Palmeiras secured their progression to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, trouncing Cerro Porteno 5-0 in Sao Paulo.
Coming into the second leg with a 3-0 lead on aggregate, the Verdao eventually extended it to 8-0 over two legs with four goals in the final 20 minutes on Wednesday, following Braian Samudio's own goal in the first half.
Francisco Arce's side did little to put the two-time reigning Libertadores champions on the back foot, failing to generate a shot in open play in the penalty area over the 90 minutes despite the majority of possession.
Launches up the pitch from Palmeiras goalkeeper Weverton resulted in late goals, with Rony scoring in the 73rd minutes and then assisting for Breno Lopes with a deft back-heel two minutes later.
Palmeiras captain Gustavo Gomez scored what would be a cherished goal against his boyhood club Libertad's rivals to make it 4-0 in the 78th minute, before Breno returned the favour for Rony to round out the scoring in the 83rd.
Abel Ferreira's side will now meet Atletico Mineiro in the quarter-finals, after they progressed past Emelec on Tuesday.
Second-half barrage sees Flamengo through
Flamengo set up a high-profile quarter-final with Corinthians in the late game on Wednesday, smashing Deportes Tolima 7-1 in Rio de Janeiro in their second-leg clash.
Dorival Junior's side confirmed an 8-1 win on aggregate over two legs, scoring five goals in the second half at the Maracana.
Pedro bagged a poker on the night, putting the two-time Libertadores winners up 1-0 in only the fifth minute, before helping put the aggregate result beyond doubt in the second half with another three goals.
Velez knock out River in huge upset
Even after Corinthians eliminated Boca Juniors at La Bombonera on Tuesday, Velez Sarsfield claimed the last-16's biggest scalp, progressing past River Plate with a 0-0 draw on Wednesday in Buenos Aires.
Julio Vaccari's side absorbed pressure and looked relatively comfortable at the Monumental, against a River side that grew increasingly short of ideas.
Despite 71.1 per cent of possession in the second half, in what will likely be Julian Alvarez's last game for the club before completing his move to Manchester City, River Plate did not generate a shot in the penalty area from open play in the final 30 minutes.
Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Veiga and Dewsbury-Hall off the mark in Conference League cracker
Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each scored their first Chelsea goals in a cracking 4-2 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Enzo Maresca decided to make wholesale changes in the Blues' opening match of the league phase of Europe's third-tier competition, but they were still a class above their Belgian opponents.
Full-back Veiga headed Chelsea into a 12th-minute lead after Mykhailo Mudryk stood up a brilliant cross from the right and Dewsbury-Hall fired into the side-netting when he ought to have scored soon after.
Despite their domination of the ball, it took the Blues until the 46th minute to double their lead when Pedro Neto took hold of Axel Disasi's long punt and fired into the roof of the goal.
Some slack Chelsea defending was punished when Tsuyoshi Watanabe headed in from the cross of Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues great Eidur.
Christopher Nkunku rifled home from just inside the area after Gent failed to clear their lines just after the hour and Dewsbury-Hall shot straight through the goalkeeper after Nkunku was tackled attempting to take a shot – with Omri Gandelman celebrating a late consolation for the visitors.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall stakes his Chelsea claim
This was a great chance for a few Chelsea players to stake their claim for more regular Premier League minutes and Dewsbury-Hall put in an industrious performance to do his chances no harm.
Signed from Leicester City in the last transfer window, the centre midfielder had four shots in total, three of which were in the box, and scored from his one big chance. He also had an impressive 91.2% pass accuracy.
Neto too had a very lively outing, creating five chances in total and finishing with a pass accuracy rate of 97%.
Porto 3-3 Manchester United: Maguire salvages point for 10-man visitors
Harry Maguire's late goal spared Manchester United's blushes as they drew 3-3 with Porto despite Bruno Fernandes' red card in the Europa League.
Samu Omorodion's double looked like it had secured Porto the win, but Maguire came off the bench to score in the 91st minute.
Galeno tested Andre Onana with a powerful first-time shot two minutes in, but Marcus Rashford would open the scoring five minutes later at the other end, cutting inside from the left to drill his low shot under Diogo Costa's leg.
He then set up Rasmus Hojlund for their second in the 20th minute, and Costa again should have done better as the shot went through his hand.
Porto showed their fight soon after, though. Onana sprung brilliantly to keep out Noussair Mazraoui's inadvertent header, but Pepe was alert, stooping to nod home from close range.
Samu got his first in the 34th minute, taking advantage of some slack defending as he leapt high to thump his header over the goalkeeper, and got his second after the break, rifling a powerful shot into the top corner.
It looked like United's hopes of a result were over in the 81st minute as Fernandes received a red card for the second consecutive match. He got his first booking in the first half, receiving his marching orders in the 81st for a high boot in the box.
However, the Red Devils kept pushing for an equaliser, and it came from a corner, with Maguire guiding Christian Eriksen's cross into the top-left corner.
Data Debrief: Ten Hag gets lucky
It was a game that summed up United's season in some ways. They started the game on the front foot, getting two quickfire goals to put themselves in control only to drop their concentration.
Since Erik ten Hag joined the club in 2022, no Premier League club has conceded three or more goals in a match more times in all competitions than United (24).
In fact, they are winless in their last five matches in European competition (D3 L2) despite leading by 2+ goals in three of them.
Fernandes' red card against Tottenham may have been overturned, but this one will stand. Having not received a single red card in any of his first 241 appearances for United in all competitions, he has now received two in his last two.
Popp to bring curtain down on illustrious Germany career
Germany great Alexandra Popp has confirmed her impending international retirement.
Popp, the captain of Germany's women's team, will play her final game for her country on October 28, against Australia.
The 33-year-old has played for Germany since 2010, and has scored 67 goals in 144 appearances.
She won gold at the Rio Olympics and claimed bronze in Paris this year, while also leading Germany at two World Cups and skippering them at the 2022 Euros, in which they reached the final before losing to England.
"I have always stressed that my gut will make the decision, and now it has," Wolfsburg's Popp said in a video posted on social media on Monday.
"After long, tearful deliberations, I have decided with a heavy heart to end my career with the national team. The fire that ignited in me 18 years ago and grew stronger from year to year has now almost burnt out.
"It was always important to me to make this decisive decision myself, from within myself. Neither my body, which is a ticking time bomb, nor another person should get ahead of me.
"Before the fire is completely extinguished - because then it would be too late - the right time has now come."
Popp missed Germany's Euro 2013 success due to injury.
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