Finnish minnows HJK Helsinki beat Champions League semi-finalists Schalke 04 in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier. Elsewhere, France’s Sochaux tied with Kharkov, Rennes beat Belgrade 2-1, and PSG thrashed Differdange 4-0.
Colombian striker Falcao (pictured) scored the only goal in the all-Portuguese final of the Europa League on Wednesday, handing champions Porto their second trophy of the season.
Sporting Braga denied Benfica a Europa League clash with traditional rivals Porto on Thursday, defeating the Lisbon side 1-0 to reach their first ever European final.
Portuguese leader FC Porto crushed Villareal 5-1 on Thursday and is looking to validate their ticket to the Europa League final. Elsewhere, in an all-Portuguese affair, Benfica won 2-1 against Braga.
Spanish side Villareal will be the only non-Portuguese to compete for a ticket to the Europa League final on Thursday as they meet FC Porto in the semis. Elsewhere, Benfica will host Braga to compensate for a frustrating season.
Benfica dashed Paris Saint Germain's hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Europa League Thursday, after a 1-1 draw saw the Lisbon-based club advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Portuguese champions Benfica defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Thursday, but the French club kept their chances of a place in the Europa League quarter-finals alive by scoring a precious away goal.
Liverpool fought back from a goal down at Anfield Thursday to defeat Napoli 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick by Steven Gerrard. Elsewhere, Manchester City slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Lech Poznan (photo), while Dortmund held PSG to a goalless draw.
Liverpool remained top of Europa League's Group K but failed to confound the sceptics after a goalless draw against Utrecht on Thursday. (Pictured: Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson)
