UEFA Cup, third round second leg

The two Sevilla based sides will be representing Spain in the UEFA Cup after they made it through to the last 16 of the competition today. Betis won through 2-1 against Alkmaar thanks to a goal in extra time by Melli, and strikes by Maresca and Antonio Puerta gave Sevilla a comfortable 2-0 win against Lokomotiv Moscow. Espanyol were knocked out though by Schalke '04 after losing 0-3 at home.

Betis were defending a two goal lead from the first leg, but they were in trouble early on when the referee awarded Alkmaar a penalty after Juanito handled in the area. Landzaat fired his kick against the post, but later in the half strikes from Arveladze and Jaliens levelled the tie. The Andalusians held on though to take the game in to extra time, and just three minutes later Melli was on hand to turn a long free kick from Joaquín in on the far post. Serra Ferrer's side will play Steaua Bucharest in the next round.

Sevilla join their city rivals in the fourth round after beating Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0. With a one goal lead from the first leg the hard work was already done, and the Andalusians had no problems seeing off their opponents. Neither side had many chances until ten minutes before the break, when Maresca picked up a pass from Dragutinovic to beat Poliakov. And with the game coming to end Antonio Puerta wrapped things up with a second goal to set up a tie with French club Lille.

Espanyol are out of the competition though after a heavy 0-3 defeat to Schalke '04. The Catalans were trying to turn over a 2-1 result from the first leg, and they were on top during the first half. The German side stepped up a gear after the break though, Kuranyi opening the scoring with a header and Sand and Lincoln adding two more later on. The result at least means that Espanyol can now organize their postponed cup semi-final against Deportivo. (23.02.06)