Europa League Results: Analysis for Tottenham vs. Benfica, and All the Matches

The Europa League round of 16 began Thursday evening with eight first-leg matches across the continent.

Tottenham Hotspur hosted Benfica in the night's marquee clash, while Juventus hosted Fiorentina in an all-Italian tie. Elsewhere, Napoli visited Porto in another attention-grabbing match. 

In the coming slides, we take a look at all eight results.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Benfica

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Benfica will be favoured to advance to the quarter-finals after winning 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur in Thursday's first leg.

The visitors, who lead Portugal's Liga Sagres by seven points, went ahead through Rodrigo in the 29th minute. Luisao doubled the lead in the 58th minute, six minutes before Christian Eriksen pulled a goal back for Spurs with a fine free kick.

Luisao then sealed the win—and perhaps killed off the tie—with his second goal in the 83rd minute.

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen was booked in the second half, meaning he will be suspended for the second leg. Spurs will hope to turn around the tie in next Thursday's second leg, but first up is a match at home to rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

Benfica reached the final of last season's competition. 

Shots: 6-9

On Target: 3-6

Passing: 76%-73%

Possession: 55%-45%

Juventus 1-1 Fiorentina

Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

Substitute Mario Gomez scored a second-half equaliser as Fiorentina held Serie A rivals Juventus to a 1-1 draw in Turin.

The hosts went ahead in the third minute through Arturo Vidal and held onto the lead until the 79th minute, when Gomez finished from Josip Ilicic's through ball to secure both a draw and a valuable away goal.

The second leg is set for next Thursday in Florence.

The same two teams met over the weekend in Serie A, with Juventus winning 1-0 at home. Juve lead Serie A by 14 points.

Shots: 13-15

On Target: 6-4

Passing: 79%-87%

Possession: 40%-60%

Porto 1-0 Napoli

Paulo Duarte/Associated Press

Jackson Martinez scored the only goal as Porto took a slender advantage with a 1-0 victory at home to Napoli.

Martinez converted in the 57th minute, beating Pepe Reina with an angled shot. In the first half, Carlos Eduardo thought he had given the hosts the lead, but his header was ruled out for offside.

The second leg is set for next Thursday in Naples.

Shots: 13-7

On Target: 5-5

Passing: 81%-78%

Possession: 53%-47%

Other Results

Valentina Petrova/Associated Press

Basel 0-0 Salzburg

Basel and Salzburg played out a scoreless draw in Switzerland.

Ludogorets 0-3 Valencia

Antonio Barragan, Federico Cartabia and Philippe Senderos scored for Valencia, who overcame Seydou Keita's 25th-minute sending-off to win 3-0 away from home.

Ludogorets had Juninho Quixada sent off in the 79th minute, when Valencia already held their three-goal lead. 

Sevilla 0-2 Real Betis

Leo Baptisato and Salva Sevilla scored either side of half-time to give Real Betis an away win in an all-Spanish tie.

AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Anzhi Makhachkala

Aron Johannson scored the only goal via the penalty spot in the 29th minute.

Lyon 4-1 Viktoria Plzen

Gueida Fofana scored twice, while Alexandre Lacazette and Arnold Mvuemba added one goal each to give Lyon a comeback victory at home to Viktoria Plzen.

The visitors had led through Tomas Horava's fifth-minute strike, but Fofana equalised just seven minutes later. Lyon took the lead in the 53rd minute through Lacazette.