Liverpool 6-1 Sparta Prague, Brighton 1-0 Roma: Europa League last 16 and more – as it happened

20 min: Brighton 0-0 Roma (agg: 0-4) The two screens are on Villa and Liverpool so I haven’t seen this game, but the bare statistics suggest bugger all has happened.

20 min: Aston Villa 0-0 Ajax He’s having his knee strapped on the touchline so he’s going to give it a go. There’s a big cheer when he comes back onto the field.

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19 min: Aston Villa 0-0 Ajax Watkins is on his feet now, jogging round the touchline in an impromptu fitness test. Hard to know wherther he’ll be okay but my instinct is that he won’t last the half.

These are tonight’s latest scores, all 8pm kick-offs apart from the thriller in Plzen.

Europa League

• Atalanta 0-0 Sporting CP (agg: 1-1)

• Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Qarabag (agg: 2-2)

• Brighton 0-0 Roma (agg: 0-4)

• Liverpool 4-0 Sparta Prague (agg: 9-1)

Europa Conference League

• Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Servette (agg: 0-0, gone to penalties)

• Aston Villa 0-0 Ajax (agg: 0-0)

• Club Brugge 0-0 Molde (agg: 1-2)

• Lille 0-0 Sturm Graz (agg: 3-0)

• Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-1 Olympiacos (agg: 4-2)

16 min: Aston Villa 0-0 Ajax Ollie Watkins is down and looks in a lot of pain with his knee. He tried to block a clearance from the keeper, missed and took him out. When he gets up he’ll be booked for the challenge.

Liverpool 4-0 Sparta Prague (agg: 9-1) On Salah, by the way, Ian Rush scored 20 in six consecutive seasons before joining Juventus. His poorest season in that time was 1984-85, when he scored a pitiful 27 in all competitions.

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Yep. Liverpool have doubled their aggregate lead in the first 14 minutes! It came, yet again, from Sparta trying to pass the ball out from the back. They lost it and eventually Salah crossed low to give Cody Gakpo a simple finish.

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Three goals in four minutes! Clark returns the favour, winning the ball aggressively just outside the Sparta area, and Salah finishes nonchalantly. It’s his 20th goal of the season, which makes him the first player in Liverpool’s history to score at least 20 in seven consecutive seasons.

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Bobby Clark gets his first goal for Liverpool! It came straight from the kick-off, Sparta’s kick-off. Salah blocked a pass on the edge of the area, with the ball ricocheting square to Clark. He finished coolly with his left foot.

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Darwin Nunez is a very happy young man. He has continued his fine form with an early goal, bobbled past the keeper at the near post after a sharp cutback from Szoboszlai.

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7 min: Aston Villa 0-0 Ajax (agg: 0-0) A fairly quiet start at Villa Park, with Villa perhaps more cautious because of their oddly poor recent home form.

Match report: West Ham 5-0 Freiburg (agg: 5-1)

The mighty Jacob Steinberg was at the London Stadium to watch West Ham batter Freiburg. Here’s his report.

Peep peep! The 8pm games are under way, and it looks darn cold at the English grounds.

“I’m in a minority of probably just one, but I think Gasset did some things well as the Ivory Coast manager,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Most importantly, he figured out an offensive system that allowed the Elephants to attack in a variety of ways, which is rare in national teams. But he got the emotional tenor of an international tournament completely wrong, which led to near disaster. Club management may suit him better.”

Thanks Michael, evening everyone. That’s such a strong team Jurgen Klopp has picked, with potentially eight or nine players who will start at Old Trafford on Sunday. It’s not the XI you or I would pick on Football Manager, which is one of the reasons we’re picking teams on Football Manager and Klopp isn’t.

A night of contrasting tales for the two British sides. West Ham, 1-0 down from the first leg, put in a performance for the ages to romp into the last eight of the Europa League. What a story this is, building on their Conference League triumph last season.

For Rangers, a hugely disappointing second half ultimately proved the difference over the two ties. Benfica had one moment of quality, with Di Maria and Rafa Silva combining for a fine counter-attacking goal, while Rangers’ forwards were running around like baby giraffes that have just been born.

Going to hand you over to Rob Smyth now, who will take you through the late kick-offs in the Europa League (plus updates on Aston Villa v Ajax in the Conference League).

Thanks, and enjoy!

Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Servette (agg: 0-0, extra-time ongoing)

Fenerbahce 0-1 Union SG (agg: 3-1)

PAOK 5-1 Dinamo Zagreb (agg: 5-3)

Fiorentina 1-1 Maccabi Haifa (agg: 5-4)

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

West Ham 5-0 Freiburg (5-1 agg)

Slavia Prague 1-3 Milan (3-7 agg)

Villarreal 3-1 Marseille (3-5 agg)

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In all that Rangers excitement, I am late to update you on two goals in Spain. Mosquera had made it 3-4 on agg, just one goal in deficit, but Clauss has struck in injury time. It’s Marseille that will surely make it through to the quarter-finals!

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

90+5 min: Free kick to Rangers. Butland is coming up! Can Rangers salvage anything?

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

90+3 min: It’s not beautiful play, but pinball in the box and Cantwell stabs wide, I think he might have been penalised for handball anyway. But Rangers are finally creating some pressure. Has it come too late?

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

90 min: Five minutes added on. Rangers desperately need an equaliser.

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

87 min: Rangers have been so poor this second half. Substitutes Cantwell and Matondo have made no impact. Lundstram tries a tired shot from range. Benfica are in control, and happy to run the clock down with substitutes and possession.

84 min: West Ham are cooking on gas. Another brilliant goal, finished by Kudus, but this is a team effort. Kudus starts the move with a neat dummy, Soucek drives forward unchallenged. He squares the ball to Bowen, who lays the ball off first time and Kudus lets fly again from the edge of the area, wrong footing Atubolu and making it five. What a performance from West Ham.

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78 min: AN ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL SOLO GOAL FROM MOHAMMED KUDUS! What. A. Goal. This is Ben Arfa-esque levels of quality. Kudus picks the ball up outside his own penalty area, skips around Eggestein, drives into Freiburg’s half. He puts Philipp in a blender, turning this way and that, nutmegs another defender on the edge of the area and finishes calmly past Atubolu with his weaker right foot! Ridiculous!

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Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg)

75 min: Benfica are doing that thing that all Portuguese teams seem very good at doing: killing the game. It helps when you have Neves and Di Maria controlling the tempo. But I should also mention Tengstedt, who has come on up front and held the ball up really well. This is so frustrating for Rangers, who haven’t created a major chance since going behind.

Villarreal 2-0 Marseille (2-4 agg)

70 min: Marseille have settled and look like they are back in control of this tie. Time is ticking for Villarreal. Parejo, by the way, has been excellent. Always making the right pass, intercepting and snapping into tackles. The problem is his teammates can’t seem to keep the ball.

66 min: Benfica lead in the tie for the first time! The Portuguese hit Rangers on the counter-attack, and Rafa Silva times his run to perfection, Di Maria heading the ball through to the diminutive, pacy winger, who just about stayed in his own half and onside. Rafa Silva sprinted beyond Diomande, picked his spot and finished calmly past the advancing Butland. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but the goal stands. Benfica fans and players celebrate deliriously in the Scottish rain. Rangers have just over 20 minutes to find a goal and force extra time.

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Villarreal 2-0 Marseille (2-4 agg)

60 min: Amazing really that Gasset got the Marseille job last month so soon after being sacked by Ivory Coast during Afcon.

But you can’t argue with his results since being appointed. Five wins from five in all competitions. This is his first big test in the Marseille dugout. His team have half an hour to hang on. It’s all Villarreal at the moment. Capoue is absolutely relentless in midfield.

55 min: Interesting, VERY interesting! More than half an hour to go, and Villarreal are nearly within reach, just two goals away. Marseille, who rested players for this second leg, will be nervy now. Sorloth races onto a through ball from Guedes and brilliantly finishes past Lopez to score his 16th goal of the season, flashing a left-footed shot inside the near post. The goal is initially ruled out for offside, but after a lengthy VAR check, the goal is given. Game on!

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