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Helsingborg lead Swedish celebrations

Helsingborgs IF secured a place in the UEFA Cup group stage as they overturned a 5-3 first-leg deficit on a disappointing night for teams from Romania and Italy.

Spartak striker Roman Pavlyuchenko vies with Daniel Forsell
Spartak striker Roman Pavlyuchenko vies with Daniel Forsell ©Getty Images

Helsingborgs IF 5-1 SC Heerenveen (agg: 8-6)
After conceding five goals in the first leg, Helsingborg completed a remarkable comeback by returning the favour against Heerenveen, who could only muster one in reply. Henrik Larsson set the ball rolling on 20 minutes before Andreas Dahl (37) and Razak Omotoyossi (45) edged the Swedish side ahead on aggregate. René Makondele provided a two-goal cushion (52) and Omotoyossi's second strike (81) made it 5-0 on the night. The visitors' consolation came from Gerald Sibon a minute from time.

IF Elfsborg 0-1 FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti (agg: 2-2, Elfsborg win on away goals)
Helsingborg were not the only Swedish side to upset the form book as champions Elfsborg hung on in Boras to eliminate Dinamo. Leading 2-1 after the first leg in Bucharest, the home fans must have feared the worst when Ionel Danciulescu levelled the aggregate score from the penalty spot just after the half-hour. Yet Magnus Haglund's team held firm and prevailed courtesy of the away-goals rule.

FC Zürich 3-0 Empoli FC (agg: 4-2)
Despite losing the first leg 2-1 FC Zürich eased past Empoli to reach the group stage. Zürich found the all-important breakthrough when Sebastian Koller headed them in front (37). Luigi Cagni's side came forward more after the break but squandered too many chances and paid for their profligacy when Almen Abdi doubled the hosts' lead 12 minutes from time. Alexandre Alphonse, the scorer of Zürich's only goal in Italy, made it 3-0 four minutes later and the Italian side's misery was complete when Rincon was dismissed.

Aalborg BK 0-0 UC Sampdoria (agg: 2-2, AaB win on away goals)
AaB are through after frustrating Sampdoria with a solid defensive performance in rainy conditions in Denmark. The Blucerchiati started brightly as Claudio Bellucci drove wide on three minutes and Andrea Caracciolo was denied by Karim Zaza a minute later. Caracciolo also hit the post before Siyabonga Nomvethe headed the hosts' first chance wide on the half-hour. After the break Thomas Enevoldsen twice brought saves out of Luca Castellazzi on the break while Hugo Armando Campagnaro's bar-skimming header was the closest Doria came to scoring.

Kayseri Erciyesspor 0-5 Club Atlético de Madrid (agg: 0-9)
The Spanish side dominated as they cruised to another big victory in Turkey. Sergio Agüero opened the scoring after just six minutes and, eight minutes later, Luis García's cross found José Manuel Jurado who headed in the second. An unmarked Agüero made it 3-0 just before the break and second-half goals from Maxi Rodríguez (penalty) and Diego Forlán completed an impressive triumph.

FC Rapid Bucureşti 2-2 1. FC Nürnberg (agg: 2-2, Nürnberg win on away goals)
After a goalless first leg in Germany, the visitors qualified for the group stages after a hard-fought draw. Nürnberg had their Czech goalkeeper Jaromír Blažek to thank for three saves from Césinha, Mugurel Buga and Pierre Boya but was beaten on the quarter-hour by Césinha's header. The Bundesliga outfit hit back when Peer Kluge sprung the offside trap to level terms (22) and Zvjezdan Misimović (55) made it 2-1 from the edge of the box. Costin Lazar's added-time header proved too late to spur a fightback.

Anorthosis Famagusta FC 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur FC (agg: 2-7)
A late goal from substitute Robbie Keane saved Tottenham from defeat in Cyprus and confirmed their place in the group stage. The tie was effectively over after Tottenham's 6-1 win in the first leg but Anorthosis restored some pride with Fabio de Matos Pereira giving them the lead early in the second half. Jermain Defoe missed several chances to pull Spurs level before Keane struck 12 minutes from time.

FC Lokomotiv Moskva 2-0 FC Midtjylland (agg: 5-1)
Stunning long-range efforts by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Vladimir Maminov ensured a comfortable passage to the group stage for Lokomotiv. Bilyaletdinov broke the deadlock with a vicious shot from just outside the area on ten minutes. Five minutes later, Martin Raška was beaten again from range as Maminov secured a comfortable aggregate triumph. The only sour note for the hosts came when Sergei Yefimov had to be substituted before half-time with a broken nose.

Hamburger SV 3-1 PFC Litex Lovech (agg: 4-1)
Over 40,000 packed into the Arena Hamburg as the home side sealed a place in Tuesday's group-stage draw; but not without suffering a scare when Robert Popov cancelled out their first-leg lead on 38 minutes. Parity was fleeting, however, as José Paolo Guerrero made it 2-1 on aggregate with a stunning bicycle kick two minutes later, before adding another soon after the restart, capitalising on a defensive error. Rafael van der Vaart put the result beyond doubt with a header 18 minutes from time.

Odense BK 0-0 AC Sparta Praha (agg: 0-0 AET, Sparta win 4-3 on penalties)
Sparta edged through on penalties after their tie against OB Odense failed to produce a goal in 210 minutes. The Czech visitors eventually prevailed 4-3 in the resulting shootout to reach the group stage for the second season in a row.

Vålerenga IF 2-2 FK Austria Wien (agg: 2-4)
A draw proved enough for Austria Wien to secure their safe passage into the group stage. Saniel Kuljic, who scored in the first leg, pounced from close range midway through the first half after some hesitant defending but Vålerenga equalised five minutes after the restart, Freddy Dos Santos scoring following fine approach play by Daniel Holm. The hosts scored again when Jacek Bąk put the ball into his own net late on (87) but Milenko Ačimovič settled the tie with a 20-metre drive in added time.

BK Häcken 1-3 FC Spartak Moskva (agg: 1-8)
Spartak eased through in comprehensive style as goals from Yegor Titov, Nikita Bazhenov and Artem Dzyuba helped them to an easy win in Sweden. The talismanic Titov made it 6-0 on aggregate early on to deflate what little hopes there were among the home supporters, though they had to wait a long time before Bazhenov added another 12 minutes from time. Jonas Henriksson provided some cheer late on but it was Spartak, and Dzyuba, who had the last word.

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