UEFA Europa League: Benfica beat Rangers at Ibrox to progress to quarter-finals

Benfica ended Rangers' dream of another deep run in the UEFA Europa League as Rafa Silva scored the only goal at a sodden Ibrox to give the Portuguese champions a 3-2 aggregate win, as Bayer Leverkusen needed two stoppage-time goals by Patrik Schick to get the better of Qarabag.

AC Milan, Marseille and Atalanta are also among Liverpool and West Ham's potential opponents in Friday's quarter-final draw, live on TNT Sports.

Torrential rain in Glasgow made for treacherous conditions with chances at a premium for both sides in stark contrast to the 2-2 draw in Lisbon last week.

Benfica had rarely threatened until they produced the one moment of class to snatch the tie 20 minutes from time.

The visitors broke from a Rangers corner and Angel Di Maria's header teed up Silva to sweep the ball beyond Jack Butland for his 18th goal of the season.

Butland had been overlooked by Gareth Southgate earlier in the day for a place in the England squad, but kept his side in the game with a fine save low to his left to deny Alexander Bah a second eight minutes from time.

Butland's heroics were to no avail, though, as Rangers failed to find an equaliser to send the game to extra-time.

Leverkusen remain unbeaten in 37 games in all competitions this season but were twice taken to the wire by Qarabag.

Xabi Alonso’s men are storming towards a first Bundesliga title, but again had to rely on a late show after falling 2-0 down to the Azerbaijan champions, just as they did in the first leg.

Abdellah Zoubir headed Qarabag into a shock lead on the hour mark, but the visitors joy appeared short-lived when Anthony Taylor sent off Elvin Cafarguliyev for pulling down Jeremie Frimpong after a VAR review.

However, the 10 men shrugged off that blow by breaking forward to double their lead.

Juninho produced an in the first leg and was handed a simpler finish by Marko Vesovic’s enticing cross.

Leverkusen swiftly hit back thanks to their impressive full-backs as Frimpong cushioned a cross from Alex Grimaldo into the far corner.

But they had to wait until the 93rd minute to draw level when Schick, who also scored a stoppage-time equaliser in the first leg, prodded home at the near post.

The Czech striker then avoided the need for extra time by completing the comeback with a back-post header eight minutes into added time.

AC Milan cruised into the last eight with a 3-1 win over 10-man Slavia Prague in the Czech capital.

Already trailing 4-2 from the first leg, Slavia’s difficult task became an almost impossible one once Tomas Holes was shown a straight red card for a stamp on Davide Calabria.

Two goals in three minutes killed the tie off as Christian Pulisic cut inside to slot in on his left foot before Ruben Loftus-Cheek continued his fine goalscoring form by tapping home his eighth goal of 2024 from Theo Hernandez’s cross.

Milan’s hopes of going all the way in the Europa League may well rest with Rafael Leao and the Portuguese forward produced another moment of stunning quality by finding the top corner to rub salt in Slavia wounds before half-time.

David Jurasek's goal ensured Slavia at least ended the night with a consolation, but it is Milan who will pose a major threat in Friday's draw.

Marseille were made to work much harder as Villarreal came close to pulling off a remarkable fightback from a 4-0 first-leg deficit.

Etienne Capoue headed in the opener and Alexander Sorloth’s strike early in the second half set up a nervy final half hour for the visitors.

Villarreal smelt blood when Yerson Mosquera headed in a free-kick five minutes from time.

But the competition's top goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, turned provider for Jonathan Clauss to get Marseille off the hook in stoppage time.

In the UEFA Europa Conference League, Olympiakos produced a stunning fightback to win the tie of the round against Maccabi Tel Aviv 7-5 on aggregate despite losing the first leg 4-1 at home.

The Israelis did not have home advantage for the second leg with the game played in Serbia due to conflict in the Middle East and three first-half goals from Daniel Podence, Kostas Fortounis and Ayoub El Kaabi wiped out the advantage of Robbie Keane’s side before the break.

Eran Zahavi’s penalty briefly put Maccabi back in front in the tie, but El Kaabi’s 25th goal of the season took the game to extra time. Stefan Jovetic and Youssef El Arabi then completed the comeback.

Fiorentina edged out Maccabi Haifa 5-4 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Florence.

Antonin Barak's goal was enough to take last season's finalists into the last eight despite Anan Khalaili giving the Israelis hope late on.

Club Brugge overturned a 2-1 first leg deficit with a 3-0 win over Molde.

Lille did their damage in the first leg as they eased into the last eight 4-1 on aggregate despite being held 1-1 at home by Sturm Graz.

PAOK thrashed Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 in Greece to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.

Fenerbahce had to rely on their 3-0 first leg in Belgium last week to progress 3-1 on aggregate after losing 1-0 at home to Union Saint-Gilloise.

Viktoria Plzen got the better of Servette on penalties after neither side could manage a goal in 210 minutes of the tie.

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