minute, Aurele Amenda turning the ball into his own net from a cross.

Their lead was doubled 10 minutes later, Viktor Gyökeres scoring from the spot.

Young Boys quickly responded, though, pulling one back just two minutes later. Some good build up play saw the ball eventually fall in the direction of Filip Ugrinic, who ran onto it and smashed home to give his side hope for the second half.

Sporting restored their two-goal three minutes in the second half, Gonçalo Inácio heading home from an inch-perfect Pedro Gonçalves free-kick.

Young Boys could not pull a goal back and now have an almighty task ahead of them in Lisbon next week.