Chelsea and Tottenham needed last gasp equalizers to ensure progress into the next round of the Europa League, while holders Atletico Madrid crashed out with Liverpool's brave fightback coming up just a little short.
The Blues needed a stoppage time goal from Eden Hazard at Stamford Bridge, in the second leg of the round of 32, to prevent the tie going into extra time, after a 17th minute strike from David Lafata had levelled the aggregate scores at 1-1.
Chelsea were poor in front of goal, missing a host of chances, with Fernando Torres yet again misfiring. The Spaniard had several opportunities to get Chelsea back on track, but failed to find the back of the net, leaving Hazard to come off the bench and score a brilliant solo goal to help his side progress into the last 16.
A similar storyline was witnessed at the Stade de Gerland, with Moussa Dembele netting a last minute goal for Tottenham to earn his side a 1-1 draw against Lyon.
Spurs were leading 2-1 from the first leg, but were sent on the backfoot in France by a strike from Maxime Gonalons, who headed home off a freekick from Clement Grenier - ironically two players who were recently linked with a move to Tottenham's north London rivals Arsenal.
Spurs were far from their best, and it seemed like Lyon were heading into the next round on away goals, before Dembele planted a strike from just outside the box into the bottom corner in the 90th minute to send Spurs through 3-2 on aggregate.
At Anfield, there was similar drama, as Liverpool fought back gamely from going 3-0 down in tie, to get knocked out on the away goals rule against Zenit St. Petersburg.
Zenit were leading 2-0 going into the second leg, before Hulk, who scored in the first leg as well, seemingly ended the tie in the 19th minute.
However, Liverpool refused to give up as a brace from Luis Suarez, who else, and one from Joe Allen levelled the scores on aggregate at 3-3 and the second leg in Liverpool's favor at 3-1.
However, the Reds just couldn't find the elusive fourth goal, despite pressing and probing in the final half hour as Zenit scraped through.
In Kharkiv, Shola Ameobi scored the only goal of the entire tie from the spot to send Newcastle United through to the last 16 with a 1-0 aggregate victory over Metalist Kharkiv.
However, defending champions Atletico Madrid ended their hopes of retaining the title by crashing out to Rubin Kazan in Russia.
Rubin were leading 2-0 from the first leg, before Radamel Falcao gave the Spanish side some hope by netting in the 84th minute. The Russians, though, held on for a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Viktoria Plzen continued their impressive run in the Europa League with a comprehensive 5-0 aggregate victory over Napoli, while Inter Milan, who will next face Spurs, also progressed with the same scoreline against CFR Cluj.
Chelsea will face Steau Bucharest in the last 16, after the Romanians upset Ajax on penalties, while Anzhi Makhachkala saw off the challenge of German side Hannover.
Results (all final aggregate scores): Rubin Kazan 2-1 Atletico Madrid; Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 Newcastle; Genk 1-3 Stuttgart; Cluj 0-5Inter Milan; Dnipro 1-3 Basel; Lazio 5-3 Borussia Monchengladbach; Lyon 2-3 Tottenham; Viktoria Plzen 5-0 Napoli; Hannover 2-4 Anzhi; Chelsea 2-1 Sparta Praha; Fenerbahce 1-0 BATE Borisov; Olympiakos 0-4 Levante; Liverpool 3-3 Zenit (Zenit win on away goals); Bordeaux 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv; Benfica 3-1 Leverkusen; Steau Bucharest 2-2 Ajax (Steau win 4-2 on penalties).
