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On Wednesday, the fifth round matches took place in groups E, F, G, and H of the UEFA Cup tournament, which concluded the competitions in these groups. Five clubs secured their tickets to the next stage: "Alemannia", "Auxerre", "GAK", "Stuttgart", and "Heerenveen".
Germany's second Bundesliga team Aachen's "Alemannia" continued their successful streak by defeating Atene's "AEK" away and securing the third place in Group H, surpassing St. Petersburg's "Zenit". The top spot in the group was won by "Lille" team, with a narrow home victory over second-placed "Sevilla".
An unexpected turn of events occurred in Group F - one of the favorites, Glasgow's "Rangers", lost 0-2 at home to "Auxerre" and were eliminated from the tournament, as in other matches, Austrian "GAK" managed to defeat the group's winner, Alkmaar's "AZ".
"Stuttgart" clinched the top position in the group and a place in the knockout stage by defeating Zagreb's "Dinamo" and ending their hopes of progressing further. Since "Benfica" had already secured a spot in the round of 16, the remaining spot was won by "Heerenveen", who narrowly defeated "Beveren" by one goal.
There was little suspense left in Group E - all three clubs traveling to the next stage were already known, and only the positions were to be determined. The group winner was "Middlesbrough", with a comfortable home win against "Partizan", while second place went to "Villarreal", who crushed the underdog "Egaleo" at home.
E Group
"Middlesbrough" 3 - 0 Belgrade "Partizan"
10' [1 - 0] Szilard Nemeth
22' [2 - 0] Joseph Desire-Job
90' [3 - 0] James Morrison
"Villarreal" 4 - 0 "Egaleo"
13' [1 - 0] Hector Font
39' [2 - 0] Antonio Guayre
53' [3 - 0] Javi Venta
64' [4 - 0] Sant Cazorla
Final tournament table (position, team, games played, wins, draws, losses, goal difference, points):
1. "Middlesbrough" 4 3 0 1 6-2 9
2. "Villarreal" 4 2 2 0 8-2 8
3. "Partizan" 4 1 2 1 7-6 5
4. "Lazio" 4 0 3 1 5-7 3
5. "Egaleo" 4 0 1 3 2-11 1
F Group
Glasgow "Rangers" 0 - 2 "Auxerre"
10' [1 - 0] Bonaventure Kalou
47' [2 - 0] Bonaventure Kalou
"GAK" 2 - 0 "AZ Alkmaar"
41' [1 - 0] Rene Aufhauser
54' [2 - 0] Roland Kollmann
Final tournament table:
1. "AZ Alkmaar" 4 3 0 1 6-3 9
2. "Auxerre" 4 2 1 1 7-3 7
3. "GAK" 4 2 1 1 5-4 7
4. "Rangers" 4 2 0 2 8-3 6
5. "Amica" 4 0 0 4 3-16 0
G Group
"Heerenveen" 1 - 0 "Beveren"
26' [1 - 0] Arnold Bruggink
Beveren's Sekou Ouattara was sent off in the 40th minute.
"Stuttgart" 2 - 1 Zagreb's "Dinamo"
15' [1 - 0] Christian Tiffert
66' [1 - 1] Ivan Bosnjak
75' [2 - 1] Fernando Meira
Final tournament table:
1. "Stuttgart" 4 3 0 1 10-3 9
2. "Benfica" 4 3 0 1 9-5 9
3. "Heerenveen" 4 2 1 1 6-6 7
4. "Dinamo" 4 1 1 2 9-7 4
5. "Beveren" 4 0 0 4 2-15 0
H Group
"Lille" 1 - 0 "Sevilla"
77' [1 - 0] Matt Moussilou
Rafael Schmitz from "Lille" was sent off in the 90+1st minute.
Athens' "AEK" 0 - 2 Aachen's "Alemannia"
56' [0 - 1] Erik Meijer
84' [0 - 2] Daniel Gomez
Final tournament table:
1. "Lille" 4 3 0 1 5-3 9
2. "Sevilla" 4 2 1 1 6-4 7
3. "Alemannia" 4 2 1 1 5-4 7
4. "Zenit" 4 1 2 1 9-6 5
5. "AEK" 4 0 0 4 4-12 0
