AC Milan ease to Europa win, Lukaku earns Roma draw

Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored two goals as AC Milan eased to a 3-0 victory over Rennes in the first leg of the playoff for the Europa League's round of 16.

The former Chelsea midfielder headed in the opener in the 32nd minute on Thursday in front of over 69,000 spectators at the San Siro, with the ball bouncing in off the post.

He doubled the advantage by heading in the rebound from close range following a corner three minutes after half-time, before Rafael Leão finished the scoring for the dominant hosts.

Loftus-Cheek has now scored five goals in his last five games for Milan, the seven-time European Cup champions who have never won the second-tier Europa League nor its predecessor the UEFA Cup.

Romelu Lukaku also kept up his hot scoring form by netting the equaliser to give Roma a 1-1 draw at Feyenoord.

Brazilian winger Igor Paixão put the hosts ahead with a header in the first-half injury time before Lukaku nodded home in the 67th after a meeting a cross into the box.

It was Lukaku's sixth goal of this season's Europa League and he now has 21 in his last 18 games in the competition.

This was the first European game in charge for former Roma captain Daniele De Rossi, who replaced the fired Jose Mourinho as coach last month.

In a tense finish in Hamburg, Marseille substitute Iliman Ndiaye's 90th-minute goal put his team 2-1 ahead before Shakhtar Donetsk's Eguinaldo salvaged a 2-2 draw in a game played in Germany due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Marseille striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted his 30th career goal in the Europa League to equal the competition record before Mykola Matviyenko equalised for the hosts.

Veteran Ángel Di María converted two second-half penalties as two-time European Cup champions Benfica beat 10-man Toulouse 2-1 in Lisbon.

Galatasaray's Mauro Icardi scored a late winner in stoppage time to edge Sparta Prague 3-2 after both teams were reduced to 10 men.

Jan Kuchta scored for Sparta to make it 2-2 just minutes after Galatasaray defender Victor Nelsson received a red card. Sparta midfielder Matěj Ryneš was later sent off for his second yellow.

Abdellah Zoubir's double and Juninho's second half-goal lifted Qarabağ to a 4-2 upset victory at Braga. Braga's Simon Banza had cancelled out Marko Janković's opener from the spot before half-time.

Also, Sporting Lisbon earned a 3-1 away win at Young Boys, while Freiburg held hosts Lens to a 0-0 draw.

The eight runners-up in the Europa League group stage are playing the eight third-place teams from the Champions League group stage in the playoffs.

The return matches are scheduled for February 22. The eight winners will then take on the Europa League's group winners, who qualified directly for the round of 16.

They include Liverpool, West Ham and Brighton from the Premier League, as well Leverkusen, Atalanta, Villarreal, Rangers and Slavia Prague.

In the third-tier Europa Conference League, Ajax scored twice in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 home draw against Norway's Bodø/Glimt.

Maccabi Haifa defeated Gent 1-0 in a game played at the Bozsik Aréna in Budapest, due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Belgian league leaders Union Saint-Gilloise came back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 home draw against Eintracht Frankfurt despite having a player sent off in the 78th.

Sturm Graz stormed to a 4-1 victory over 10-man Slovan Bratislava while Fredrik Gulbradsen struck twice within seven minutes early in the game to lead Molde to a 3-2 win over Legia Warsaw.

Dinamo Zagreb stunned Real Betis 1-0 in Sevilla, Olympiacos beat Ferencvaros 1-0 and Ludogorets held Servette 0-0.

The competition's playoffs features the runner-up teams from the group stage facing the third-place finishers in the Europa League group stage. The eight group winners, including Aston Villa and Fiorentina, have advanced to the last 16.