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On Wednesday, instead of the usual Champions League matches, UEFA Cup group A-D games were played in European stadiums. Two clubs secured their places in the quarter-finals - Rotterdam's "Feyenoord" and Bucharest's "Steaua", while the other two teams that had the chance to do so failed to do it so far.
"Feyenoord" defeated "Schalke" at home and secured their place in the quarter-finals as they equalized in points and surpassed them in goal difference to advance to the next stage. Swiss team "Basel" improved their chances by winning away against "Ferencvaros" and climbed to third place.
Despite a defeat, "Steaua" club also reached the next stage after losing away to "Bilbao Athletic". The draw between "Besiktas" and "Standard" was beneficial for the Romanians as now only two teams can overtake them. In the last round, all four remaining clubs will fight for the two remaining tickets to the round of sixteen.
Having won all three matches so far, Ukrainian team "Dnipro" this time lost to "Zaragoza", but they still comfortably lead the group and already secured their place in the next stage. Meanwhile, the Spanish team has good positions after defeating "Austria" as "Brugge" narrowly avoided defeat in the last minute against "Austria" as both teams shared a point.
"Sporting" team missed their chance to move forward, unexpectedly losing at home to "Sochaux". In other group matches there was a flood of goals - "Panionios" fell behind twice against Tbilisi's "Dinamo", but scored four goals in the last 25 minutes to win. In the last match, "Panionios" will need to defeat "Sochaux", while "Sporting" only needs a draw against group leaders "Newcastle".
The remaining group matches E, F, G, and H will be played today, Thursday, while the final round of group stage matches will take place in two weeks.
Group A
"Ferencvaros" 1 - 2 "Basel" 22' [1 - 0] Denes Rosa 59' [1 - 1] Julio Rossi 79' [1 - 2] Benjamin Huggel
85' Lajos Szucs ("Ferencvaros") missed a penalty
"Feyenoord" 2 - 1 "Schalke 04" 7' [0 - 1] Mike Hanke 32' [1 - 1] Salomon Kalou 41' [2 - 1] Salomon Kalou
Standings: (Place, Team, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals Scored, Points) 1. "Feyenoord" 3 2 1 0 6-2 7 2. "Schalke" 4 2 1 1 5-3 7 3. "Basel" 3 1 1 1 4-4 4 4. "Hearts" 3 1 0 2 2-5 3 5. "Ferencvaros" 3 0 1 2 2-5 1
Group B
"Athletic" 1 - 0 "Steaua" 45' [1 - 0] Joseba Etxeberria
"Besiktas" 1 - 1 "Standard" 30' [1 - 0] Okan Buruk 81' [1 - 1] Sambegou Bangoura
Standings: 1. "Steaua" 4 2 0 2 4-3 6 2. "Athletic" 3 2 0 1 4-3 6 3. "Besiktas" 3 1 1 1 5-4 4 4. "Standard" 3 1 1 1 3-4 4 5. "Parma" 3 1 0 2 2-4 3
Group C
"Zaragoza" 2 - 1 "Dnipro" 2' [0 - 1] Vladimir Ezerski 10' [1 - 1] Savio 74' [2 - 1] David Generelo
85' Sergey Matyukhin ("Dnipro") was sent off
"Austria" 1 - 1 "Brugge" 50' [1 - 0] Radoslaw Gilewicz 90+2' [1 - 1] Rune Lange
Standings: 1. "Dnipro" 4 3 0 1 7-5 9 2. "Zaragoza" 3 2 0 1 4-2 6 3. "Brugge" 3 1 1 1 4-4 4 4. "Austria" 3 1 1 1 2-2 4 5. "Utrecht" 3 0 0 3 1-5 0
Group D
"Sporting" 0 - 1 "Sochaux" 2' [0 - 1] Johann Lonfat
"Panionios" 5 - 2 "Dinamo" 38' [0 - 1] Michail Kakaladze 58' [1 - 1] Evangelos Mantzios 60' [1 - 2] Lado Achalaja 67' [2 - 2] Evangelos Mantzios 78' [3 - 2] Evangelos Mantzios 90' [4 - 2] Carlos Marcora 90+3' [5 - 2] Mario Breska
Standings: 1. "Newcastle" 3 3 0 0 7-0 9 2. "Sporting" 3 2 0 1 8-2 6 3. "Sochaux" 3 2 0 1 3-4 6 4. "Panionios" 3 1 0 2 6-7 3 5. "Dinamo" 4 0 0 4 2-13 0
