AC Milan overcame a spirited Rennes 5-3 on aggregate despite a 3-2 loss in Thursday's playoff second leg to reach the Europa League last 16, where they will be joined by fellow former European champions Benfica and Marseille.
Onwards we go 🫂#UEL #SRFCACM #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/7C7gaJQCUZ
— AC Milan (@acmilan) February 22, 2024
Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a hat-trick for Rennes, including a pair of penalties, but goals from Luka Jovic and Rafael Leao ensured Milan were never really in danger of blowing a 3-0 lead from the first leg.
Benfica also saw off French opposition as a 0-0 draw away to Toulouse was enough to send the Portuguese side through following their 2-1 victory in last week's first leg in Lisbon.
⏹️ Full-time in France, and we are in the Last 16 of #UEL! 🦅#TFCSLB pic.twitter.com/cIQDeFuacI
— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) February 22, 2024
Lens, who dropped down from the Champions League into the knockout playoff round, became the third French club to go out after Freiburg fought back from two goals down to win 3-2 after extra time.
David Pereira da Costa and Elye Wahi put Lens in control of the tie following a goalless opening leg, but Roland Sallai struck twice to force extra time in Germany.
Michael Gregoritsch grabbed the winner in the 99th minute for Freiburg.
🏁 C'est terminé en Allemagne. Alors que les Lensois avaient pris le match par le bon bout, ils voient finalement leur aventure européenne prendre fin après 120 minutes intenses. @scfreiburg 3⃣-2⃣ @RCLens#SCFRCL #UEL pic.twitter.com/3UN8fBmL6o
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) February 22, 2024
Marseille kept French interest in the competition alive as they came from behind to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 on aggregate after a 3-1 victory at the Velodrome.
Georgiy Sudakov stroked home a penalty early in Marseille before the hosts replied via Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's record-setting 31st Europa League goal.
Ismaila Sarr fired Marseille ahead on 74 minutes and Geoffrey Kondogbia added a late third on Jean-Louis Gasset's debut as coach after the departure of Gennaro Gattuso.
⏱️ 90' 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘!
— Olympique de Marseille 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 (@OM_English) February 22, 2024
Our Olympiens are through to the next round of the @EuropaLeague 👊✅#OMShakhtar | 3️⃣ - 1️⃣ | 🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/S9uXLeyfS7
Qarabag, 4-2 winners last week away to Braga, blew a two-goal advantage after being reduced to 10 men as their Portuguese opponents took the tie to extra time.
AJAX SCRAPE THROUGH
The Azerbaijani team went back in front through Matheus Silva but it looked destined for penalties when Simon Banza's penalty made it 3-1 on the night to Braga.
Nariman Akhundzade sent Qarabag into the next round though with a goal in the 122nd minute.
🇦🇿 Scenes 🥰#UEL pic.twitter.com/HWpfCCyCPo
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 22, 2024
Sporting progressed 4-2 on aggregate despite a 1-1 draw at home to Swiss champions Young Boys.
Sparta Prague overturned a 3-2 first-leg deficit by scoring three times after Galatasaray's Kaan Ayhan saw red to win the return fixture 4-1.
Ajax scraped past Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt after extra time to reach the Europa Conference League last 16.
After a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam, the Dutch giants went ahead when Steven Berghuis struck in first half of the second leg.
But they had centre-back Josip Sutalo sent off early in the second half and Patrick Berg's equaliser took it into extra time, with Kenneth Taylor's 114th-minute effort putting Ajax through 4-3 on aggregate.
⚪️🔴⚪️#UECL #bodaja pic.twitter.com/jIOfOhmMrw
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) February 22, 2024
Dinamo Zagreb knocked out Real Betis 2-1 on aggregate and Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium took down 2022 Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 over two legs.
Olympiakos also moved on along with Swiss side Servette, Norwegians Molde and Austria's Sturm Graz.
The draws for the last 16 of both competitions will be made at Uefa headquarters in Nyon on Friday.
