Shakhtar, Copenhagen advance as Europa League returns

Shakhtar Donetsk and Copenhagen reached the Europa League quarterfinals Wednesday as continental soccer returned amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shakhtar, the 2009 Europa League winner, won 3-0 in the second leg against Wolfsburg to complete a 5-1 victory on aggregate, five months after the first leg was played.

Copenhagen reached the quarterfinals of a European competition for the first time after overturning a 1-0 deficit from the first leg against Istanbul Basaksehir to win 3-1 on aggregate.

Shakhtar and Copenhagen are the first teams to book their places in the quarterfinals, which are being played in a new tournament format used by UEFA during the pandemic. All games from the quarterfinals onward are being played in Germany over one leg, rather than two.

Manchester United plays LASK Linz later Wednesday with a 5-0 lead from the first leg. Inter Milan plays Getafe in a one-off game in Germany because they did not complete a first leg before the European season was suspended.

Image credits: AP