Tottenham Hotspur were unceremoniously dumped out of the Europa League on Thursday night after a 2-2 draw with Gent saw the Belgians through 3-2 on aggregate.
Mauricio Pochettino's men - once again - failed to deliver in front of a packed Wembley Stadium as they were sent packing. Christian Eriksen had sent the North Londoners on their way with a 10th-minute strike, but Harry Kane scored an own goal ten minutes later to give Gent a precious away goal.
Dele Alli was then sent off just before half-time after a horrendous challenge, leaving the Premier League side a mountain to climb. It turned out to be insurmountable. Even after Victor Wanyama drilled home a brilliant second to set up a rousing finale, Jeremy Perbet's 82nd-minute goal settled the tie.
Meanwhile, Spain's hold on the tournament appears to have broken; with Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal being knocked out in the early kick-offs. Celta Vigo however have managed to overturn a first leg deficit and knock outShakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.
Spanish clubs have lifted the Europa League in four out of the last five seasons (including a hat-trick from Sevilla in the last three years), but hopes of such an impressive run have been mercilessly dashed for two of their three representatives.
Having been hammered 4-0 by Roma at theEstadio de la Cerámica last week, Villarreal came away with a 1-0 win from the Stadio Olimpico, which was obviously not enough to progress.
Athletic Bilbao, who reached the 2012 final under Marcelo Bielsa, were also eliminated as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to APOEL Nicosia, losing 4-3 on aggregate.
Olympiacos had no such trouble in negotiating their passage through to the last-16 as they beat Osmanlispor FK 3-0 thanks to goals from Karim Ansarifard (2) and Tarik Elyounoussi.
Spain's grip on the Europa League coming to an end. Athletic, Villarreal & Celta all on verge of going out
Ajax, arguably one of the favourites left in the competition, edged past Legia Warsaw 1-0 with Nick Viergever's 49th-minute strike the only goal scross 180 minutes in that tie.
Besiktas ensured they did not emulate Fenerbahce's shock exit on Wednesday night as they won 2-1 at home to Hapoel Be'er Sheva to emerge 4-2 aggregate winners.
There was late drama in Russia, too, as Anderlecht scored in the 90th-minute to knock out Zenit St Petersburg. The Belgian side took the first-leg 2-0 but were heading out after Zenit roared into a 3-0 lead to complete an excellent comeback. With the Russian team on the verge of going through, Isaac Kiese Thelin scored to break Zenit hearts.
F/T - Zenit 3 -1 Anderlecht. Our @EuropaLeague campaign is over after Anderlecht score in the 90th minute #ZENAND #UEL pic.twitter.com/CktP05gSee
In the later kick-offs, Copenhagen drew 0-0 against Ludogorets to scrape through, while Borussia Monchengladbach stunned Fiorentina 4-2 in Florence to go through 4-3 on aggregate, with Lars Stindl netting a hat-trick.
Genk went through on away goals against Astra Giurgiu, while Lyon hammered AZ Alkmaar to win 11-2 on aggregate in a laughably one-sided tie, Nabil Fekir grabbing a hat-trick in that one. Finally, Rostov safely progressed after a 1-1 draw against Sparta Prague, emerging 5-1 winners in the tie.
Nabil Fekir has now scored two hat-tricks for Lyon in his career:
⚽�⚽�⚽� vs. AZ Alkmaar
⚽�⚽�⚽� vs. Caen
Match ball on its way. pic.twitter.com/BgXAloWoqH