It was mixed fortunes for the three English teams in Thursday’s Europa League first leg matches.
As it stands, only Chelsea have good chance of making the semi finals, with Tottenham and Newcastle needing to do some extra work in the April 11 second leg.
Tottenham’s hopes of making the Europa League semi-finals are in the balance after they fought back to draw with Basel in their last-eight first leg.
The Swiss champions took the lead at White Hart Lane through Valentin Stocker’s close-range finish.
Fabian Frei headed in to double the advantage, only for Emmanuel Adebayor to pull one back with a volley.
Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised with a deflected strike, but Gareth Bale was carried off with an ankle injury.
At the Stamford Bridge, it was good news for English football fans.
Fernando Torres scored twice to help Chelsea take a huge stride towards the last four.
Torres stabbed home from close range following David Luiz’s clever pass before Victor Moses doubled the lead with a terrific 16-yard finish.
Bibras Natkho’s penalty gave Rubin hope after John Terry had handled.
But Torres’s header from Juan Mata’s cross in the quarter-final first leg at Stamford Bridge leaves Chelsea well placed to advance.
Newcastle suffered a second-half collapse in their Europa League quarter-final first leg with Benfica.
Papiss Cisse tapped in a low Moussa Sissoko cross as the visitors made the most of a bright start in Portugal.
After Cisse struck the woodwork, the hosts came to life and Rodrigo pounced on a rebound to equalise for Benfica.
Cisse hit the post again, before Lima punished a loose Davide Santon back-pass and Oscar Cardozo scored from the spot after a Steven Taylor handball.
In the last quarter final game, Fenerbahce beat 2-0 Lazio, with Nigeria international, Ogenyi Onazi, receiving a red card.
Results
UEFA Europa League
Benfica 3-1 Newcastle United
Chelsea 3-1 FK Rubin Kazan
Fenerbahce 2-0 Lazio
Tottenham 2-2 FC Basel.
