Dinamo Bucharest booked their place in the latter stagesof UEFA Cup after sealing a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen.
Claudiu Niculescu (37 and 74) was the two-goal hero for the hosts, his strikes either side of the break cancelling out Sergej Barbarez’s opener for the German side on 22 minutes.
Defeat for Leverkusen leaves them requiring nothing less than a win from their final Group B game against Besiktas on December 14 if they are to continue in the competition.
Daniel Alves struck twice as holders Sevilla FC booked their place in the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Group C strugglers Grasshoppers Zurich, who crashed out of the tournament.
Six more teams are hoping to advance when Matchday 4 resumes today: AS Nancy-Lorraine in Group E, the Group F pair of AFC Ajax and RCD Espanyol, Panathinaikos FC and AFC Rapid Bucuresti in Group G and Group H’s Fenerbahçe SK. Five teams had already reached the knockout stage prior to Matchday 4 with Italy’s Parma FC, Scottish giants Rangers FC and the English trio of Blackburn Rovers FC, Newcastle United FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC winning through last week.