Aston Villa drew 0-0 against Ajax on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 matchup.
Both teams finished with ten men in a tightly contested match with little action in front of goal.
Ezri Konsa was sent off for the visitors in the 82nd minute for a second bookable offense, while Ajax’s Tristan Gooijer received a second yellow four minutes later.
Ajax and Villa struggled to produce clear-cut chances, and when the hosts did have one, Emiliano Martinez made a fantastic diving save to deny Kenneth Taylor from 14 yards out.
However, the goals flowed elsewhere in Europe, with 11 goals scored in the three remaining Europa League Conference meetings.
Lille were sent on their way against Sturm Graz thanks to on-fire Canadian striker Jonathan David, who scored twice before halftime.
With just under 20 minutes remaining, Edon Zhegrova added the finishing touch for Paulo Fonseca’s team, who will defend a 3-0 lead in France.
Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Olympiakos 4-1 in the Greek capital thanks to an excellent performance.
Eran Zahavi and Ido Shahar both scored in the first ten minutes, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Ayoub El Kaabi cut the deficit in half, but Zahavi scored again at the half-hour mark, and Dor Peretz added a fourth in the second half.
A Fredrik Gulbrandsen goal two minutes into injury time handed Molde a 2-1 first-leg lead over Club Brugge, canceling out Maxim de Cuyper’s late penalty after Halldor Stenevik gave the Norwegians the lead before halftime.
Later, Fenerbahce travels to Union Saint-Gilloise, while Maccabi Haifa hosts Fiorentina in Budapest.