Europa League Round Up: Balogun On Target, Barca Held

There were vital wins for Atalanta, Sevilla and Rangers in the Europa League round of 16 first leg fixtures while Barcelona were held to a goalless draw.

Defending Europa League champions Sevilla beat West Ham 1-0 courtesy of a second-half goal from Munir El Haddadi. They will now carry the advantage to London.

Sevilla will hope to progress to the finals as the final will be held at their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on May 18.

Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by Turkish side Galatasaray after failing to make their chances count.

Xavi’s side troubled their visitors but were unable to find the quality in the final third to punish them. At the end, both sides leave it all to play for in the second leg of the tie.

Rangers defender Leon Balogun scored in his club’s 3-0 triumph over Red Star Belgrade with the Nigeria international integral in attack and defence.

Fresh from their shock win over Borussia Dortmund in the previous round, the Scottish champions scored twice in the first 15 minutes against Red Star with James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos getting the goals.

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Rangers then added a third goal through Balogun early in the second half as they stamped their authority over their opponents. They will now take a three-goal advantage into the second leg.

Atalanta fought back gallantly as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in a frantic match in Bergamo.

Charles Aranguiz put the German side in front early in the match, however, Luis Muriel set up Ruslan Malinovsky for the equaliser moments later.

The Ukrainian turned provider as he set up two goals for Muriel as they put their side 3-1 up. Leverkusen tried to get back into the game and indeed pulled one back through Moussa Diaby to narrow down the scoreline and give themselves a lifeline going into the second leg.

Braga defeated AS Monaco 2-0 courtesy of goals from Abel Ruiz and Vitor Oliveira.

The Europa League quarter-final draw will be held after the second leg of the round of 16, on Friday, March 18 at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

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