UEFA Cup Round of 16

2008/09 UEFA Cup Round of 16 First leg: 12 March Second leg: 18/19 March

Werder Bremen (GER) v AS Saint-Etienne (FRA)

PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Udinese Calcio (ITA) v FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)

Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA) v SC Braga (POR)

FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) v FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)

Manchester City FC (ENG) v Aalborg BK (DEN)

Olympique de Marseille (FRA) v AFC Ajax (NED)

Hamburger SV (GER) v Galatasaray AŞ (TUR)

Bremen belief soaring after Milan upset

Aside from being a dangerous goalscorer, Claudio Pizarro is clearly a man of his word. Suspended by Werder Bremen last weekend for being late to training, the Peruvian striker promised "to correct my mistakes in the Milan match" and promptly conjured up the two goals that eliminated AC Milan from the UEFA Cup Round of 32 on Thursday.

The two sides had drawn 1-1 in Germany, but the tie was veering heavily in favour of the Serie A giants after an Andrea Pirlo penalty and a Pato strike had given them a 2-0 second-leg advantage at San Siro. Then Pizarro intervened, heading in with style on 68 and 78 minutes to send his team through at the competition favourites' expense. "At last the team showed that what we've been saying about their potential is not simply fantasy," commented Bremen's general manager Klaus Allofs, keenly aware that the club lie eleventh in the Bundesliga. "Today our judgement was confirmed. We've been complaining about missing the feeling of success and now it's there. We have to get stronger through this."

Those sentiments were echoed by Pizarro. "Of course I'm really happy about the score and my two goals; it's a great feeling," he said. "But now we have to go on and play exactly the way we did today in the second half. We have to be convinced of our own strength and continue in the same way. This match against AC Milan was a great performance and one of the best matches since my return to Werder." The matchwinner denied his team could now think of themselves as the new tournament favourites, however: "We know how we can play on a good evening, above all after today, but there are too many other top teams still in the competition. What I can promise is that we'll try everything to win."

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti would probably not be surprised if they do go all the way after praising the German outfit for their performance. "Werder Bremen dominated the game from the first to the last minute, and that hurts more than the result or the elimination," he said. "We had the same problems both in the first and second half; it was too easy for them to take shots on our goal. They played with a higher tempo. Now we must try to play better and bring this difficult phase to a close. Our season is not over yet, though of course we won't play in Europe again. We've failed one of our objectives and that's disappointing, but it's too soon to say that our whole season is a failure."

Pizarro puts paid to Milan's big plans

Claudio Pizarro masterminded a dramatic Werder Bremen turnaround at San Siro, beating Dida with two second-half headers to send favourites AC Milan crashing out of the UEFA Cup on the away-goals rule.

Having drawn 1-1 in the first leg in Germany, first-half goals from Andrea Pirlo and Pato looked to have smoothed Milan's path to the Round of 16, but it will be Thomas Schaaf's side who play AS Saint-Etienne in the next round after Pizarro atoned for an early miss with two goals in the second half to dump Carlo Ancelotti's side out of the competition.

Having scored for Bremen against FC Internazionale Milano at San Siro in the UEFA Champions League group stage earlier this season, Peruvian Pizarro fired wide from close range in the first two minutes. Team-mates Diego and Torsten Frings went on to test Dida early on before the former handled David Beckham's free-kick in the box to gift Milan a penalty.

Pirlo duly converted in the 27th minute, and Bremen's luck looked to be out when six minutes later Brazilian prodigy Pato blasted home a second from 15 metres. Dida then kept Bremen at bay by saving from Hugo Almeida and Pizarro again as half-time approached but the eleventh-placed side in the Bundesliga were not disheartened and Diego, Pizarro and substitute Markus Rosenberg all went close before Bremen finally hit back.

Diego's excellent free-kick allowed the 30-year-old Pizarro to nod his side back into contention in the 68th minute, prompting Bremen to pile forward in search of the decisive equaliser. Pizarro got it with 12 minutes remaining as he headed past Dida from substitute Sebastian Boenisch's cross, and though both sides had chances to put the result beyond question late on, Bremen held on to secure one of the most celebrated draws in recent UEFA Cup history.

Sabri provides the sting in Galatasaray's tail

Sabri Sarıoğlu slammed home a last-minute winner as Galatasaray AŞ earned a place in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 at the expense of FC Girondins de Bordeaux.

The Istanbul team looked set to go out on away goals after Bordeaux scored twice in the space of 60 seconds, through Marouane Chamakh and Fernando Cavenaghi, to draw level at 3-3 with 15 minutes remaining. However, Turkey full-back Sabri smashed a low 15-metre shot into the corner with moments left to settle an amazing end-to-end tie.

The game had started at breakneck speed, with David Bellion opening the scoring 12 seconds into Bülent Korkmaz's debut as Galatasaray coach – the Bordeaux forward finishing coolly past the advancing Morgan De Sanctis after a long ball from Diego Placente caught the hosts napping.

Bordeaux centre-back Souleymane Diawara hooked a cross from Arda Turan on to his own crossbar and the tide began turning Galatasaray's way in the space of three minutes at the end of the half. Arda equalised in the 43rd minute when he ran on to Milan Baroš's lay-off and lashed home a shot from 12 metres. The home crowd were still celebrating when Harry Kewell, who had come on as a substitute for the injured Mehmet Topal, collected a ball 20 metres out and smashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Lincoln missed a great chance from close range but when he crossed for Arda to tap in after 65 minutes, the match looked over at 3-1. However, Chamakh reduced the deficit by racing on to Cavenaghi's cute through ball and side-footing home and, barely a minute later, De Sanctis dropped a cross to hand Cavenaghi an equaliser. But Sabri had the final say after Bordeaux failed to clear a corner and Galatasaray can look forward to facing Hamburger SV in the Round of 16 next month.

Kravets comes good for dogged Dynamo

FC Dynamo Kyiv ended Spain's interest in the UEFA Cup with Artem Kravets striking twice against Valencia CF to set up an all-Ukrainian Round of 16 tie against FC Metalist Kharkiv, with Yuri Semin's side hosting the first leg.

After the teams drew 1-1 in snowy Kiev in the first game, Kravets put the visitors into a 34th-minute lead, and while goals from Carlos Marchena and Asier Del Horno swung the match back in the Spanish club's favour, Kravets had the final say with his second strike settling matters.

David Villa's shot from just inside the area called Stanislav Bogush into action after two minutes, while Roman Eremenko had Dynamo's only chance of a disappointing opening spell from the away side, drilling a right-footed effort wide from 20 metres after eleven minutes.

Villa and Alexis tested Bogush further, but it was Dynamo who took the lead against the run of play with Kravets crashing a low strike into the bottom left corner of César's net. Kravets sent another shot narrowly wide minutes later, and within seconds the Valencia keeper also had to save well from Carlos Corrêa. Then, with Dynamo seemingly on top, Marchena rose highest to head Manuel Fernandes's free-kick past Bogush moments before half-time and draw the hosts level.

Kravets forced another stop from César after the restart, yet Valencia scored again on 54 minutes as Del Horno pounced after Dynamo had failed to deal with another Fernandes free-kick. Kravets, though, was not to be denied, and he threw a spanner into the works with 17 minutes to go, crashing a shot high into the net from the right after being fed by Corrêa. Unai Emery's men had time to find a winner, but thanks to some resilient Dynamo defending, they were given no space to conjure one.

Leonardo invents winner for Ajax

AFC Ajax substitute Leonardo came on to conjure an 88th-minute equaliser against ACF Fiorentina which sent the Dutch side through to a UEFA Cup Round of 16 meeting with Olympique de Marseille. Having taken a slender 1-0 lead into the game, Ajax trailed to Alberto Gilardino's second-half strike and were facing extra time and penalties before Leonardo rifled home the decisive goal.

Needing to score to level the tie, Fiorentina were first to threaten when Gilardino forced an early save from Kenneth Vermeer with a shot from the middle of the box. Ajax responded with Luis Suárez's strike from the right which Fiorentina keeper Sébastien Frey did well to parry. Frey was busy again when he kept out Jan Vertonghen's effort following a free-kick from Urby Emanuelson, who then fired wide from the rebound. It remained evenly-matched after the break and Fiorentina had the best chance of the game to that point when Alessandro Gamberini headed on to a post from Franco Semioli's corner in the 47th minute.

Frey then made another good stop from Suárez's long-range free-kick, before Fiorentina, running out of time, began raining shots on the Ajax goal. Mutu blazed over from inside the area and Vermeer saved well first from Marco Donadel's 20-metre attempt, then from Gilardino's header. The pressure finally paid off when Gilardino, a threat all night, collected Mutu's pass from the right and smashed home a shot from inside the box. He could have doubled his tally minutes later but nodded over the bar, shortly after Vertonghen had curled an Ajax free-kick wide. Both sides were desperate to find a winner in the closing stages and it was Ajax's evening as Leonardo unleashed his shot into the bottom-right corner two minutes from time.

Draw enough for Shakhtar at Spurs

A late strike by Fernandinho earned FC Shakhtar Donetsk a draw on the night at Tottenham Hotspur FC, cancelling out Giovani Dos Santos's opener and lining up a last-16 meeting with PFC CSKA Moskva.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp rested several first-team players ahead of their League Cup final against Manchester United FC on Sunday, with only Wilson Palacios remaining from the side that defeated Hull City AFC on Monday. Teenage striker Jonathan Obika was given his first senior start and the 18-year-old enjoyed a promising full debut, shaving the post on the half-hour mark and then stabbing narrowly wide just before the break as Spurs chased the tie. Initially it looked like Shakhtar were going to dominate as they did in the first leg. Jadson, helped by a fortunate ricochet off the referee, flashed a drive wide before crossing for fellow Brazilian Willian, who had a shot blocked as Spurs scrambled clear.

The visitors looked dangerous when they broke forward and Fernandinho's shot in the 20th minute forced Heurelho Gomes into a low diving save. Gareth Bale was under pressure and his header needed to be cleared off the line by Gilberto, before Fernandinho was given space but nodded wide. Obika almost got on the end of Chris Gunter's cross after the restart but Giovani made no mistake in the 55th minute, surging into the penalty and unleashing a vicious drive into the top corner. He could have levelled the tie moments later but was just short of meeting Gilberto's cross. Just as Spurs pushed for a second goal, Fernandinho put the tie beyond doubt, finishing crisply with four minutes left.

European Cups - UEFA Cup - Result

CSKA Moscow | 2 - 0 | Aston Villa
Metalist Kharkiv | 2 - 0 | Sampdoria
Hamburger SV | 1 - 0 | NEC Nijmegen
FC Twente Enschede | 0 - 1 | Marseille
Wolfsburg | 1 - 3 | Paris S.G.
Galatasaray | 4 - 3 | Bordeaux
AC Milan | 2 - 2 | Werder Bremen
Ajax Amsterdam | 1 - 1 | Fiorentina
Manchester C. | 2 - 1 | FC Copenhagen
Standard Liege | 1 - 1 | Braga
Stuttgart | 1 - 2 | Zenit St. Petersburg
Udinese | 2 - 1 | Lech Poznan
Saint-Etienne | 2 - 1 Olympiakos Piraeus
Deportivo La Coruna | 1 - 3 Aalborg BK
Tottenham H. | 1 - 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia | 2 - 2 | Dynamo Kyiv