Some improvement for La Liga sides on Thursday, although Sevilla were still beaten 4-2 by Paris St Germain in the first game of the evening. Two from Kanouté late in the first half cancelled early strikes by Bodmer and Hoarau, but Nené and Hoarau scored again either side of half time. Despite the defeat though the Andalusians only need to draw their last match at home to Borussia Dortmund to qualify for the next round. Villarreal are already sure of a place in the knockout stage though after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. A Rossi penalty and a strike by Marco Rubén put the Spaniards two up at the break, and Rossi completed the scoring late on. With Club Brugge drawing at PAOK, Villarreal are now certain of finishing in the top two spots in their group. (02.12.10)
A disastrous night for the two Madrid based Spanish sides in the Europa League on Wednesday. Getafe are out of the competition after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Odense BK on a freezing cold night in Denmark. Pedro Ríos gave them hope with an early goal, but an injury time Andreasen equaliser coupled with a win for Young Boys against Stuttgart means that they cannot do better than third place in their group. And defending champions Atlético Madrid need a near miracle to continue after a surprise 2-3 defeat against Aris Salonica. Two goals in a four minute period early in the first half by Forlán and Agüero cancelled out a first minute strike by Koke, but after the break a Koke penalty and scrambled goal by Lazaridis gave the Greek side a second win against Quique's team. Atlético now have to beat Bayer Leverkusen in Germany and hope that Rosenborg get something at Aris if they are to reach the knockout stage. (01.12.10)