It was a disappointing night for Manchester United and Manchester City as the Premier League duo suffered shock defeats in their Europa League Last 16 first-leg clashes yesterday.
United suffered a second successive home defeat in the competition when they were surprisingly beaten by Athletic Bilbao 3-2 at Old Trafford.
City suffered the same fate but away from home as the Premier League leaders lost at Sporting Lisbon 1-0.
At Old Trafford, United were off to a fine start as they took the lead on 22 minutes through Wayne Rooney.
But Bilbao roared back with goals from Fernando Llorente, Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain before Rooney reduced the damage ahead of next week’s second leg with an injury-time penalty.
City had crushed Portuguese league leaders Porto 6-1 on aggregate in the previous round, but Sporting proved a far more formidable obstacle at Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade Stadium.
Brazilian centre-back Xandao claimed the game’s only goal with a clever back-heel in the 51st minute to give Ricardo Sa Pinto’s side a narrow advantage ahead of the second leg at the City of Manchester Stadium next week.
Victory extended Sporting’s unbeaten European home record to 10 games, while City coach Roberto Mancini was left to rue an injury to captain Vincent Kompany that forced the Belgian centre-back to leave the fray early in the game.
“This result was not a surprise, anything can happen in football. I don't think we deserved to lose,” said City coach Roberto Mancini.
“We did not play well. We had chances to score, but we didn't take them. It will be a different game in Manchester. When we have chances to score, we will score.”
Atletico in charge
In Madrid, Atletico saw off Besiktas of Turkey 3-1 with all of the home team’s goals coming in the first half.
But a second-half strike by Portuguese international Simao, who spent three seasons at Atletico before moving to Turkey last year, gave Besiktas hope of over-turning the deficit in the second leg.
Atletico scored twice in three minutes through Eduardo Salvio in the 24th and 27th minutes, with Adrian Lopez adding a fine solo effort for a third, eight minutes before the break.
However, 32-year-old Simao struck a crucial 53rd-minute volley for the visitors to keep their hopes alive.
FC Twente, managed by former England manager Steve McClaren, clinched a 1-0 home win against Schalke of Germany thanks to a 61st-minute penalty from Luuk de Jong, who had been brought down by Joel Matip.
In the night’s other early kick-off, Olympiakos of Greece came away from Metalist Kharkiv with a 1-0 win thanks to a 50th-minute goal from David Fuster.
Udinese have a lot of work to do if they are to reach the quarter-final stages as the Serie A crashed to a 2-0 defeat at AZ Alkmaar.
Maarten Martens put the Dutch side ahead on 53 minutes before Erik Falkenburg added a second goal six minutes from time.
Yesterday's Results
S. Lisbon vs Man. City 1-0
Twente vs Schalke 1-0
A. Madrid vs Besiktas 3-1
M. Kharkiv vs Olympiakos 0-1
Man. United vs A. Bilbao 2-3
S. Liege vs Hanover 2-2
Valencia vs PSV 4-2
AZ Alkmaar vs Udinese 2-0
Second legs: March 15.