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On Thursday evening in the UEFA Cup tournament, the remaining eight tickets to the knockout stage were distributed in the A-D group matches - they were received by the clubs Bilbao "Athletic," "Parma," Bucharest's "Steaua," "Basel," Vienna's "Austria," "Zaragoza," "Sochaux," and Lisbon's "Sporting."
The only ticket to the quarterfinals was left in Group A, where three teams fought for it. Although "Ferencvaros" in Scotland defeated the future V. Romanov's club "Hearts," it was not enough for them to advance further, as in the next match "Basel" at home defeated the group winner "Feyenoord" by a narrow margin. In second place remained "Schalke," who had already played their matches.
Group B was one of the most unclear, as all teams fought for a place in the round of sixteen. Belgian "Standard" suffered a humiliating defeat at home, losing 1-7 to Bilbao "Athletic," who secured first place after such a victory. The third position in the group was taken by "Parma," after a tough battle defeating "Besiktas" and opening the door to the next stage for the "Steaua" team.
In Group C, the victory went to the resting "Dnipro" team yesterday, while the other two spots in the knockout stage went to "Zaragoza," who had drawn with "Brugge," and Vienna's "Austria," winning away against "Utrecht."
Holding few chances of staying, Greek "Panionios" in Group D lost to the "Sochaux" team and withdrew from the tournament, giving way to their rivals, as well as to the Lisbon "Sporting" team, who remained second after drawing with the group winner "Newcastle."
Today (Friday) at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, the draws for the UEFA Cup round of sixteen will take place. The 8 teams that have dropped from the Champions League to the UEFA Cup will be paired with the second-place teams from the groups, while the group winners will play against the third-place teams. The draws for the second round of the Champions League will also take place, determining the quarterfinal pairings.
