A dreadful week in Europe for British teams only got worse on Thursday, as Everton were the only club to advance from the Europa League round of 32 thanks to their 3-1 (7-2 on aggregate) win over Young Boys.

Liverpool bowed out of the tournament to Besiktas on penalties, Tottenham Hotspur lost to Fiorentina 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate) and Celtic had little chance of causing an upset against Inter Milan, dropping their match 1-0 (4-3 on aggregate).    

The Toffees will know their round-of-16 opponent on Friday. Here are the full results for the return legs from the round of 32:

 

Just one day after Arsenal’s 3-1 loss against Monaco in the Champions League, the European misery for British teams continued. Liverpool couldn’t defend their 1-0 lead from the first leg against Besiktas, losing 1-0 in regulation to set up extra time and penalties.

During the shootout, Dejan Lovren skied his attempt over the bar, handing the Turks a ticket to the next round. Sportswriter Paul Tomkins didn’t hold it against the centre-back, but questioned why he was chosen to kick the decisive penalty in the first place:

In fairness to Besiktas, the hosts were the better team for large stretches of the match and deservedly took the lead through Tolgay Arslan. Demba Ba came close to winning the match in regulation for the Turks, and none of their players faltered from the spot.

The result sent a massive cheer around Goodison Park, where Everton were playing Young Boys after their big win in Switzerland. Goal UK’s James Dutton knows this is a day that will live on in Toffee lore:

Everton knew they didn’t have to do much on Thursday after winning the first leg 4-1, and with Romelu Lukaku bagging a brace and Kevin Mirallas adding a goal in the first half, progression was never in question for the Toffees, to the delight of former England international Gary Lineker:

The second half saw little action as both teams knew the tie was over, allowing Roberto Martinez’s men to simply play the ball around and do what no other British team could do in the Europa League on Thursday—win a match.

Tottenham marched into Florence looking for at least one goal after the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane, but after a promising first half, the hosts completely took control of the match and scored twice to end any hopes Spurs had of advancing.

Things could have been very different had Roberto Soldado done better when through on goal with Nacer Chadli next to him. The Spaniard panicked and turned a sure goal into a weak pass that dribbled into the arms of Neto. BT Sport’s Ian Darke noted mistakes like that sealed the club’s fate:

Manager Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t hide his disappointment:

Celtic did a fantastic job holding Inter to a 3-3 draw last week in a spectacular match, but an early red card for Virgil van Dijk all but gifted the Italians the tie. The Scots hardly threatened throughout the match, and Fredy Guarin took away all suspense with a stunning goal from range.

Sports writer Brian McNally thought the first booking was very harsh on the Dutchman:

The match between Feyenoord and AS Roma was briefly suspended on multiple occasions as the home fans threw objects onto the pitch throughout the fixture. Amid much controversy, the Giallorossi won 2-1, as all five Italian teams advanced to the round of 16.

Ajax waltzed to an easy 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw, while Villarreal overcame a strong challenge from Salzburg to win 3-1 and move on to the next round. Zenit St. Petersburg dominated PSV, and Sevilla edged Borussia Monchengladbach in a spectacular match, winning 3-2.

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