Seven teams reached the 32-team knockout stage of the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
Monaco, Hamburg and Slavia Prague clinched the three berths in Group A. Palermo and Espanyol picked up the remaining places in Group B, with Lens and Hertha Berlin going through in Group C.
Monaco defeated CSKA Sofia 2-1, and Hamburg beat Slavia Prague 2-0 for both winners to finish atop Group A with nine points. But Monaco earned first place on goal difference.
Despite the loss, Slavia claimed the final spot from Group A. Slavia finished with only four points -- the same as Norway club Viking -- but also had a better goal difference.
Palermo defeated Brondby 3-0 to finish atop Group B with eight points. Espanyol defeated Maccabi Petach-Tikva 1-0 and finished second, also with eight points. Lokomotiv Moscow did not play but had already advanced with seven points.
In Group C, Lens defeated Sampdoria 2-1 to claim one spot with seven points. In the other game, Steaua Bucharest drew 0-0 at Hertha Berlin. Steaua had already advanced, finishing on top with eight points. The draw gave Hertha six points, yielding third place ahead of Sampdoria with five.
All three places in Group D were already decided with Middlesbrough, AZ Alkmaar and Litex Lovech advancing. In Thursday's games, AZ defeated Grasshoppers 1-0, and Middlesbrough beat Litex 2-0.
Strasbourg, AS Roma, FC Basel, Marseille, Levski Sofia, SC Heerenveen, Rapid Bucharest, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stuttgart, Sevilla, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Bolton have already advanced.
The eight third-place teams from the Champions League will also play in the next round: FC Brugge, FC Thun, Udinese, Lille, Schalke, Rosenborg, Real Betis and Artmedia Bratislava.
knockout round draw
The draw for the final 32 of the UEFA Cup and the final 16 of the Champions League was to held yesterday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Olivier Kapo gave Monaco a 1-0 lead in the 50th and Sebastien Squillaci made it 2-0 in the 75th. Velizar Dimitrov scored in the 84th for CSKA.
Hamburg went ahead on a ninth-minute header by Sergej Barbarez, and made it 2-0 in the 57th when striker Emile Mpenza beat Slavia goalkeeper Aleksandar Seliga.
Leandro Rinaduo scored twice and Stephen Makinwa netted in Palermo's 3-0 victory. In Espanyol's 1-0 victory, Argentine defender Mauricio Pochettino's 83rd-minute goal was the difference against Maccabi Petach-Tikva.
Olivier Thomert and Issam Jomaa scored in Lens' 2-1 victory over Sampdoria.
Francesco Flachi scored for the Italians.
Massimo Maccarone claimed both of Middlesbrough's two goals, and Danny Koevermans scored in AZ Alkmaar's victory.
This is how desperate rivals managers are about stopping Chelsea from running away with another Premier League title: Manchester United's Alex Ferguson will be cheering for Arsenal this weekend.
The Gunners are way off the pace -- 17 points behind Chelsea in sixth place -- after losing their second straight game and fifth this season.
But recent form is likely to be overtaken by traditional rivalry when the Blues travel across London to Highbury tomorrow.
"It is a must-win game at the moment," Arsenal midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg said. "It is at home and we want to win at home and it is against Chelsea which we always want to win."
Manchester United ended a bad spell -- including an unexpected early exit from the Champions League group stage -- by beating Wigan 4-0 on Wednesday night. Manchester United is now nine points behind Chelsea.
"Of course I'll have my Arsenal hat on," said Ferguson, whose side plays Aston Villa today. "I'll certainly be cheering them on. Everyone is hoping Chelsea drop points -- ourselves, Arsenal and Liverpool. We are all in the same boat."
"If Chelsea do slip up, and anything is possible, we want to be the team that is next to them. If we are, we have a chance," Ferguson added.
Until last season, Chelsea was the club chasing Arsenal. Now it's the other way around.
Arsenal was unbeaten in 17 meetings with Chelsea between 1998 and 2004, while its dominance in the league stretched six matches farther back to 1995.
The arrival of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea manager changed that. Last season, the sides drew 2-2 at Highbury and 0-0 at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 in the preseason Community Shield and 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in August.
All three Chelsea goals this season were scored by Didier Drogba, who's expected to start on Sunday.
"It is important for us," Drogba said of Sunday's match. "But if the Gunners do not win, things are going to become difficult for them."
Arsenal will have Dennis Bergkamp back after he recovered from a hamstring injury, but Gilberto is suspended after being sent off against Newcastle. Bergkamp missed the losses to Bolton and Newcastle that effectively ended Arsenal's title hopes.
"It will be a hard game if you think about winning a championship," Bergkamp said. "We need to think about our own game at the moment and focus on getting good results, especially over the Christmas period."
Arsenal hasn't finished outside the top two since Wenger's first full season in charge at Highbury in 1997. Wenger has repeatedly clashed with Mourinho, particularly since Chelsea was accused of illegally approaching Arsenal defender Ashley Cole for contract talks.
"Our No. 1 opponents are not Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United," Drogba said. ``It is ourselves at Chelsea.
"Besides the talent, our success rests on rigor, organization and state of mind. If we stay faithful to these values, we will continue to win."
With Liverpool playing in the Club World Championship in Tokyo, Tottenham can jump into third place on Sunday by beating Middlesbrough. Liverpool has 31 points, followed by Tottenham with 30, Bolton 27 and Arsenal 26.
In other matches today, it's Everton versus Bolton, Fulham versus Blackburn, West Ham versus Newcastle, Wigan versus Charlton and Manchester City versus Birmingham. Harry Redknapp takes charge of Portsmouth's first home game since he rejoined the club last week against West Bromwich Albion.
In the Football League Championship, leader Reading is at Millwall.
Certain of spending the winter break atop the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich can relax on its trip to Dortmund and then watch its closest challengers do battle.
Bayern has a four-point lead going into the final round before the winter break and plays a road game against the young, rebuilding Borussia Dortmund today.
But the biggest match of the 17th round is tomorrow, when third-place Werder Bremen hosts second-place Hamburger SV.
With Bayern on 41 points, Hamburg has 37 and Bremen 35.
Tomorrow's match pits the league's most prolific attack against the tightest defense.
Bremen has scored 45 goals, while Hamburg has conceded only eight.
Miroslav Klose has contributed a league-high 16 goals in 13 games for Bremen, and his strike partner Ivan Klasnic, who has eight, could be back in the starting lineup after recovering from surgery to remove his appendix.
The game is more than just a clash between top-ranked Bundesliga teams. There is a long rivalry between the two northern German clubs. For the fans, the important thing at the end of the season is to be above the other side.
Bremen last won the Bundesliga in 2003-2004 and has not given up on taking the title this season despite Bayern's lead.
"We all believe in the championship," said midfielder Johan Micoud. "One loss for Bayern and we are right there."
Roy Keane joined Scottish league leader Celtic on Thursday on an 18-month contract.
"Celtic are delighted to announced that Roy Keane has signed," the club said in a statement. "The self-confessed Celtic fan has fulfilled a long-held dream by joining the Hoops and his contract will see him remain at Celtic Park initially until June 2007."
The former Manchester United captain was to be officially unveiled later Thursday.
The 34-year-old midfielder has long said he would like to end his career at the Glasgow club. He spurned the chance to join Real Madrid, Everton and Bolton -- even though the latter two are close to his home in northwest England.
Keane hasn't played since breaking a bone in his left foot Sept. 20 during Manchester United's Premier League game with Liverpool.
He left Man United a month ago after 12-and-a-half years. His contract was canceled by mutual consent two weeks after he lambasted his teammates in an interview so scathing the club refused to broadcast it on its TV station.
He could make his Scottish league debut on Jan. 1 against Hearts.
Meier receives ban
The German football federation banned former Duisburg coach Norbert Meier on Thursday for three months for butting an opponent.
Meier, who has been fired by Duisburg over the incident, was also fined 12,500 euros.
Meier and Cologne's Albert Streit had a heated face-to-face argument on the sideline late in Dec. 6's 1-1 home draw between the teams. Meier then butted the player.
Di Canio may be expelled
Italian Paulo Di Canio could be expelled from football for his fascist salute during a match last weekend, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Friday, renouncing any form of discrimination in the game.
"We now have this item in our files," Blatter told reporters in Tokyo, where he's attending the Club World Championship. "We have to be very tough against all discrimination."
In Italy on Sunday, Lazio forward Di Canio appeared to give a fascist salute to fans during a 2-1 loss at Livorno. He was fined earlier this season for doing the same thing.
UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson reacted by saying racist behavior could lead to teams' exclusion from UEFA and domestic competitions. Blatter said he supports the hardline stance.
"I cannot make an assessment on Di Canio yet as I know only what has been reported," he said.
But if the veteran striker is found guilty by a disciplinary panel, Blatter added, "in such cases we must also exclude players from our family."
Di Canio's arm gesture is associated in Italy with the salute used under the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
"I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people," Di Canio was quoted as saying in the Italian media.
The game featured teams whose fans have opposing political allegiances: Lazio fans waved swastika flags while Livorno fans had red Communist flags.
Blatter said racist actions by players or fans could cause their clubs severe penalties.
"The only sanction you can take against racism is the deduction of points, suspension or expulsion from competition -- even relegation to the next league," he said. "A financial sentence is nothing. We have to be really tough."
Last week, Hungary's football federation fined Ujpest FC 19,377 euros because its fans chanted anti-Semitic slurs during a league match, and suspended the referee for failing to take action.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
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