Brugge continue Belgian domination

Brugge
Having gained a last-gasp point at Austria last week, Brugge know that a home win against Zaragoza on 16 December will take them through to the last 32. And they remain seven points clear and unbeaten in the Belgian First Division after a 3-1 win against RAEC Mons, Timmy Simons, Gaëtan Englebert and Gert Verheyen on target in their seventh straight league victory. Philippe Clément has suffered a hamstring injury and joins Marek Spilár - who has the same complaint - on the sidelines. Victor will be suspended against Zaragoza after his red card in Austria while, in other news, defender Olivier De Cock has agreed a new contract running until summer 2009.

Zaragoza
Despite a 1-0 defeat by high-flying RCD Espanyol on Sunday following Raúl Tamudo's 29th-minute goal, Zaragoza remain eleventh in the Primera División. Striker David Villa and defender Luis Cuartero have both now returned from injury, but the latter was withdrawn at the interval. Zaragoza will need only a point against Brugge, and will be through even if they lose should Austria not defeat Utrecht.

Utrecht
Last Wednesday's results finally ended Utrecht's campaign, the Dutch side having sat out Matchday 4 following three defeats. And on Sunday they fell to seventh place in the Eredivisie as they equalised five minutes from time against SBV Vitesse through Darl Douglas, only for Michael Jansen to dash Utrecht hopes by making it 2-1 before the final whistle. Tim Cornelisse is suspended for the visit of Austria after his red card in Utrecht's last UEFA Cup fixture at Brugge.

Austria
Two goals from Štepán Vachoušek and another by Radoslaw Gilewicz gave Austria a 3-1 win against ten-man SV Austria Salzburg on Saturday, and SK Rapid Wien's 1-1 draw with SV Pasching the following day ensured Günter Kronsteiner's side first place in the Bundesliga. Joseph Didulica was injured against Brugge, was out on Saturday and will also miss the final league game before the winter break on Tuesday against SV Mattersburg. Markus Kiesenebner was injured versus Salzburg and is also out on Tuesday, but he is in any case suspended against Utrecht due to a booking last week, with Saša Papac also banned due to a red card in that game.

Dnipro
With their group stage campaign over and progress ensured, Dnipro won 1-0 at FC Obolon Kyiv on Sunday, 18-year-old Konstyantyn Kravchenko scoring the winner midway through the second half, six minutes before Denys Andriyenko was sent off. They remain sixth in the Ukrainian Premier League. Serhiy Matiukhin will be suspended for their first knockout fixture after a red card in their Matchday 4 defeat by Zaragoza.