Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg has won the UEFA cup in a largely one-sided final against Glasgow Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium overnight.
The Scottish giants were able to hold on despite the Russians dominating the first-half with onslaught after onslaught but the pressure became too much in the second half and the Russian's class began to shine through.
It took until the 72nd minute for Zenit to make the breakthrough - striker Andrei Arshavin played a neat one-two with Igor Denisov who rushed into the box to slot the ball past the helpless Neil Alexander for the opener.
With a quarter of an left, Rangers piled forward in search of a dramatic equaliser but to no avail as Zenit held firm at the back and managed to take full advantage of the exposed Rangers' defence for Konstatin Zurianov to score his side's second goal of the evening.
Congratulations go to both teams with Zenit deserviing winners of the competition and the galant effort Rangers put up not just in the final, but throughout the long journey to Manchester which encompassed some 18 European games.
Just a day after Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the English Premier League as the best in Europe, the curse of the English spot-kick nightmares resurfaced with Everton and Tottenham both exiting the UEFA Cup at the fourth round stage on penalties against Fiorentina and PSV respectively.
Despite clawing back a two-goal deficit from the first leg, the blue half of Merseyside couldn't find the killer third goal as both sides went close in extra-time. With the aggregate score level at 2-2 after extra-time, penalties beckoned but crucial misses by Ayegbeni Yakubu and Phil Jagielka sealed the home side's fate as Fiorentina went onto win 4-2 on penalties thus sealing a berth in the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup.
Meanwhile at the Philipsstadion, Spurs boss Juande Ramos' dream of a UEFA Cup hat-trick was ended as Tottenham crashed out of the UEFA Cup 6-5 on penalties to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov provided the crucial breakthrough with a superb volley to level the scores in the 81st minute but to no avail as Jermaine Jenas and crucially, Pascal Chimbonda failed from the spot to send PSV through to the next round.
Fiorentina and PSV will be joined in the UEFA Cup quarter finals by Bayer Leverkusen, Getafe, Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburg with two more vacancies yet to be filled.
Final Result:
Espanyol 2 - 2 FC Sevilla
(Penalties: Espanyol 1 - 3 FC Sevilla)
SUMMARY:
*Courtesy of BBC Sport
In an all-Spanish affair, FC Sevilla upset fellow La Liga side Espanyol on penalties to retain their UEFA cup trophy in an action-packed match.
Claro Adriano Correia opened the scoring for Sevilla on the 18th minute before Albert Riera restored parity for Espanyol 10 minutes later.
While no further goals were scored in regulation time, Espanyol midfielder Moises Hurtado was sent off 20 minutes before full-time arrived to leave his side hanging by a thread. To Espanyol's credit, they refused to give in and held out for extra-time.
Former Tottenham striker Frederic Kanoute drew first blood for Sevilla when he scored in the first half of extra time to give his side a 2-1 lead, but again, Espanyol dug deep despite playing with a man down to equalise with a glorious shot by substitute Jonatas.
With both sides locked on two goals apiece at the end of extra time, penalties beckoned with Kanoute scoring first for Sevilla and Luis Garcia had his kick saved by Palop then Ivica Dragutinovic scored, as did Pandiani.
Alves blasted over the bar before Jonatas had his kick saved by Palop.
Antonio Puerta scored leaving Marc Torrejon under pressure, but once again Palop saved to be the hero for Sevilla.
Congratulations to Sevilla for a great UEFA cup campaign!
Tottenham's spirited second-half come-back against Sevilla was not enough to earn the London club a berth in the semi-finals of the UEFA cup.
Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon goals in the second half was not enough for Spurs which had fallen behind to two quick goals - an own goal from Steed Malbranque and one from ex-Tottenham player Frederic Kanoute.
The Spanish side went through on 4 - 3 aggregate.
Sevilla joins two other Spanish clubs - Osasuna and Espanyol - in the semi-finals with the remaining spot going to Werder Bremen.
Venue: Philipsstadion Attendance: 36,500 Date: Wed., May 10 Middlesbrough 0 - 4 FC Sevilla (Clemente Luis Fabiano '26, Enzo Maresca '78, Enzo Maresca '84, Frederic Kanoute '89)
Departing boss Steve McLaren consoles captain Southgate after the defeat. (GettyImages)
SUMMARY:
Sadly, Aussies Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka will not have UEFA cup winner's medals to show off to their Socceroo team-mates in Germany after their team were totally out-classed by Spanish outfit Sevilla in the UEFA Cup Final for season 05-06.
Middlesbrough had already produced two barely believable comebacks from three goals down to reach the final in Eindhoven, but their luck finally caught up with them.
Sevilla played some devastating football that Boro simply could not match - whether it be nerves of the club's first European final or the fatigue of their 64th game of the season on a hot night in Holland, I'm not sure.
A disappointing loss for Middlesborough, no doubt, but as a team, they will learn from this experience and despite not having a winner's medal around their necks, reaching the final of a European competition is a great achievement in itself.
Record signing Massimo Maccarone sealed another stunning European fightback to send Middlesbrough into the UEFA Cup final.
Steaua Bucharest led 1-0 from the first leg and extended their lead early on through Nicolae Dica and Dorin Goian.
As in the previous round against Basle, Boro were left needing four goals to win but Maccarone's angled drive and Australia's own Mark Viduka's header gave them hope.
Steve McClaren's men will face Spanish side Sevilla in the final in Eindhoven on 10 May - their first European final.
2 on 1: Downing tries to find a way past the defence of Steau
*Denotes home team
VERDICT:
Aussie goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer turned in a heroic performance to deny Steaua Bucharest a healthy UEFA Cup semi-final advantage but the Romanians ran out 1-0 winners.
Thanks to a string of magical saves from the Aussie, Middlesborough will know that not all is lost despite the loss with a home game still to come in the return leg.
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