Two-time UEFA Cup champion Parma and 1981 finalist AZ Alkmaar both reached the semifinals of this year's competition with draws on Thursday.
Parma, the 1995 and 1999 winner, held visiting Austria Vienna to a 0-0 draw and advanced on away goals after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. AZ Alkmaar drew 1-1 with Villarreal and advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Sporting Lisbon and CSKA Moscow also advanced to the last four. Sporting scored four straight goals to beat Newcastle 4-1 and 4-2 on aggregate, while CSKA lost to Auxerre 2-0 but still moved on with a 4-2 aggregate win.
Both Newcastle and Villarreal reached the semifinals last year.
CSKA will play Parma in the semifinals on April 28 and May 5, and Sporting will face AZ. The final is set for May 18 at Alvalade Stadium, Sporting's home.
In Parma, the solid backline of Daniele Bonera, Paolo Cannavaro and Giuseppe Cardone helped ensure the goalless draw.
Austria Vienna, which was seeking its first European semifinal since the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup, had its share of chances. Parma goalkeeper Luca Bucci kept out two shots from Sebastian Mila and made a leaping save to knock Czech midfielder Libor Sionko's free kick off the post.
"There are no stars on this team. Everyone who plays is important, that's the strength of this team," Bucci said.
With an eye on Parma's battle to avoid relegation in Serie A, coach Pietro Carmignani kept international striker Alberto Gilardino on the bench for the first half. The team's best chances came from Ibrahima Camara and Fabio Simplicio.
"We were up against a good team and we worked for it and deserved it," Carmignani said.
AZ Alkmaar, which lost to Ipswich in the 1981 UEFA Cup final, took the lead in the eighth minute when Kenneth Perez scored with a 20m shot to the far post. Lucho Figueroa equalized for Villarreal in the 72nd minute by finishing a cross from Juan Roman Riquelme.
Six minutes later, Riquelme hit the post with a free kick, and Armando Sa sent a chance over the bar three minutes from time.
"We had an angel on the woodwork," AZ Alkmaar coach Co Adriaanse said.
Both teams played most of the match with 10 men.
AZ defender Barry Opdam received his second yellow card in three minutes with a late tackle on striker Jose Mari Romero and was sent off in the 21st minute.
Jose Mari was red-carded seconds later for kicking Barry van Galen.
Sporting played without Liedson, who had been suspended, but still managed to overcome Newcastle, which took the lead against the run of play in the 19th minute when Kieron Dyer scored.
Marius Niculae, standing in for Liedson, sneaked between Newcastle's central defenders to head in the equalizer in the 40th.
In the second half, Ricardo Sa Pinto put Sporting in the lead in the 72nd, and Roberto Beto headed in another to make it 3-1 in the 76th. Fabio Rochemback scored the final goal in the 90th.
"We earned this victory," Sporting coach Jose Peseiro said.
Newcastle fielded goalkeeper Shay Given, who sustained a hip injury in the 1-0 first-leg win at St. James' Park and missed the club's next Premier League match.
Newcastle won this tournament in 1969 when it was called the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup -- its last trophy in any competition.
CSKA will be making its first appearance in a European semifinal. Its previous best performance was in the 1972 European Cup, when it made the quarterfinals.
RSS