Liverpool‘s captain Steven Gerrard came off the bench and inspired his team last night with a hat-trick in the second half to see his team beat Napoli 3 – 1 at Anfield in their Europa League encounter last night in front of new owner John Henry.

Lech Poznan scored two late goals – one freakish and the other superb – to stun Manchester City 3-1 in the Europa League on Thursday while Juventus drew 0-0 with Salzburg for their fourth draw in as many group games.

CSKA Moscow and BATE Borisov became the first teams to guarantee a place in the knockout rounds, the Russians beating Palermo 3-1 to maintain their 100 percent record while the Belarus outfit beat Sheriff Tiraspol by the same score.

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Liverpool beat Turkish club Trabzonspor 1 – 0 in the Europa League playoff round first leg at Anfield, with Joe Cole missing a penalty which could’ve helped his side to a better lead.

On a night featuring 35 ties littered with some of the biggest names in European club football and many obscure ones trying to make a name for themselves, Liverpool gained a narrow advantage to take to Turkey next week when the winners on aggregate will move into 48-team group phase.

Italian giants Juventus, who like Liverpool find themselves chasing silverware in the continent’s secondary competition after failing to qualify for the Champions League, sneaked a 2-1 victory in Austria against Sturm Graz.

Porto, CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Celtic all scored comfortable first leg victories while big-spending Manchester City got their European season up and running with a 1-0 away victory against Romanian side FC Timisoara — Mario Balotelli scoring on his debut after signing last week from Inter Milan.

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Liverpool, Juventus and Manchester City are the three top-rank teams of the Europa League that are hoping to avoid an early blow to their European ambitions on Thursday.

A welter of high-profile clubs from across the continent will compete in the first-leg matches of the tournament’s play-off round, all gunning for one of 37 slots in the group phase alongside defending champions Atletico Madrid.

Roy Hodgson was on the losing side in last year’s final after leading Fulham to a surprise appearance in the decider, but the experienced English coach has since jumped ship to Liverpool.

His new employers continue their assault on this season’s competition against Trabzonspor, and Hodgson said he will select holding midfielder Javier Mascherano to face the Turkish side despite his desire to leave the club.

“Of course I would play him on Thursday,” said Hodgson, whose side drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal in their Premier League opener on Sunday.

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Chelsea twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with 10-man Juventus in Turin and again secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Blues went into the last-16 return leg with a one-goal advantage but that was soon wiped out by Vincenzo Iaquinta’s 19th-minute strike.

But the visitors levelled on the stroke of half-time, moments after referee Alberto Undiano had ruled that a free-kick by Didier Drogba had not crossed the goal line in the 44th minute.

That decision appeared harsh but it was soon irrelevant as Frank Lampard’s shot came down off the underside of the bar for Michael Essien to bundle home.

Juventus restored their lead on the night when Undiano awarded the Italian side a 74th-minute penalty for handball by Juliano Belletti.

However, Chelsea battled back for a second time when Drogba prodded home a cross from Belletti in the 83rd minute to give the Blues a 3-2 aggregate win.

The Serie A giants knew an early goal was a requirement if they were to get themselves back into a tie that kicked-off in Chelsea’s favour thanks to Drogba’s match-winner at Stamford Bridge.

Pavel Nedved was twice down injured in the opening eight minutes. The first time after a collision with Essien and the second when he came off worst in a clash with Nicolas Anelka.

He was replaced in the 12th minute by Hasan Salihamidzic after failing to respond to lengthy treatment on the sidelines.

Nedved’s loss as a bitter blow to the Juve cause as he had been the architect of their fine start.

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Didier Drogba‘s first-half strike gave Chelsea a 1-0 first-leg win over Juventus in their Champions League last-16 clash at Stamford Bridge. The Ivorian of late has looked the shadow of the striker he once was, but put on a show that would surely give all Chelsea supporters some hope of seeing their destroyer back to old ways.

Following on from the crucial Premier League win at Aston Villa on Saturday, the Blues made it two wins out of two for new boss Guus Hiddink, while ex-Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri has work to do ahead of the return leg in a fortnight if he is to guide his Serie A side into the last eight at the expense of his former employers.

Drogba’s early strike made the difference for the hosts, whose only regret may be not turning their territorial domination into a bigger advantage to take to the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.

The Blues began on the front foot, and stayed there for the entire first period.

Salomon Kalou tested Gianluigi Buffon’s handling with an effort from outside the box in the third minute, shortly before Jose Bosingwa’s right-wing cross was headed over from close range by Drogba.

The Ivorian made amends however in the 12th minute with the opening goal. Kalou’s threaded pass from outside the box was pounced upon by his compatriot and the Blues striker made no mistake in firing past Buffon on the turn from just inside the box.

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