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On Thursday, UEFA Cup round of 16 second leg matches took place in European stadiums, providing some surprises. The first match played was between Vienna's "Austria" and Bilbao's "Athletic" which was postponed due to snow, with the second leg rescheduled for February 27th.
The first surprise was recorded in Gelsenkirchen, where the local "Schalke" unexpectedly lost to Donetsk's "Shakhtar" and withdrew from the tournament. An even bigger upset occurred in Bucharest - cup holders "Valencia" lost their two-goal lead at home against "Steaua" during regular time, and after a penalty shootout, the Romanians won and secured their spot in the next stage.
The match between "Stuttgart" and "Parma" was also tense. Since the main match, like the first leg, ended without goals, extra time was played, and despite captain P. Cannavaro being sent off, "Parma" managed to show character by scoring two goals in extra time and advancing to the quarterfinals.
It was not a good day for two Ukrainian clubs: "Dnipro" conceded a crucial goal to "Partizan" at home in the final minutes, while "Dinamo" lost to Villarreal on the road and also withdrew from the UEFA Cup.
English clubs had better results - "Newcastle" easily defeated "Heerenveen", while "Middlesbrough" overcame resistance from Grazer "AK".
From France, "Lille" reached the quarterfinals by defeating "Basel", and "Auxerre" surprisingly overturned a deficit from the first leg to defeat "Ajax". Playing without D. Sember, Moscow's "CSKA" eliminated "Benfica", while another Portuguese club, "Sporting", progressed by beating "Feyenoord".
Also advancing to the next stage with a narrow victory in France against "Sochaux", "Olympiacos", and their opponent in Greece, "Panathinaikos," lost to "Sevilla". Dutch team "AZ Alkmaar" won the duel against Aachen's "Alemannia".
After the round of 16, the pairings for the quarterfinals were immediately revealed, as the draw had already been made. In a French showdown, "Lille" will face "Auxerre", the team that eliminated reigning cup winners "Steaua" will play against "Villarreal", and in a Slavic encounter, "Partizan" will battle "CSKA".
English team "Middlesbrough" will face the hosts of the final, "Sporting", while Champions League dropouts "Olympiacos" will play against last season's UEFA Cup semifinalists "Newcastle", Ukrainian vice-champion "Shakhtar" will face Dutch team "AZ", and Spanish side "Zaragoza" will play against the winner of the "Athletic Bilbao"- "Austria" pair.
The first quarterfinal matches will be played on March 10th, with the second leg fixtures scheduled for March 16-17.
