Kevin De Bruyne scored twice as highly-fancied Wolfsburg fought back from a goal down to defeat Inter 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash yesterday.
The German side found themselves a goal down inside six minutes as Rodrigo Palacio gave the visitors the lead.
Naldo levelled in the 28th minute from De Bruyne’s corner and the Belgian turned goalscorer in the second half.
His first in the 63rd minute owed much to a horrible mistake from goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo, whose miscued clearance went straight to Vieirinha and he played in De Bruyne. The midfielder then grabbed the third in the 76th minute with a fine free-kick.
Zenit St Petersburg took a big step towards the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over 10-man Torino – their ninth home victory in a row in the Europa League.
Axel Witsel opened the scoring in the 38th minute for the Russians and Domenico Criscito doubled the advantage eight minutes after the break.
Zenit have now won 12 and drawn one of their last 13 home matches in the competition and Torino were always facing an uphill battle once Marco Benassi picked up his second yellow card after only 27 minutes.
Like Wolfsburg, Club Brugge turned around a deficit to clinch a home victory, the Belgians defeating Besiktas 2-1.
Gokhan Tore gave the Turkish side the lead a minute after half-time but Tom De Sutter equalised in the 62nd minute and 11 minutes from time Lior Refaelov grabbed the winner from the penalty spot after Felipe Gedoz had been fouled.
Dnipro were also home winners, Roman Zozulya netting the only goal on the half-hour mark in a 1-0 victory over Ajax.
Sevilla win
Vitolo scored the fastest goal in the tournament history as holders Sevilla took a giant step towards the quarter-finals with a 3-1 away victory over Spanish rivals Villarreal.
Vitolo needed just 13.21 seconds to put Sevilla ahead at El Madrigal, and break the previous record of 15.19secs set by AEK Athens’ striker Ismael Blanco against BATE Borisov in 2009.
Further goals from Stephane Mbia and Kevin Gameiro – either side of a Luciano Vietto strike for the hosts – then put Sevilla in a position of power ahead of the last-16 second leg.
Everton will take a 2-1 lead to Ukraine next week after they edged past Dynamo Kiev at Goodison Park last night.
Oleg Gusev gave the Ukrainians a 13th-minute lead but the Premier League side hit back in style and goals from Steven Naismith (39) and a Romelu Lukaku penalty eight minutes from time, handing them an important victory.
Fiorentina and Roma played out a 1-1 draw in an all-Italian derby in Florence last night.
The Viola were off to a flier and Josip Ilicic put them ahead after 17 minutes.
Roma came back strongly on the restart and could have equalised on the hour when they were awarded a penalty but Adem Ljajic saw his effort saved by Neto.
But the Giallorossi went on to claim a precious draw as Seidou Keita headed the equaliser on 77 minutes.
Gonzalo Higuain plundered a hat-trick as Napoli recovered from an early fright to seize a commanding 3-1 advantage against 10-man Dinamo Moscow.
After five successive clean sheets in the competition, Napoli were breached inside two minutes courtesy of a Kevin Kuranyi goal.
But Higuain, with a classic header, a penalty and a thumping strike, handed the initiative to the Italians ahead of the second leg.
Round of 16 – First legs
Zenit SP (Russia) vs Torino (Italy) - 2-0
Club Brugge (Belgium) vs Besiktas (Turkey) - 2-1
Dnipro (Ukraine) vs Ajax (Netherlands) - 1-0
Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Inter (Italy) - 3-1
Everton (England) vs Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) - 2-1
Fiorentina (Italy) vs Roma (Italy) - 1-1
Napoli (Italy) vs Dinamo Moscow (Russia) - 3-1
Villarreal (Spain) vs Sevilla (Spain) - 1-3
Second legs: March 19.