Rangers shocked Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in the Europa League on Thursday while Barcelona needed to come back in from the back to win 1-1 against Napoli in their play-off’s first leg tie.
The game was played in Dortmund; James Tavernier gave Rangers the lead after scoring an injury-time penalty in the 38th minute following the handball of Dan-Axel Zagadou from an angle.
A minute later, Dortmund again failed to take on the threat of a Rangers corner.
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Joe Aribo nodded the ball to the left of the goal, at which point Alfredo Morelos was unmarked and scored from close the distance.
Just four minutes after the break, Ryan Kent, who was a stooge to Dortmund throughout the night, spotted John Lundstram, who scored with an impressive strike.
Jude Bellingham replied for the home team with a snarling left-footed strike.
Two minutes later, the Rangers scored again as Zagadou tried to prevent Morelos from a second shot and score, smashed the ball into his own goal.
Pedro Guerreiro cut the deficit after eight minutes by scoring an explosive long-range left-footer, but the Rangers did not suffer further losses.
“It is a great night but only a great night,” said Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
“We are not through to the next round, which is what we want. We know we have to have a good performance next week.”
Napoli won a draw of 1-1 in Barcelona.
The visitors, who are vying to win the Serie A title, opened the scoring at the Nou Camp against a home team struggling to make it to the top four of La Liga.
Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski took advantage of his rebound to smash the ball in the back of the net in the 29th minute.
Barcelona consistently dominated possession but required one of the four penalties for handball awarded by VAR during the Europa League on Thursday to reach a level.
Adama Traore’s cross struck Juan Jesus on the arm after 59 minutes.
Ferran Torres confidently scored the penalty for his first goal in Camp Nou for Barcelona. Still, his confidence waned when Torres missed two great chances that went over the bar, as Barcelona won the final minutes.
“Not a friendly.”
“We played excellent soccer,” said Barca coach Xavi.
“But of course, it’s not friendly; it’s the Europa League. The result is insufficient, but I am pleased with the performance.”
Real Betis won 3-1 at Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Sevilla defeated visitors Dinamo Zagreb 3-1; both were on track for the final at their home city.
Ivan Rakitic gave Sevilla the advantage from the spot.
The following three goals were scored within four minutes, just before half-time.
Mislav Orsic equalized for the hosts, but Sevilla immediately responded through Lucas Ocampos and Anthony Martial and scored the first time he scored since he joined after a move to Manchester United.
Zenit, who played only in friendly matches in the last Russian League game on December 12, looked tired when they conceded the ball to Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose in the opening 18 minutes.
Artem Dzyuba and Malcolm Dzyuba brought Zenit back to the level by scoring within three minutes, but Zenit’s home side then awarded Betis the winning goal in the 41st second.
Aitor Ruibal ambushed Yaroslav Rakitskyy and spotted Andres Guardado, who swung the ball over the goal.
Real Sociedad grabbed a 2-2 draw at RB Leipzig.
The Basques were ahead twice, the first goal from Robin Le Normand, defender. Christopher Nkunku leveled.
Mikel Oyarzabal restored the lead through a penalty spot; however, Emil Forsberg leveled off after eight minutes.
Atalanta came back from behind to defeat Olympiacos 2 to 1 in Bergamo.
Albanian defenseman Berat Djimsiti had not scored since November 2018. He scored twice in two minutes of corners.
The game was played in Tiraspol; Braga dominated possession and scored more goals. However, Sheriff took the lead 2-0.
Luxembourg midfielder Sebastien Thill took advantage of a penalty from the first half.
By Braga pushing, Sheriff sealed victory on the counter-attack in the 83rd minutes with a goal scored by Adama Traore.
In the Europa Conference League, Celtic suffered a less memorable night than their Glasgow opponents, falling 3-1 in Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.
Leicester took the lead following Vito Hammershoj-Mistrati from Randers stopped the earlier Wilfried Ndidi goal shortly in the second half.
Goals scored by Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka, and Kiernan Dewsbury Hall secured a 4-1.
