It was an evening to forget for Djed Spence and Joe Rodon as Rennes exited the Europa League at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk. Taking on the Ukrainian side in the knockout round play-offs after finishing second in Group B during the group phase, the French side went into the second leg at Roazhon Park 2-1 behind after defeat in the opening game a week earlier.
Spence was handed his fifth successive start by manager Bruno Genesio, but there was to be no place in the starting XI for Joe Rodon once again. Taking the tie to extra time after winning 1-0 in 90 minutes, the hosts looked on course to progress to the Round of 16 following Ibrahim Salah's strike in the 106th minute before there was a late twist in the tale.
Rennes centre-back Jeanuel Belocian unfortunately lobbed his own goalkeeper when trying to make a clearance with 90 seconds remaining and that sent the game to penalties. In the end it was Shakhtar who progressed with a 5-4 penalty shootout win, thus meaning Spence and Rodon's European exploits have come to an abrupt end.
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It is undoubtedly a major blow to the duo as both would love to play as much football as possible in what remains of the campaign after finding regular opportunities at Tottenham extremely hard to come by. The competition also represented a real opportunity for Les Rennais to go far had they progressed.
Currently fifth in Ligue 1 and very much in the mix for a European spot for the 2023/24 campaign, Spence looks set to play a big role for Rennes in the run-in after becoming a regular in the side following his January loan move from Tottenham. Rodon, on the other hand, has dropped back down to the bench in their last three games and opportunities could be few and far between in the final 14 games unless he can force his way back into Genesio's preferred XI.
One Tottenham player who will be competing in the Europa League Round of 16 is Bryan Gil after Sevilla progressed beyond PSV with a 3-2 aggregate win. The Spain Under-21 star did start the game for the La Liga club and played 86 minutes in the 2-0 defeat at the Philips Stadion.
Sevilla's reward for sealing a place in the Round of 16 is a showdown against Fenerbahce. Boasting a rich history in the competition after lifting the trophy a record six times with all of those victories coming in the past 17 years, Gil will be hoping that another loan spell away from N17 results in another final for him after helping Valencia reach the Copa del Rey final last April.
Tottenham will also have a participant in the latter stages of the Europa Conference League with Villarreal taking part in UEFA's third European competition. Already safely through to the Round of 16 and avoiding a knockout round play-off match after topping their group, the Yellow Submarines look set to have Giovani Lo Celso available for selection once again after his return to training following the injury that saw him cruelly miss out on Argentina's successful World Cup campaign.
In terms of the Champions League, Tanguy Ndombele and Napoli are on course for a place in the final eight after a 2-0 win away at Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday evening. The second leg of the Round of 16 tie takes place in Naples on Wednesday, March 15.
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