IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Barcelona hit top gear to trounce Napoli 4-2 away from home on Thursday and sail into the last 16 of the Europa League 5-3 on aggregate.
Jordi Alba gave Barca the lead in the eighth minute of the knockout stage playoff second leg with a rare strike on his weaker right foot and Frenkie de Jong put the Catalans further ahead with a curling shot after being teed up by a sumptuous backheel from Ferran Torres.
Lorenzo Insigne's penalty gave Napoli hope but Gerard Pique restored Barca's two-goal advantage right before halftime.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a fourth in the second period, netting for the fourth time in two games after hitting a hat-trick at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday. Matteo Politano reduced the deficit to two goals in the 87th.
Pique was delighted with his side's performance after what was perhaps their best display since Xavi Hernandez took over as coach in November.
"For a while the team have not been competing at the level a club like Barca should but we have returned to our roots, to the way we should always play, the way we perhaps had stopped playing," he told reporters.
"This performance is a message for us and for everyone else. Little by little, we're coming back."
Rangers joined Barca in the last 16 by pulling of a spirited 2-2 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd to progress 6-2 on aggregate.
James Tavernier got Rangers off to an ideal start by scoring a penalty midway through the first half but goals from Jude Bellingham and Donyell Malen before halftime put Dortmund in front on the night.
One more Dortmund goal would have forced extra-time but Rangers captain Tavernier put the Scottish champions back in control with his second goal of the night.
"It is a big moment for the club, we can make a lot of people proud as it was a difficult game again," Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst said.
"The last 16 is only top teams, we wait for them and we look forward to the draw."
Real Betis also advanced by holding Zenit St Petersburg to a goalless draw at home and winning 3-2 on aggregate. The Russians were denied a late goal that would have sent the game into extra-time as a VAR review spotted a foul in the build up to Dmitri Chistyakov's strike.
Portuguese side Braga staged a stunning turnaround to beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 at home and level the tie 2-2, forcing extra-time and a penalty shootout they won 3-2.
Earlier, six-times winners Sevilla were made to sweat to reach the last 16 as they were beaten 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb and had to survive a nervy finale with 10 men before progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
Porto also had to scrap deep into added time to earn their place in the last 16, drawing 2-2 at Lazio to squeeze through 4-3 on aggregate. RB Leipzig won 3-1 at Real Sociedad to progress 5-3 on aggregate while Atalanta hammered Olympiakos 3-0 to complete a 5-1 aggregate win.
Leicester, PSV advance to Conference League last 16
Leicester City completed the job away to Danish side Randers to reach the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, winning Thursday's knockout stage playoff second leg 3-1 to complete a 7-1 aggregate win.
Harvey Barnes curled in the opening goal in the second minute and James Maddison smashed in a free kick and a long-range effort from open play in quick succession to further stretch the Premier League side's advantage.
Randers got a late consolation through Stephen Odey after a howler from Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Elsewhere, PSV Eindhoven overcame Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 on aggregate by earning a 1-1 draw in Israel although the game was in danger of being abandoned early in the second half after objects were thrown on the pitch.
The referee took both teams off with the match goalless and headed down the tunnel but the officials and players soon returned and the match resumed, Maccabi's Enric Saborit scoring in added time to cancel out Yorbe Vertessen's 84th-minute strike.
Olympique de Marseilles won 3-0 at Qarabag to progress 6-1 on aggregate. The team from Azerbaijan looked to have opened the scoring through Ibrahima Wadji but the Senegalese striker used his hand to knock the ball into the net.
After protests from Marseille's players, Wadji confessed to the referee that he had used his hand and the goal was chalked off. Unlike UEFA's other competitions the Champions League and Europa League, there is no VAR in the Conference League.
Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt beat Celtic 2-0 to complete a 5-1 aggregate victory over the Scottish Premiership leaders.
Slavia Prague, Vitesse Arnhem and Partizan Belgrade also made it through to the last 16 as did PAOK Salonika, who beat Midtjylland 5-3 in a penalty shootout after the tie ended 2-2.
