West Ham United produced an outstanding display to overturn a first-leg deficit against Freiburg by beating them 5-0 in the UEFA Europa League, booking their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Mohammed Kudus was the star of the show at London Stadium, scoring twice, including a superb solo goal. Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell were also on target in the rout.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa confirmed their place in the last-eight of the UEFA Europa Conference League with an excellent 4-0 win against 10-man Ajax thanks to goals from Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby.
Liverpool were too strong for Sparta Prague again as the Reds won 6-1 at Anfield and 11-2 on aggregate while Brighton & Hove Albion's European adventure came to an end as they failed to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Roma.
West Ham 5-0 Freiburg (5-1 agg.)
West Ham were dominant from the start and ensured it would not be a nervous evening when Paqueta poked home at the back post in the ninth minute to level the score on aggregate.
After being called up to the England squad today, Bowen marked his selection with his 18th goal in all competitions of the season and seven minutes into the second half Cresswell but the contest beyond doubt with his first strike in just under two years.
Kudus was impressive throughout and added two late goals, with his first a superb solo run that began from his own half before brushing off three defenders and calmly slotting the ball past Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
Hammers cruise into quarter-finals with record European win
Aston Villa 4-0 Ajax (4-0 agg.)
Aston Villa brushed off their 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday with an excellent 4-0 win against Ajax in the Europa Conference League.
After an evenly contested start, Watkins, as he has often done this season, opened the scoring in the 25th minute with an header at the far post from Douglas Luiz's outswinging corner.
The goal came at a cost though as only seven minutes later, Watkins had to be replaced by Duran.
Ajax remained a threat throughout and would have levelled the score if it wasn't for Matty Cash, who cleared Brian Brobbey's shot off the line.
But it would be Villa who would score the next goal of the match as former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson lost possession in the build-up, with Bailey showing great skill to fashion an opening before rolling the ball into the bottom corner.
Ajax's task then became much tougher when Sivert Mannsverk was sent off for two bookable offences and the tie was all but over in the 66th minute after Duran smashed in Villa's third before Diaby added gloss to the scoreline and secured their first European knockout win since 1998.
Liverpool 6-1 Sparta Prague (11-2 agg.)
Liverpool followed up their 5-1 first-leg win against Sparta Prague by thrashing them again, this time 6-1 at Anfield to seal an impressive 11-2 win on aggregate.
Jurgen Klopp's side were relentless in the first 14 minutes as they struck four times thanks from Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark - his first for the club, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.
It was the quickest a team have been four goals up in a match in a major European competition since Chelsea in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in September 1971.
And Salah's goal was his 20th in all competitions meaning he became Liverpool's first player in their history to score at least 20 goals in a single campaign for a seventh consecutive season.
The first player in our history to score 20+ goals in all competitions for seven successive seasons 🤯👑 pic.twitter.com/5y9RAT8SIB
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 14, 2024
Sparta scored a consolation just before half-time when Veljko Birmancevic outpaced Wataru Endo and steered the ball past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
It was a single moment of joy for the Sparta fans, who saw their side concede again three minutes after half-time through Dominik Szoboszlai and again in the 55th minute when Gakpo produced an improvised flick from substitute Harvey Elliott's long-range effort.
Clinical Liverpool put six past Sparta and reach Europa League quarters
Brighton 1-0 Roma (1-4 agg.)
Despite beating Roma 1-0 on the night, Brighton's Europa League campaign came to an end as they bowed out of the competition, losing 4-1 on aggregate.
Danny Welbeck gave Brighton fans hope with a brilliant goal in the 37th minute after he received a pass from Pervis Estupinan on the edge of the box before curling a fine right-footed finish into the top corner.
Brighton exerted pressure throughout but were unable to make Roma's evening more nervous.
Simon Adingra had a header from point-blank range stopped by Roma 'keeper Mile Svilar, who saved from Igor Julio while Jan Paul van Hecke had two good opportunities that he put off target.
With their first European adventure coming to an end, Brighton will aim to ensure that it won't be their last as they aim to close a five-point gap on Manchester United, who currently sit in sixth place.
Europa League dream over but Albion finish on a high
When are the draws for the Europa League and Europa Conference League quarter-finals?
Liverpool, West Ham and Villa will all discover their opponents for the next stage of Europa League and Europa Conference League on Friday.
The draw for the Europa League takes place at 12:00 GMT. Liverpool and West Ham could face each other in addition to AC Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Marseille and Roma.
The Europa Conference League draw will occur at 13:00 GMT. Villa could face any one of Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, PAOK, Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, Lille or Olympiakos.