Hamburg and Schalke were beaten in their first-leg matches in the UEFA Cup's round of 16 on Thursday, denting the last German hopes remaining in European cup competition.
Ten-man Hamburg was upset by host Rapid Bucharest 2-0 -- five days after it became the first Bundesliga team to beat league leader Bayern Munich in 11 games at its new stadium.
Schalke, which is fourth in the Bundesliga, lost at Palermo 1-0.
PHOTO: AP
Also Thursday, Lille beat Sevilla 1-0 and Steaua Bucharest held Real Betis to a 0-0 draw. FC Basel beat Strasbourg 2-0, Marseille lost 1-0 to Zenit St. Petersburg, and Middlesbrough beat AS Roma 1-0. Udinese drew 0-0 with Levski Sofia.
The second legs are scheduled for March 15-16.
Both Rapid and Hamburg finished the match with 10 men. Hamburg had Nigel de Jong sent off in the 68th minute for a second yellow card, and Rapid's Vasile Maftei was ejected in injury time for a tackle on Mario Fillinger.
Daniel Niculae put Rapid ahead in the 45th minute with a 35m shot that caught Hamburg goalkeeper Stefan Waechter by surprise. With two minutes to go, Niculae sped past several Hamburg defenders on the right side and passed to Mugurel Buga, who completed the scoring.
It was a good night for Bucharest-based teams, with Steaua holding Betis to a 0-0 draw.
Steaua dominated, but Betis' defense gave the Romanians little room to maneuver.
Betis threatened on counterattacks and came close to scoring in the 69th minute when Fernando Varela's shot from 14 meters was denied by Steaua goalkeeper Carlos Fernandez.
Franco Brienza helped Palermo beat Schalke with a 15th-minute goal, settling a ball while unmarked near the net and converting from close range.
Schalke was relegated to the UEFA Cup following its elimination from the Champions League.
Geoffrey Dernis scored Lille's winning goal in the 24th minute.
The midfielder scored directly from a corner, with Sevilla goalkeeper Antonio Notario misjudging the flight of the ball.
Middlesbrough beat Italian side Roma with a 12th-minute penalty from Aiyegbeni Yakubu. Middlesbrough earned the penalty when Roma goalkeeper Gianluca Curci brought down Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Marseille thanks to midfielder Andrei Arshavin, who collected the ball and beat goalkeeper Fabien Barthez with a curling shot in the 50th minute.
Marseille was reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute when midfielder Franck Ribery was sent off for a second yellow card.
Matias Delgado scored one goal and set up another to lead FC Basel over Strasbourg 2-0.
After Delgado converted a free kick in the eighth minute, Zdravko Kuzmanovic deflected Delgado's kick in the 89th minute for the finale.
Arsenal must savor its Champions League success quickly, and defending champion Liverpool has little time to explain its embarrassing exit. It's back to the Premier League, where the two meet tomorrow.
Arsenal drew 0-0 with Real Madrid on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, but still needs league victories.
Unless they win the Champions League, the Gunners have to finish in the top four in the Premier League to qualify for next season's edition. Right now, they're in fifth place with 44 points -- 28 fewer than leader Chelsea.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Wednesday's game ranked among the best since he joined the club almost 10 years ago.
"It's certainly one of the better ones," he said. "If you had told me that we would play twice against Real Madrid without conceding a goal, with so many defensive players out, it shows you that football can always be surprising."
Striker and captain Thierry Henry followed Wednesday's match by saying the team could "relax for a few weeks."
Out of Europe, Liverpool has no distractions.
In third place with 55 points -- two fewer than Manchester United and 17 fewer than Chelsea -- the Reds' targets are clear.
"We still have the FA Cup and we still have the league and a Champions League qualification place to secure," coach Rafa Benitez said. "We must put this behind us quickly.
"My players are very upset by losing the chance of retaining their European title, but the world must move on and we have other things to achieve."
Chelsea's in the same position after being ousted from the Champions League by Barcelona.
"Last season they [Barcelona] saw the quarterfinal on TV, and this year we must do the same," Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said. "They can think about the quarterfinal, and we will think about the Premiership and the FA Cup."
In the FA Cup quarterfinals, Liverpool faces Birmingham City on March 21 and Chelsea faces Newcastle on March 22.
Chelsea has a key league game on Saturday, hosting Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Fourth-place Tottenham, with 49 points and trying to hold onto the final Champions League place, is looking for its first league win in 16 years against the Blues.
Of the past 31 league games against Chelsea, Spurs have drawn 11 and lost 20 since winning 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in October 1990.
In today's other games, it's Birmingham versus West Brom, Blackburn versus Aston Villa, Bolton versus West Ham, Everton versus Fulham, Portsmouth versus Manchester City, and Sunderland versus Wigan.
Tomorrow it's Manchester United versus Newcastle and Charlton versus Middlesbrough.
Manchester United, which was knocked out of the Champions League three months ago in the group stage, needs to secure second place to avoid qualifying games for the Champions League.
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