The round of 16 of UEFA Conference League, third tier club competition in Europe, started on Thursday, March 12 with big victories for AEK Athens, Rayo Vallecano, Shakhtar, but a disappointing 0-0 draw for Crystal Palace, one of the favourites of the competition, playing at home the first leg.
Perhaps except for Athens, all other knockouts are still open for the matches to be played next week, Thursday, March 19, to secure qualification for Conference League quarter-finals. These are the results from the first leg:
Conference League results on March 12
Crystal Palace 0-0 AEK Larnaca
Fiorentina 2-1 Raków
Sigma Olomouc 0-0 Mainz
Celje 0-4 AEK Athens
Rijeka 1-2 Strasbourg
Samsunspor 1-3 Rayo Vallecano
AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Sparta Praha
Lech Poznań 1-3 Shakhtar
Conference League games on March 19
AEK Athens vs Celje: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
AEK Larnaca vs Crystal Palace: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Mainz vs Sigma Olomouc: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Raków vs Fiorentina: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Rayo Vallecano vs Samsunspor: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Shakhtar vs Lech Poznań: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Sparta Praha vs AZ Alkmaar: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Strasbourg vs Rijeka: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT