Harry Kane's late strike gave Spurs a 1-0 win at Qarabag, Liverpool needed Christian Benteke to dig them out of a spot of bother in a 2-1 win over Girondins Bordeaux and Bilbao had Aritz Aduriz to thank for a 3-2 comeback victory in Augsburg.
Those three sides were among 11 teams, who celebrated reaching the knockout stages of the competition.
FK Krasnodar, Lazio, St Etienne, Basel, Schalke 04, Sparta Prague, Villarreal and Braga will all be in the hat when the draw is made for next round having booked spots with one group game to spare on the marathon route to May's final.
Last season's surprise finalists Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, however, were brought firmly down to earth with an early exit.
