Europa League 2016: Scores, Odds After Thursday's Quarter-Final, Leg 1 Results

Sevilla boosted their hopes of retaining the UEFA Europa League title on Thursday after defeating La Liga rivals Athletic Bilbao 2-1 at San Mames in the first leg of their quarter-final clash, collecting their fourth away win of the season in the process. 

Meanwhile, Spanish peers Villarreal also impressed in their meeting with Sparta Prague, where they triumphed 2-1 at El Madrigal thanks to a brace from in-form forward Cedric Bakambu.

Premier League contenders Liverpool kept their European dream alive with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, while Shakhtar Donetsk clinched an away win in the first-leg slate after beating Braga 2-1.

In the wake of Thursday's first-leg results, read on to find out the latest Europa League quarter-finals odds, along with recap of all the action across the continent.

Home	Score	Away
Athletic Bilbao	1-2	Sevilla
Braga	1-2	Shakhtar Donetsk
Borussia Dortmund	1-1	Liverpool
Villarreal	2-1	Sparta Prague

Club	Outright Winner Odds
Borussia Dortmund	(9-4)
Sevilla	(7-2)
Liverpool	(9-2)
Villarreal	(5-1)
Shakhtar Donetsk	(6-1)
Athletic Bilbao	(14-1)
Sparta Prague	(28-1)
Braga	(50-1)

Recap

Sevilla's home form has been largely woeful this season, but manager Unai Emery's men found road form at a crucial juncture on Thursday as they did their hopes of a third consecutive Europa League trophy a major service.

Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz, the tournament's current leading scorer, did his part to ensure the San Mames hosts were first to break the deadlock, but it was questionable defending that proved their undoing.

He diverted home a cross from Iker Muniain to collect his ninth goal of this season's competition, and bet365 celebrated the Spain striker's widespread success across all platforms this season:

But the lead was short-lived, and the Lions sat in front for just eight minutes before Timothee Kolodziejczak made the most of an embarrassing defensive error from none other than Muniain.

His poor attempt at a header gave Ever Banega all the room he needed to feed Kolodziejczak in front of an open net, and the Poland international made no mistake about grabbing a landmark goal, per WhoScored.com:

The comeback was completed in the 83rd minute by substitute Vicente Iborra, who scored just nine minutes after entering the fray following a sensational run from Kevin Gameiro.

Gameiro embarked on a one-man crusade before scything a splendid ball into Iborra's feet, and Sevilla's success in this competition left Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney gobsmacked:

Villarreal frontman Bakambu made an early press against Sparta Prague, and it took him just three minutes to fire his side ahead after an outstretched leg diverted goalkeeper David Bicik's attempted clearance in.

As Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse detailed, the ricocheted goal resembled Zlatan Ibrahimovic's fortunate finish against Manchester City in the Champions League just a day prior, occurring more out of luck than outright skill:

The Yellow Submarine almost made it to the half-time whistle with a valuable one-goal lead in tow, but Jakub Brabec headed home a corner in the fourth minute of first-half-added time to pull his side level at the interval.

Bakambu added his second in the 63rd minute, this one coming as a result of some terrific buildup play and a fine ball from Denis Suarez, and OptaJohan hailed the striker's stellar scoring form in Europe:

In Germany, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp enjoyed a decent enough return to his former stomping grounds as the Reds notched a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund to give them more than a little hope of advancing.

Klopp raised a few eyebrows by deciding to start Divock Origi ahead of Daniel Sturridge, but the diminutive Belgian repaid his boss with a scoring display in Dortmund. A well-taken cutback on the edge of the area trickled past stopper Roman Weidenfeller, proving Klopp's selection well-judged:

Hopes were high for the Reds, but the travelling party made it just three minutes into the second half before a towering header from Mats Hummels guided the Signal Iduna Park hosts back level.

One goal apiece was as far as things went, and Klopp's Liverpool will undoubtedly be pleased with not only clinching an away goal in North Rhine-Westphalia, but restricting Dortmund themselves to just a single strike.

Shakhtar Donetsk came within minutes of being the only team on Thursday to keep a clean sheet, but the Ukrainian giants will undoubtedly settle for their 2-1 away win against Braga nonetheless.

Centre-back Yaroslav Rakitskiy easily converted home with his left boot from a corner on the stroke of half-time. Shakhtar put the finishing touches on their first-leg win thanks to Facundo Ferreyra's second-half strike before Wilson Eduardo grabbed what could be a vital consolation in the 90th minute.