That, ladies and gentlemen, is that. An odd night for the city of Manchester, plusses and minuses for both, but the facts are that both United and City went out of the Europa League. Thanks for joining me tonight for the matches and the debate afterward. Keep checking Goal.com for all the reaction tonight and tomorrow and I'll see you soon, no doubt. Goodnight! Read More

Meer Tauhid Husain on Twitter: "how many Spanish teams are favourites for Europa? That's right all 3. How about UCL? Barca&Madrid. Spanish Football must be proud!"

This is indeed a muy buen tiempo to be a Spanish football fan, methinks. Read More

So, in the aftermath of the two big favourites for the Europa League trophy going out tonight (a pair of continental minnows called Manchester United and Manchester City - ever heard of them? No, me neither), who is the next in line to take the prize come the end of the season?

Jim Knight has the answers in his round-up of the latest odds. No surprise which country the new favourites are from ... Read More

Brandon tweets @GoalUK: "The fact that ManCity can fight back means that they can pick themselves up and challenge ManUtd for the title. It's gonna be tight!"

Yup, I think there's clear enough evidence that both teams have something about them to keep pushing for the league. That derby day in late April just keeps getting bigger and bigger ... Read More

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart to ESPN on nearly heading in an unlikely winner: "I can’t believe it. I thought it was [in]. It didn’t need to get to that, but football is football and it's about drama. In the second half i thought we were fantastic but in the first half we didn’t show. We didn’t show what the fans deserved. We just need to take the positives out of the first half and move for the rest of the season." Read More

Justin Philip Lim tweets @GoalUK: "as a united fan, I think Bilbao totally outclassed them & I won't be surprise if city keeps up their momentum to win the league"

Is there really a great deal of difference in momentum at the moment? Does a failed comeback give Manchester City the initiative in the league? Would be interesting to hear more thoughts on this. Read More

It was an odd game for Mario Balotelli, that's for sure. He kicked it all off when his entirely needless foul set Matias Fernandez up for that great free kick to open the scoring, but played his part in the comeback by coolly slotting home another penalty. He's becoming something of an on-the-spot specialist, is our Mario.

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Lots of talk on Twitter that Manchester City's exit from the Europa League was half-deliberate to deny United an advantage in the Premier League title race ... I can't see that being true any more after the second-half effort, can you? When you're spending that much money on transfers and wages, surely clubs should be looking to win every competition they're in - so Roberto Mancini must be very unhappy at his side's first-half display. Read More

Kiaan Fayaz on Twitter: "City fans slating United, do they realise Bilbao are 10 times the team Sporting are?"

I don't know about 10 times, but there's truth in this. Athletic were, to me, considerably more impressive over both legs of their fixture than Sporting were. Keep the reaction coming! Read More

Here's that match report I was telling you about from Manchester City 3-2 Sporting Lisbon.

Player ratings too? Well, alright then. Don't say I never do anything for you.

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Strong words indeed from Edmond on Twitter: "Atleast, #ManCity fought like men. Unlike their fellow neighbours #ManUtd who just played like little girls for 180mins." Read More

Jeremy P gets in touch to @GoalUK: "I don't like City but if they don't win EPL they should NOT sack Mancini. He has done a good job and City has been first for Months." Read More

A final word from Greg Stobart at the Etihad Stadium: "What on earth happened there? Sporting seemed to be coasting with an hour on the clock but City staged a remarkable comeback, finally showing their spirit and skill in the final half-an-hour of the tie. Roberto Mancini will reflect that it came rather too late - but that second-half display has changed the mood of the fans leaving the Etihad Stadium tonight. It was a show of tremendous character against a Sporting side that began to buckle once they were finally put under pressure. But take nothing away from the Portuguese side, they were the better team for three-quarters of the tie and deserve their place in the quarter-finals." Read More

Patricio Athie on Twitter is not impressed: "both Manchester clubs out, title race on. Sad night for English football. And if Mancini dsnt wint the PL he will get the sack."

Considering the lead that Man City had had in the Premier League, and their relative strength on paper compared to Sporting Lisbon, then yes, it would not surprise me if anything less than domestic glory saw Roberto Mancini getting the boot. A good comeback in vain, but how did it get that way in the first place? Read More

Whew! That was a crazy second half. Let me know your thoughts to @GoalUK or @georgeankers and we'll get all the reaction from you and from the players and managers as it happens. Read More

We'll have the full match report and player ratings from that dramatic game very shortly - but here, first, are the report and ratings for Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Manchester United.

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What a heart-in-mouth way to end the match - it really was an excellent header from Joe Hart, so good that it does seem a shame to have an incredible moment prevented by an equally-good save from Rui Patricio. That is it, though, and both English sides are out of the Europa League - free to concentrate on the Premier League. Manchester City will be very encouraged by the comeback, though. They may not have been excellent at any time but their determination was impressive. Read More

FULL-TIME: Manchester City 3-2 Sporting Lisbon (3-3 Agg) - MANCHESTER CITY ARE ELIMINATED FROM THE EUROPA LEAGUE Read More

OH MY WORD! JOE HART IS SO CLOSE TO THE WINNER!

The goalkeeper stays up after the corner is cleared, it comes back to him and he aims a great header at goal, but Rui Patricio does just enough to palm it away! Read More

Some undignified scrambling in the area - Aleksandar Kolarov shoots wide, but it's been deflected! One last corner - here comes Joe Hart! Read More