Manchester United emerged from their first ever appearance in the Europa League with a victory as they defeated Dutch giants Ajax 2-0 at the Amsterdam Arena in the 1st leg of the round of 32 tie. Ashley Young got the opening goal in the 59th minute as he cut-in from the left to put the visitors in the lead. The goal was a welcome break from the first half, which was a slow burner as both sides failed to find the quality in the final third.

Man United raised their game after the break to take control, but they failed to put the match to bed until the 85th minute when Javier Hernandez put the finishing touch to a counter-attack. Ajax did make a late charge as United sat deep, but they rarely troubled United despite having a fair share of possession.

Zenit hosted Benfica in the fortress that is Petrovsky Stadium in the first leg of the round of 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League and emerged winners in what was a closely fought match. It was the visitors who scored first with Maxi Pereira finding the back of the net after 20 minutes only for Zenit to equalise through Roman Shirokov seven minutes later. Both teams were trying their best to get their noses in front and it was Zenit who succeeded, courtesy of Sergie Semak, who finished an excellent team move with a clever back-heel to beat goalkeeper Artur. Benfica though did not give up and took advantage of an error by Yuri Zhevnov, with Oscar Cardozo converting after the goalkeeper had spilt the ball inside the box in the 87^th minute. The match seemed headed for a draw, but Zenit broke Benfica fans’ hearts just a minute later as they capitalised on an error by Maxi Pereira, with Shirokov the benefactor as the midfielder scored the winner.

Zenit started the match with a 4-3-3 formation, with Bruno Alves partnering Nicolas Lombaerts at the centre of defence and Aleksandr Anyukov and Tomas Hubocan playing alongside them. Roman Shirokov began in his usual defensive midfield position, while Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov assisted him in the midfield. Meanwhile the front three comprised of Viktor Fayzulin, Maksim Kanunnikov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

It was a night reminiscent of their thrashing at Old Trafford as Arsenal suffered yet another humiliating defeat, completely outclassed by a decent AC Milan side 4-0 at the San Siro on Wednesday. Although the Gunners started brightly, Milan grew in stature and opened the scoring after just 15 minutes, with Kevin-Prince Boateng slotting home an excellent volley. Milan then began to dictate play and ended up doubling their tally in the 38^th minute, with Robinho heading Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s cross into the back of the net.

While Arsenal would have hoped to improve in the second half, it was the hosts who continued to dominate with Robinho netting his second of the night in the 49^th minute with a sweet strike from just outside the box. Arsenal never looked like scoring during the course of the game except for a few attempts by Robin van Persie that were saved quite comfortably by Christian Abbiati. With the second leg already looking like an uphill task, the Gunners made their lives even more difficult as Johan Djourou gave away a penalty in the 78^th minute, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic converting from the spot. With four goals to their name, Milan have all but put the tie to bed and the Gunners will need a near miracle if they are to progress ahead of the Italians for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

French giants Lyon hosted debutantes APOEL in the first leg of the round of 16 tie in the Champions League and narrowly beat their less fancied opponents to establish a slender lead going into the second leg. The scoreline though does not tell the whole story as the hosts completely dominated the entire match and should’ve perhaps scored a few more goals. The solitary goal was scored by striker Alexandre Lacazette in the 58^th minute, although he was helped by a slight deflection off defender Paulo Jorge.

Hosts Lyon started the match with a 4-5-1 formation with the defence comprising of Cris and Bakary Kone at the centre, with Aly Cissokho on the left and Anthony Reveillere on the right. The midfield saw Michel Bastos and Lisandro Lopez out wide, with Kim Kallstrom, Maxime Gonalons and Ederson at the centre of the field. Alexandre Lacazette meanwhile was deployed as the lone striker upfront.

The Champions League returned to action on Tuesday night as the knockout round got under way and little seemed to have changed as Barcelona once again produced the best football of the night. The Catalans prevailed 3-1 against a spirited Bayer Leverkusen side at the Bay Arena in the 1st leg of their round of 16 tie and Pep Guardiola's men now take three away goals into the 2nd leg at home. Alexis Sanchez put Barca in the lead just before the end of an otherwise quiet first half. The game came into life after the restart as Leverkusen broke free from their shackles to attack, which made for a very open game, especially after Michal Kadlec equalized on 52 minutes.

But Barcelona regained their lead a few minutes later through Sanchez once again. Leverkusen didn't give up though as they created numerous chances, with Victor Valdes being forced into multiple fine saves. Barca then needed Lionel Messi to seal the game as the Argentine magician scored in the 88th minute to cap off a satisfying evening's work for the defending Champions.

Barcelona fought off a spirited comeback from Real Madrid to draw their Copa Del Rey Quarter-final second leg 2-2, a result which saw them edge out the reigning cup holders 4-3 on aggregate. Coming into the game with a one-goal advantage, Barcelona went two further goals ahead via Pedro and Dani Alves just before halftime, but were pegged back by Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the second period. Los Blancos however could not find the decisive third goal, with Barcelona advancing to the semifinals of the cup competition.

Needing to overturn a first leg deficit on the road, Real almost had a dream start to the encounter at the Nou Camp, coming close to scoring within 11 seconds of the kickoff. Gonzalo Higuain stole the ball inside the Barcelona half from Gerard Pique and advanced towards goal, only for his strike to roll past Barca goalkeeper Pinto's goal. Higuain had another chance to score a minute later, his header this time denied by Pinto.