Fiorentina won through to the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday with a 2-1 win over Mlada Boleslav.
Christian Vieri scored the winner in the 67th minute, ensuring that Fiorentina joined Villarreal and AEK Athens in advancing from Group C in the last round of group games. The top three teams in each group advance.
Zenit Saint Petersburg, FC Nuremberg, SK Brann and Aberdeen were the final four clubs to qualify.
Fiorentina , back in the UEFA Cup after a six-year absence, went in front against Mlada Boleslav with a penalty kick from Adrian Mutu after Giampaolo Pazzini was fouled inside the area and Vieri scored the winner after Jan Rajnoch had equalized for Mlada Boleslav .
Fiorentina have struggled in the Italian league, taking only two points from their last five league games, affected perhaps by the death of the wife of coach Cesare Prandelli from breast cancer. Prandelli has said he's thought of quitting since her death last month.
Villarreal beat AEK Athens 2-1 in the other Group C game.
FC Nuremberg advanced from Group A after a 3-1 win over visiting Larissa with goals from Jozef Kozlej, Marek Mintal and Angelos Charisteas.
Idle Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg also advanced with Nuremberg, as did Everton, who finished top of Group A with a perfect record after a 3-2 win away at AZ Alkmaar.
Everton scored through Andrew Johnson, Phil Jagielka and James Vaughan to become the first visiting team to win a European tie in Alkmaar, ending AZ's 32-match unbeaten streak.
Aberdeen advanced from Group B after a 4-0 win over FC Copenhagen. James Smith scored twice and Richard Foster added another, alongside an own-goal from Mikael Antonsson.
Aberdeen joined Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid in advancing.
Atletico Madrid grabbed the top spot in the group after Simao Sabrosa's injury-time goal clinched a 2-1 win over Panathinaikos.
The Portugal midfielder curled a free kick from a few meters outside the area underneath the crossbar and past goalkeeper Arkadiusz Malarz in the fifth minute of injury time.
Dimitrios Salpingidis' opened for the Greeks in the 34th minute after racing on to a poor header by Yiourkas Seitaridis -- a former Panathinaikos defender -- then outmaneuvering center back Fabiano Eller to shoot inside the far post.
Luis Garcia replied for Atletico in the 74th minute.
Atletico lost Raul Garcia in the 80th minute to a red card for an elbow on Andreas Ivanschitz.
SK Brann took the final place from Group D without even playing because Rennes drew 1-1 with Dinamo Zagreb.
Ognjen Vukojevic scored for Dinamo in the 57th minute and while Bruno Cheyrou missed an 86th-minute penalty for Rennes, Stephane M'bia Etoundi leveled for the French side in the 88th minute.
Hamburger SV and FC Basel , who had already advanced, drew 1-1 in Group D's other match.
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