The cup mid-week begins in Romania, where Dinamo and Rapid Bucharest both fell out in the last 8. Steaua lost in the previous round, ensuring that there will be a winner from outside Bucharest for the first time since 1995. Stuttgart fell out of the German Cup to Carl-Zeiss Jena (II, but falling to III at this rate) on kicks from the penalty mark, and Bayern München needed a last-gasp winner to avoid penalties against 1860 München. The Swiss Cup final will be between Basel, surely bound for the title, and Bellinzona, leaders of the II division. An entertaining semi in the French League Cup saw Le Mans and Lens tied 2:2 at half-time, 4:4 at the end of 90 minutes, before Lens won 1:0 in extra time. They'll play PSG in the final. No shocks in Portugal, where Porto, Benfica, and Sporting Lisbon are joined by Vitória Setúbal. Israel is up to the last 32, and the big shock is that Maccabi Tel-Aviv is out already, losing 1:0 to city rivals Beitar / Shimshon in extra time. And in England, Middlesbrough are one place closer to Europe, but required an own goal by the Sheffield Utd keeper deep in extra time to progress.
The upsets
42 Galatasaray - Fenebaçhe 1:0 38 Preston North End - Stoke City 2:0 34 Gretna - Kilmarnock 4:2 33 Parma - Udinese 2:0 22 Stuttgart - Jena (II) 1:1 1:1 in extra time; Jena wins 5:4 on kicks from the penalty mark 22 Bayern München - 1860 München 0:0 Bayern wins 1:0 in extra time.
We'll have tables from Spain and Italy on Tuesday. The main rumbling from Spain is the threat to that country's participation in Euro '08: the government wants to bring forward the elections for the Spanish FA, UEFA reckons that's interference in the FA's affairs, and they've banned countries for less. Beneficiaries of any exclusion would be Northern Ireland.
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