Brazilian stars made their mark on the Uefa Cup on Wednesday, two of them scoring for opposing teams.
Andrade Maxwell scored in the first half to help four-time European Cup winner Ajax Amsterdam edge Auxerre 1-0 at home and take a slender lead to France in next week’s second leg.
An equaliser by Brandao four minutes from the end salvaged a 1-1 draw for Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk against Schalke 04 after fellow Brazilian Ailton put the German club ahead.
Ukraine’s bid to qualify an unprecedented three teams for the last eight had mixed results.
With the three guaranteed to avoid each other in the next round, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev are looking to achieve rare European glory for the former Soviet republic, which also leads its World Cup qualifying group.
Dnipro twice rallied from a goal down to draw 2-2 at Partizan Belgrade in their second round, first-leg match. Although Nigerian import Obiora Odita twice put the Serbian club ahead, Serhiy Nazarenko and Andriy Rusol replied for the Ukrainians.
Kiev, a two-time European Cup Winners Cup champion under the Soviet flag, hosts Spain’s Villarreal on Thursday when seven more first-leg matches are staged.
Panathinaikos needed a goal by Loukas Vyntra 15 minutes from the end to edge Seville 1-0 and will have a tough job defending that lead in Spain.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Italy’s sole survivor, Parma, played at home against VfB Stuttgart, defending Uefa Cup champion Valencia welcomed Steaua Bucharest and Sporting Lisbon took on Feyenoord in games that kicked off later.
The match between Austria Vienna and Athletic Bilbao was called off because of heavy snow.
Thursday’s other games are Grazer AK vs Middlesbrough, Alemannia Aachen vs AZ Alkmaar, Fenerbahce vs Real Zaragoza, Heerenveen vs Newcastle, FC Basel vs Lille, CSKA Moscow vs Benfica and Olympiakos vs Sochaux. — Sapa-AP