Seven teams have secured their place in the round of sixteen © EuroFootball.com

On Thursday, matches in groups E, F, G, and H were played in the UEFA Cup. After them, seven more teams joined the five already in the sixteenth-finals - "Middlesbrough", "Partizan", "Villarreal", "Alkmaar", "Benfica", "Seville", and "Lille".

In Group E, there was no longer anything to fight for, as the top three places were already clear. This season, weakened by financial problems, "Lazio" failed to overcome "Egaleo" away and ended their appearance in the tournament. "Partizan" and "Villarreal" drew, securing a place in the sixteenth-finals based on the result of another match and allowing the leader, "Middlesbrough", to do the same.

The Dutch club "Alkmaar" continues to impress, this time narrowly defeating "Rangers" and securing their third victory out of three possible, thus ensuring a place in the next stage. "Auxerre" retained hope by crushing "Amica" at home.

To make it to the next stage, "Benfica" needed nine points, achieved by defeating "Beveren" away. Meanwhile, Zagreb's "Dinamo" and "Heerenveen" played a draw for third place.

"Lille" secured a place in the knockout stages by defeating the Spanish "Sevilla" at home after a thrilling and dramatic match against "AEK". As the match between "Aachen" and "Zenit" ended in a draw, they will now battle for the last remaining ticket to the sixteenth-finals.

Group E

"Egaleo" 2 - 2 "Lazio"

7' [1 - 0] Giannis Chloros

13' [1 - 1] Roberto Muzzi

36' [1 - 2] Roberto Muzzi

54' [2 - 2] Anestis Agritis

"Partizan" 1 - 1 "Villarreal"

17' [0 - 1] Santi Cazorla

66' [1 - 1] Ivan Tomic (11m.)

Group F

"Alkmaar" 1 - 0 "Rangers"

8' [1 - 0] Danny Landzaat

"Auxerre" 5 - 1 "Amica"

1' [1 - 0] Jean-Pascal Mignot

5' [2 - 0] Luigi Pieroni

17' [2 - 1] Pawel Kryszalowicz

24' [3 - 1] Luigi Pieroni

26' [4 - 1] Luigi Pieroni

56' [5 - 1] Bonaventure Kalou

47' Radoslaw Cierzniak ("Amica") sent off

Group G

"Dinamo Zagreb" 2 - 2 "Heerenveen"

15' [1 - 0] Ivan Bosnjak

57' [2 - 0] Danijel Pranjic

84' [2 - 1] Ugur Yildirim

89' [2 - 2] Klaas Jan Huntelaar (11m.)

"Beveren" 0 - 3 "Benfica"

5' [0 - 1] Simao Sabrosa

21' [0 - 2] Zlatko Zahovic

59' [0 - 3] Zlatko Zahovic

3' Boubacar Barry ("Beveren") sent off

Group H

"Sevilla" 3 - 2 "AEK"

10' [0 - 1] Nikos Lymberopoulos

19' [1 - 1] Julio Baptista

29' [2 - 1] Antonio Lopez

46' [2 - 2] Kostas Katsouranis

89' [3 - 2] Julio Baptista (11m.)

"Aachen" 2 - 2 "Zenit"

25' [1 - 0] Erik Meijer

38' [1 - 1] Vladislav Radimov (11m.)

76' [1 - 2] Aleksandr Gorshkov

90' [2 - 2] Stefan Blank (11m.)

90' Sergio Pinto ("Aachen") sent off