Premier League title contenders Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, came away from their trip to Italy to face Fiorentina with an excellent 1-1 draw that puts them in a strong position ahead of next week’s return.

Mauricio Pochettino sent out a strong side, albeit one missing first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and with Harry Kane on the bench.

And Spurs went in front in the 37th minute when Nacer Chadli converted from the penalty spot after Ben Davies was brought down by Nenad Tomovic.

However, Fiorentina, who sit third in Serie A, drew level just before the hour mark thanks to Federico Bernardeschi, whose long-range strike beat Michel Vorm with the aid of a deflection off Ryan Mason.

– Dortmund, Sevilla enjoy wins –

In a strong Europa League line-up, Borussia Dortmund put themselves in a strong position against FC Porto as they beat the Portuguese giants 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park thanks to a goal in each half from Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus.

Holders Sevilla have one foot in the last 16 after beating Molde of Norway 3-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan with Fernando Llorente netting twice before Kevin Gameiro wrapped up the win.

Fellow Spaniards Villarreal beat Serie A visitors Napoli 1-0 via a late goal from Denis Suarez, while Anderlecht beat Olympiakos by the same score as Serigne Mbodji got the only goal of the game in Brussels.

Basel, whose St-Jakob Park will host this season’s final, remain in contention after losing 3-2 to Saint-Etienne in France.

Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, got the winner for the French side after Basel had earlier come from two goals down.

Moustapha Sall and Kevin Monnet-Paquet scored to put Saint-Etienne 2-0 up before veteran Argentine defender Walter Samuel pulled one back and Marc Janko equalized with a penalty.

Later games included Liverpool taking on Bundesliga side Augsburg, which resulted in a 0-0 draw as Jurgen Klopp went back to his native Germany for the first time since becoming Reds manager earlier this season.