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.
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.
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Rangers joined Barca in the last 16 by pulling off a spirited 2-2 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd to progress 6-2 on aggregate.
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.
Earlier, six-time 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.
Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna was punished when the ball bounced onto his hand and Mislav Orsic slotted home the penalty in the 65th minute.
Thomas Delaney was sent off for a second booking in the 91st and Dinamo hemmed the Spaniards into their area for the six minutes of added time, even throwing their goalkeeper up to contest a late free-kick.
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. (Supersports)
