Two German teams were in action in the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday night, with Schalke going down 1-0 to Dutch club FC Twente and Hannover meeting Belgian club Standard Liege later in the evening.

Schalke and Twente had met only once before, back in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage, when Steve McClaren's Twente beat Fred Rutten's Schalke 2-1.

Their second match-up produced the same score line, with Luuk de Jong netting from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after being brought down by Joel Matip, who earned a straight red for his mistimed defensive effort.

In other matches Atletico Madrid beat Turkish club Besiktas 3-1, while Olympiakos Piraeus took a major step towards the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory at Metalist Kharkiv in a game the Ukrainian side finished with 10 men. Elsewhere, Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon prevailed 1-0 against Premier League leaders Manchester City after Brazilian defender Xandao scored shortly after the restart.

In Thursday's late games, Bundesliga club Hannover 96 travel to Belgium to face Standard Liege, Manchester United face Athletic, Valencia host PSV Eindhoven, and Udinese travel to AZ Alkmaar.

Author: Darren Mara
Editor: Nancy Isenson