By DPA
Hamburg : Greek clubs excelled in the UEFA Cup as all the four clubs involved in first-round return-leg matches advanced to the lucrative group phase of the competition.
What made their progress into the next round even more remarkable was that they all lost their return-leg fixtures, but still advanced.
Premiership club Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Larissa 2-1 in England, but it was not enough as Rovers lost the first leg in Greece 2-0.
Brazilian Cleyton opened the scoring for the visitors in the 13th minute with a well-taken goal that left Rovers with a mountain to climb as they needed four goals to advance.
They managed to pull one back just before the break when Matt Derbyshire scored from the spot after the Greek goalkeeper Elias Kotsolis brought down David Dunn.
Rovers’ fans were hoping for a miracle after Stephen Warnock gave them a 2-1 lead just six minutes after the restart, but even though they pushed men forward in search of two more goals, Larissa’s defence stood firm to give them a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Ghanaian Bennard Yao Kumordzi scored an own goal in the 53rd minute giving Sochaux a 1-0 victory in Athens against Panionios, but the Greek club advanced 2-1 on aggregate.
Vratislav Lokvenc gave big-spending Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg a 1-0 victory against AEK Athens, but the 3-0 victory in the first round was more than enough to give the Greek club a 3-1 aggregate win.
The final Greek club to advance Thursday was Aris Saloniki, who lost 2-1 at Real Zaragoza, but went through on the away goal rule, having not conceded a goal in their 1-0 victory in the first leg.
The four clubs were joined in the next round by Panathinaikos Athens, who beat Artmedia Bratislava 3-0 Tuesday to advance 5-1 on aggregate.
The German Bundesliga, who have not enjoyed a lot of success in the Champions League this season, did much better in the UEFA Cup Thursday, with all four clubs advancing.
Bayern Munich added a 2-0 victory to their 1-0 win from the first leg, while Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-2 at Leiria, but still went through 5-4 on aggregate.
SV Hamburg, who beat Bulgarian club Litex 1-0 away, added a 3-1 come-back victory on the night for a 4-1 aggregate win.
Robert Popov opened the scoring for the visitors late in the first half, but Peruvian international Paolo Guerrero equalized just two minutes later with a spectacular overhead kick.
He added a second shortly after the restart before captain Rafael van der Vaart put matters beyond doubt with a third goal for the home side in the 72nd minute.
German cup winners Nuremberg drew 2-2 at Rapid Bucharest to advance on the away goal rule.
Struggling Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur, who had already done enough in the first leg against Cyprus club Anorthosis Famagusta after winning 6-1, needed a late Robbie Keane goal to snatch a 1-1 draw in Cyprus.
Other Premiership clubs through on the night were Everton, who won 3-2 at Metalist Kharkiv and Bolton Wanderers who beat Rabotniki 1-0 for a 2-1 aggregate.
It was not a good night for Serie A clubs as Palermo were knocked out on penalties after slumping to a 1-0 home defeat against Mlada Boleslav, Empoli went out at the expense of Swiss club Zurich and Sampdoria were knocked out on the away goal rule by Aalborg.
The only Serie A club through was Fiorentina who won 4-3 on penalties after drawing 1-1 with Groningen.
Three Spanish clubs advanced to the group phase. Atletico Madrid had the biggest aggregate victory after beating Kayseri Erciyesspor 5-0 in Turkey for a 9-0 aggregate win, while Villarreal beat BATE Borisov 2-0 to go through 6-1 on aggregate and Getafe, who advanced on the away goal rule after losing 3-2 at Twente Enschede.
Former European Champions’ Cup winners Ajax, who were in the driving scene after having won the first leg game 1-0 in Croatia were stunned 3-2 at home by Dinamo Zagreb and went out on the away goal rule.
Mario Mandzukic was the hero for the Croatian side as he scored two goals in extra time to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Although Jan Klaas Huntelaar pulled back two, it was not enough to see Ajax through.