Having ended a two-month scoring drought this past weekend, Alexandre Lacazette made it two goals in two games with a late winner in Athens.
Inter Milan had an easier time at Ludogorets in Bulgaria, with Christian Eriksen scoring his first goal for the Italian club in a 2-0 win.
Other teams switching across as third-place finishers in their Champions League groups include Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk, who were drawn to play each other.
Arsenal managed to draw 2-2 against Standard Liege while Manchester United beat AZ Alkmaar 4-0 in their respective group games.
Teenager Ansu Fati scored the winner for Barcelona four minutes from time after Inter forward Romelu Lukaku had cancelled out the opener from Champions League debutant Carles Perez.
The loss at Emirates Stadium extended Arsenal’s winless streak to seven games across all competitions — its worst run since 1992 — increasing the pressure on coach Unai Emery after a series of disappointing results.
Astana came from behind to beat a youthful Manchester United side 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday, benefiting from an own goal in the second half.
Manchester United defeated Partizan Belgrade 3-0 at Old Trafford while Celtic scored a last-gasp winner to beat Lazio 2-1 away.
Manchester United vs Partizan, Live Streaming UEFA Europa League: Here are the details of live football match streaming online on SonyLIV and TV telecast on Sony Ten2.
Pepe equalized by curling the ball around the defensive wall in the 80th minute and then replicated the feat in injury time to help Arsenal avoid an embarrassing home loss.
UEFA's disciplinary panel punished Ajax on Thursday for crowd disturbances and damage to the stadium in a 3-0 Champions League win at Valencia this month.
Teenage Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli scored twice as Arsenal beat Standard Liege 4-0 while AZ Alkmaar held Manchester United to a goalless draw.
Arsenal, last year's finalist, saw 18-year-old winger Bukayo Saka score one goal and set up the other two in a 3-0 away victory over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt.
Manchester United was drawn Friday into Group L with AZ Alkmaar, Partizan Belgrade and Astana, which is more than six hours by air from Manchester.
The Chelsea manager and ex-banker already had the most improbable rise from Tuscan amateur teams to soccer's elite, but he had never before had a winners' medal.
After Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final, Eden Hazard confirmed that he is likely to leave the club this summer, amid widespread speculation about a move to Real Madrid.
Maurizio Sarri also talked about Eden Hazard's potential departure, and the location for Europa League final.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not travel with Arsenal's squad for the Europa League final due to political tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Arsenal's path to the final was more straightforward, beating Valencia 4-2 thanks to a hat trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to complete a 7-3 win on aggregate.
Arsenal will take a 3-1 lead into the second leg against Valencia after coming from behind while Chelsea scored the potentially crucial away goal in Germany to extend his team's unbeaten run.
Top News
Latest News
