Manchester United defeated Barcelona to advance to the Europa League last 16 on Thursday, where they will be joined by Juventus and Roma.
After a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their play-off in Spain, United defeated Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate at Old Trafford, with Antony securing the winner.
Barca had the perfect start thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty, but the La Liga leaders were undone by the step up to the European stage as Fred leveled early in the second period.
Antony then delivered his most memorable performance since moving to Manchester from Ajax.
United is riding the crest of a wave in Erik ten Hag’s first season as manager, with the Red Devils competing for trophies on four fronts.
When they face Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday, United could end a six-year wait for silverware.
But they saved nothing for their biggest European scalp since knocking PSG out of the Champions League last 16 in dramatic fashion in 2019.
United is now unbeaten in 18 games at Old Trafford dating back to September.
“It’s great to hear my name from the fans, but we played a good game today,” Fred said.
“We must persevere. We have a final on Sunday, and we must now reconsider going to the final.”
Angel di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus advanced to the next round with a 3-0 second-leg victory over Nantes.
The result gave the Italian giants a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Di Maria, an Argentine World Cup winner, scored after five minutes and added a penalty in the 20th.
Di Maria completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute of a game in which the French were reduced to 10 men after only a quarter-hour when Nicolas Pallois was sent off for handball.
“After being knocked out of the Champions League, some might have thought the Europa League would be a walk in the park for Juventus, but it is not that simple,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
“This was a crucial match, but it wasn’t perfect. We have more work to do. This evening, there were some aspects of which I was dissatisfied.”
Jose Mourinho’s Roma also advanced to the last 16 draws on Friday, thanks to a 2-0 win over Salzburg in the first leg.
Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala scored in a seven-minute span in the first half to secure the victory.
Six-time champions Sevilla were defeated 2-0 by PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Late goals came from Luuk de Jong and Fabio Silva for the Dutch, who had Mauro Junior sent off in stoppage time.
Sporting Lisbon was also a winner, with a 4-0 win over Midtjylland in Denmark completing a 5-1 victory.
Union Berlin, who is currently leading the Bundesliga, defeated Ajax 3-1 in the second leg after the first leg ended goalless last week.
Union’s first-ever win in the Europa League knockout stages came courtesy of goals from Robin Knoche, Josip Juranovic, and Danilho Doekhi.
