Rafa Benitez’s Napoli stun Wolfsburg in Germany

Marek Hamsik scores twice in 4-1 win; Sevilla fight back to win 2-1 at home to Zenit St Petersburg

Napoli’s Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik (right) celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal in the  Europa League first-leg quarter-final match away to  VfL Wolfsburg. Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images
Napoli’s Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik (right) celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal in the Europa League first-leg quarter-final match away to VfL Wolfsburg. Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images

Europa League quarter-final round-up: Napoli put a foot in the Europa League semi-finals with a perfectly crafted 4-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday as Marek Hamsik scored twice in an Italian masterclass to bring cheer to beleaguered coach Rafa Benitez.

Napoli are seven points adrift of the Serie A Champions League places but their chances of reaching Europe’s elite competition by winning its second-tier cousin look strong after they crushed the German side in their quarter-final first leg.

The other three ties remain in the balance with holders Sevilla coming back to beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 in Spain, Dynamo Kiev conceding late in a 1-1 home draw with Fiorentina and Club Bruges drawing 0-0 with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Sevilla's hopes of retaining their title looked under threat when Aleksandr Ryazantsev lashed home for the visitors but Carlos Bacca equalised and Denis Suarez grabbed an 88th-minute winner with an exquisite volley.

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Zenit, though, will fancy their chances of overturning the deficit in next Thursday’s return leg, keeping alive the possibility of a final between clubs from Russia and Ukraine amid simmering political tensions between the two countries.

Kiev took the lead through Jeremain Lens’s deflected effort after 36 minutes and led until the second minute of stoppage time when Khouma Babacar scored with an overhead kick to level for Fiorentina.