Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette both scored twice as Arsenal opened their Europa League quarterfinal with a commanding 4-1 home win over CSKA Moscow on Thursday.
Two minutes after having a goal ruled out for offside, Ramsey finished off a fine team move to net Arsenal's opener in the ninth minute with a first time shot from 10 yards.
But CSKA hit back as Aleksandr Golovin, the 21-year-old who in the past has been linked with a potential move to Arsenal, spectacularly dipped a free kick over the Arsenal wall and into the net for the equaliser on the quarter hour.
Ahmed Musa almost put the Russian side ahead almost immediately but scuffed his shot, and seven minutes Arsenal were back in front as Lacazette converted a penalty following Georgi Schennikov's foul on Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal then promptly made it 3-1 when Ramsey stayed onside to receive Ozil's pass and send it past goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev with an acrobatic flick, and soon after Ozil cut the ball back for Lacazette to add a fourth goal in the 35th minute.
Atletico Madrid scored in the opening minute and cruised to a 2-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon in their quarterfinal first leg.
The competition's favourites got first-half goals from Koke and Antoine Griezmann, giving the Portuguse club a steep hill to climb in Lisbon next week.
Diego Simeone's side were off and running after just 25 seconds when a giveaway from the Sporting back line eventually fell to Diego Costa who played in Koke to beat a sprawling Rui Patrício from close range.
Griezmann then capped a straightforward victory five minutes before the break when he coolly beat Patricio at the near post after a Sporting defender played a through ball into the France international's path.
Lazio also prevailed at home, earning a 4-2 win over Salzburg in an entertaining affair in Rome.
Dusan Basta sent in a low cross that Ciro Immobile missed, but it worked out as a dummy as Senad Lulic was well-placed behind him to slot in the opener, though Valon Berisha equalised for the Austrian club from the penalty spot.
Lazio were back on top early in the second half through Marco Parolo's fine backheeled shot, but again Salzburg answered as Takumi Minamino scored soon after coming on.
But the Serie A side were able to gain control after Felipe Anderson raced past four defenders to score an individual goal in the 74th minute, and Immobile added a fourth moments later.
Timo Werner scored the only goal as RB Leipzig managed a 1-0 victory at home over Marseille.
The breakthrough came on a counter-attack in first-half stoppage time as Werner cut inside around a helpless Boubacar Kamara, then beat Yohann Pele at his near post.