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Europa League, round of 16, first leg

A brilliant night of football for Spain's Europa League sides, although all three let their opponents back in to their respective ties at the end. No doubt the performance of the night though was Athletic Bilbao's 2-3 win at Manchester United, goals from Llorente, De Marcos and Muniain stunning the Old Trafford crowd after Rooney had opened the scoring for the Premier League side. An injury time Rooney penalty reduced the gap to one goal, but United will have to beat Athletic by two clear goals in San Mamés to go through, which won't be easy. Valencia raced in to a four goal lead against PSV Eindhoven, three in the first half from Víctor Ruíz and Soldado (two, including a penalty), and one soon after the restart from Piatti. However a Toivonen penalty and a strike from Wijnaldum in the last eight minutes gave the Dutch side a chance. Atlético Madrid will also be defending a two goal lead next Thursday after beating Besiktas 3-1 earlier in the evening, although they too were three up at the break, with two from Salvio and a third from Adrián, before Simao got one back early in the second half. (08.03.12)