BOSTON – Barcelona hit top gear to trounce Napoli 4-2 away from home and sail into the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League 5-3 on aggregate.
Jordi Alba gave Barca the lead in the eighth minute of the knockout stage playoff second leg with a rare strike on his weaker right foot and Frenkie de Jong put the Catalans further ahead with a curling shot after being teed up by a sumptuous backheel from Ferran Torres.
A Lorenzo Insigne penalty gave Napoli hope but Gerard Pique restored Barca’s two-goal advantage right before halftime, Reuters reported.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a fourth in the second period, netting for the fourth time in two games after hitting a hat-trick at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday. Matteo Politano reduced the deficit to two goals in the 87th.
Rangers joined Barca in the last 16 by pulling of a spirited 2-2 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd to progress 6-2 on aggregate.
Real Betis also advanced by holding Zenit St Petersburg to a goalless draw at home and winning 3-2 on aggregate. The Russians were denied a late goal that would have sent the game into extra-time as a VAR review spotted a foul in the build up to Dmitri Chistyakov’s strike.
Earlier, six-times winners Sevilla were made to sweat to reach the last 16 as they were beaten 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb and had to survive a nervy finale with 10 men before progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna was punished when the ball bounced on to his hand and Mislav Orsic slotted home the penalty in the 65th minute.
Thomas Delaney was sent off for a second booking in the 91st and Dinamo hemmed the Spaniards into their area for the six minutes of added time, even throwing their goalkeeper up to contest a late free kick.
Porto also had to scrap deep into added time to earn their place in the last 16, drawing 2-2 at Lazio to squeeze through 4-3 on aggregate.
RB Leipzig won 3-1 at Real Sociedad to progress 5-3 on aggregate while Atalanta hammered Olympiakos 3-0 to complete a 5-1 aggregate win.
Elsewhere, six-time winners Sevilla needed to see out a nervy final 25 minutes to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League as the Spaniards progressed 3-2 on aggregate despite a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb also on Thursday.
Mislav Orsic scored the only goal of the night from the penalty spot after Marcos Acuna handled inside his own box.
Sevilla had to see out stoppage time with 10 men as Thomas Delaney saw red, but held on to keep their dream alive of reaching the final in their own stadium come May.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad was well beaten 3-1 at home by RB Leipzig to bow out 5-3 on aggregate.
Willi Orban and Andre Silva put the Germans 2-0 up before Martin Zubimendi pulled a goal back.
However, Emil Forsberg’s late penalty ensured Leipzig progressed.
