Atletico Madrid have been fined EUR 20,000 over the recent outburst of racist abuse at the Metropolitano stadium. The abuse was aimed at Athletic Bilbao's Spanish international Nico Williams. Atletico have also got to close their south stand for two matches following the enquiry by the Spanish Football Federation. Among this growing problem are 16 episodes of racist abuse in the past two years aimed at Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior. Williams commented after the game in Madrid: "There are stupid people everywhere but nothing happens, we have to keep fighting so this changes little by little."

Aston Villa received a huge shock in the UEFA Conference League semi-final, losing 4-2 at home to Olympiakos. Villa, who were favourites to win the trophy, went 2-0 down but came back to level, with goals from Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby. The Greek side responded with two more goals. Villa's Douglas Luiz missed a late penalty to make the second leg very tough for Unai Emery's team. In the other semi-final, Fiorentina scored an added time goal to win 3-2 against Club Brugge. In the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen continued their unbeaten run with a 2-0 win in Rome. Goals from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich were enough to beat a Roma side that struggled to get a shot on target. Leverkusen will now be fancied to get to the final and face either Marseille and Atalanta, who drew 1-1 in the first leg of their tie.

Dutch club Vitesse are in deep trouble and have two weeks to try and save their professional lives. They are EUR 19 million in debt and have launched a crowdfunding scheme to retain their status. Vitesse were recently relegated after being deducted 18 points following an investigation. The KNVB's licensing committee found there was some indication that Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea, had controlled the club. Chelsea had a particularly close relationship with Vitesse in the 2010s with young players often going on loan to the Eredivisie club. The campaign started well, with EUR 830,000 raised on the first day, including donations from former players. Vitesse have not played below the top flight for 35 years.

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