London: After a gloomy start to 2014 for English Premier League teams in Europe, Tottenham achieved what five rivals failed to do -- win.
Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all opened the Champions League knockout phase with first-leg losses, while Chelsea drew. But on Thursday, straight after Swansea was knocked out of the Europa League, Tottenham overturned a 1-0 deficit against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to win 3-1 at White Hart Lane and advance to the round of 16.
Roman Zozulya headed the Ukrainian side in front at the start of the second half but, after Christian Eriksen leveled from a free kick, he was dismissed for head-butting Jan Vertonghen in the 62nd minute.
Within six minutes, Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice to set up a meeting with Benfica, which beat PAOK Salonika 3-0 to go through 4-0 on aggregate.
The last 16 will see two meetings of national rivals that should lift Europe's less illustrious competition, with Juventus facing Fiorentina, and Sevilla playing Real Betis.
Juventus replicated its 2-0 first-leg victory over Trabzonspor in Turkey, with goals from Arturo Vidal and Dani Osvaldo. And Fiorentina was held to 1-1 by Esbjerg of Denmark but advanced 4-2 on aggregate.
Swansea's loss at Napoli gave Italy a third team in the next round and kept Rafa Benitez on course to win back-to-back Europa League titles. The Spanish manager, who lifted the trophy with Chelsea last season, saw his new team emerge 3-1 winners over Swansea after a goalless first leg in south Wales.
Napoli will next face Porto, which drew 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt to advance on away goals with a 5-5 aggregate draw. But Serie A rival Lazio went out, drawing 3-3 at Ludogorets after losing 1-0 at home.
Three Spanish teams also remain in the competition.
Sevilla beat Maribor 2-1 to complete a 4-3 aggregate win over the Slovenian side, and Betis advanced 3-1 on aggregate after winning 2-0 at Rubin Kazan. Valencia relied on its 2-0 away win to oust Dynamo Kiev after a scoreless draw in Spain, and will next face Ludogorets.
Lyon beat Chornomorets Odesa 1-0 to setup a meeting with Viktoria Plzen after the Czech side beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 on aggregate.
Ajax conceded another three goals against Red Bull Salzburg, losing 3-1 to allow the hosts to advance 6-1 overall. Salzburg will next play FC Basel after the Swiss side beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-0.
The distance that separates their new home from the jobs, schools and hospitals of central Rio has wrenched the family apart. Since their 2011 move, Nascimento sleeps five nights a week at her employers' house. Otherwise, her commute would gobble up at least six hours a day, its cost taking a major bite out of her $500 monthly salary. For similar reasons, her husband shells out $190 a month for a tiny rental apartment close to his job. One of Nascimento's youngest children lives with her mother and another with a close friend, while her two teenage boys live alone in the housing project.
"We were working hard and getting ahead in life and then this happens and it sets us not even back to where we started, but way back before the starting point," said Souza, his black sunglasses failing to conceal the tears streaming down his face. "I would give everything just to have my little plot of land back and my family whole again."
