Wolfsburg progress to last eight; Club Brugge knockout Besiktas
Wolfsburg progressed to the last eight of the Europa League with a 2-1 second-leg victory away to Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan.
Daniel Caligiuri scored in the first half at the San Siro - and then, after Rodrigo Palacio had given Inter fleeting hope, Nicklas Bendtner made sure for the Germans with just two minutes remaining. Dieter Hecking's Bundesliga front-runners were therefore 5-2 aggregate winners after last week's success on their home patch.
Inter had more than their share of possession in the first half, but it was more often Wolfsburg who threatened where it mattered. It was the hosts who had the first chance of the match, Hernanes' shot from outside the area brining a save from Diego Benaglio in the fifth minute.
Caligiuri's left-foot volley inside the box at the other end then bounced into the ground and over the bar. Wolfsburg kept pressing, though, and Kevin De Bruyne's through ball in the ninth minute found Bas Dos - who was foiled when Juan Carrizo was smartly out to block.
Benaglio did well, low to his left, to keep Inter out when striker Mauro Icardi produced a good right-foot shot barely a minute before Wolfsburg went in front. De Bruyne's cross from the left found Caligiuri - whose shot was half-saved by Carrizo but looped into the net.
Just after the half-hour, Luiz Gustavo again tested Carrizo - who was up to the task to keep out a shot from 20 yards. De Bruyne had another attempt kept out in the 37th minute, low to Carrizo's left, but Fredy Guarin had a chance to level from close range after a corner right on half-time - only for Benaglio to intervene brilliantly.
On 65 minutes, an outstanding run by Palacio culminated in a low shot which was on target but very well saved with his feet by Benaglio. There was still a threat from Inter, though.
Hernanes' low left-footer from the edge of the area just snaked wide. Then with 20 minutes left, it was level on the night when brilliant inter-play between Palacio and Hernanes resulted in a right-foot volley inside the box from the striker.
But Wolfsburg weathered the relative storm, and Bendtner made sure with his late goal - a well-controlled right-footed shot from inside the area which again bounced through Carrizo.
Club Brugge progressed to the quarterfinals of the Europa League with a 5-2 aggregate win over Besiktas.
The match was perhaps not as one-sided as the scoreline suggests, with two late goals from Boli Bolingoli Mbombo required to make sure of their progress. Tom de Sutter had earlier taken advantage of some lax goalkeeping to add to his goal from the 2-1 win in the first leg, meaning Ramon's fine strike for the Turkish side was merely a memory by the time the final whistle blew - with Besiktas down to 10 men after the late loss of Olcay Sahan.
Brugge keeper Matthew Ryan saved from Sahan and Mustafa Pektemek in the first quarter-hour, while Jose Izquierdo forced a sharp stop from Tolga Zengin at the other end. De Sutter and Besiktas duo Gokhan Tore and Demba Ba all missed the target and Ryan saved another Ba effort before half-time.
The Australian, though, could do nothing about Ramon's stunning effort three minutes after the interval. The Brazilian took aim from 25 yards out on the left-hand side and his effort soared into the far top corner.
That gave Besiktas the lead on away goals and their opponents missed a glorious chance to regain the advantage within a minute when De Sutter was off target from close range. The striker made better use of his next chance, though, as Zengin switched off completely.
Timmy Simons' header over the top seemed to have bounced well clear of De Sutter and into a penalty area which was empty save for the home keeper. But he was inexplicably back-pedalling and slow to change course, and De Sutter sprinted in to slide the ball past him, level the scores on the night and put the Belgian side ahead once more on aggregate.
And they put the tie to rest when Bolingoli Mbombo struck twice in the last five minutes. The substitute made it 4-2 on aggregate when he sprung the offside trap to latch on to Lior Refaelov's pass, round the keeper and finish.
And Bolingoli Mbombo extended the winning margin further when he dispossessed defender Necip Uysal and stroked a left-foot shot into the far corner from 15 yards. And there was one final kick in the teeth for Besiktas as Sahan was shown a straight red card in injury time for a frustrated clip at Mamadou Oulare on the wing.
Zenit St. Petersburg booked their place in the Europa League quarter-finals despite going down 1-0 to a late headed goal from Torino's Kamil Glik at the Stadio Olimpico.
Zenit arrived for the second leg in Italy with a two-goal cushion, and it proved just enough for Andre Villas-Boas' team to progress after a bruising encounter. The visitors began brightest in an even first half.
Hulk was off target with a free-kick in the opening minute before Zenit captain Danny brought a save out of Daniele Padelli when he tried his luck with another dead-ball effort on the 10-minute mark. Torino found their feet, Alexander Farnerud failing to test goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin with a free-kick just after the quarter-hour and then Cristian Molinaro shooting over from 30 yards.
Maxi Lopez was better placed on the half-hour, only to hit the ball wide from 12 yards, but Fabio Quagliarella's header well inside the box did bring a save from Lodygin. Zenit, however, finished the half as they began on the attack through Hulk - and Matteo Darmian had to be alert at the back to block.
Hulk was soon threatening again after the break, with another free-kick, but put his left-footed shot over the bar. Ten minutes later, Quagliarella's shot from distance for Torino also cleared the target. By the 63rd minute, Zenit had had six players booked - to Torino's two - in a match which was decidedly not for the faint-hearted.
Danny and Torino substitute Cesare Bovo both had shots blocked midway through the half, as blows continued to be traded. Torino had brought on a striker too, in Josef Martinez - and the Venezuela international let fly from distance, but his effort was blocked as well by Ezequiel Garay.
Lodygin then had to be at his most athletic with two saves in the same Torino attack, first from a Martinez header and then - even better - from Alessandro Gazzi. Finally, Torino were rewarded for their efforts when Glik powered in at the near post to glance a header past Lodygin from a corner to make it 1-0.
For Giampiero Ventura' hosts, it was enough for victory on the night but no more than a mixture of consolation and frustration as Lopez had his headed attempt at an injury-time equaliser scrambled away.
