Hamburg move closer to UEFA Cup

Second-half goals
The 1983 European champions secured a 1-0 win in the first leg of their third-round tie in Portugal a week ago, and although Lieria pushed hard before the break in Hamburg, Daniel Van Buyten ensured the home defence stood firm. And, five minutes into the second half, Emile Mpenza won a penalty converted by Sergej Barbarez, and a 3-0 aggregate win for Hamburg was sealed by Benjamin Lauth's fine finish 14 minutes from time.

Wolfsburg through
In the semi-finals, played over the next two Wednesdays, Hamburg will meet SK Sigma Olomouc, who ousted BV Borussia Dortmund on away goals after a 0-0 home draw, but a second German team are still in the running for a UEFA Cup first round place as VfL Wolfsburg knocked out IFK Göteborg. Wolfsburg won 2-0 in Sweden last week and Andrés D'Alessandro, who opened the scoring in the first leg, struck again on 24 minutes tonight. Diego Klimowicz completed another 2-0 result in the last 14 minutes.

Lens win
Wolfsburg now play RC Lens, who began their home game against Croatia's NK Varteks at 1-1, and reached half-time scoreless. However, Lens soon took control and on 47 minutes Yoann Lachor put them ahead. Teenager Jonathan Lacourt and Olivier Thomert extended the lead in an eight-minute spell either side of the hour, and although Enes Novinic pulled one back, Daniel Cousin completed a 5-2 aggregate win in added time.

Lazio progress
Another Ligue 1 team, Olympique de Marseille, confirmed their progress with a 2-1 comeback win tonight for a 5-3 aggregate triumph against BSC Young Boys, and take on S.S. Lazio. Having beaten Tampere United 3-0 in Rome last weekend, Lazio fell behind as the game entered added time in Finland to a Jarkko Wiss goal, but Roberto Muzzi soon secured a 1-1 draw on the day.

Žalgiris joy
In what proved the highest-scoring tie of the round, Lithuania's FK Žalgiris Vilnius were grateful for having won the first leg with Egaleo FC 3-1 in Greece. Because, although Virmantas Lemežis and Igoris Morinas made it 2-0 to Žalgiris on 33 minutes today, Egaleo swiftly pulled one back through Prokopios Saganas and Ioannis Chloros levelled the leg from the spot on half-time. Chloros converted another penalty on 54 minutes, but Egaleo could not score again to prevent a 5-4 aggregate loss.

Sunday game
Already on Lithuania's best run in this competition, Žalgiris now meet either AS Saint-Etienne or CFR Cluj, who play on Sunday in France with the score at 1-1. One tie known is Newcastle United FC against RC Deportivo La Coruña, after they knocked out FK ZTS Dubnica and NK Slaven Koprivnica respectively.

Roda relief
Roda JC are breathing a sigh of relief in the Czech Republic after ousting FC Slovan Liberec. The first leg was goalless, and the Dutch team struck today on 38 minutes through Sergio Pacheco Oliveira. Libor Došek equalised ten minutes from time but Roda held on to win on away goals. They meet Valencia CF, who overcame KAA Gent 2-0 for a 3-1 aggregate win. David Villa's sixth-minute effort was added to late on by Patrick Kluivert, his first competitive goal for his new club.

*tie ends Sunday, first-leg score Cluj 1-1 St Etienne