AC Milan eases into UEFA Cup group stage

Tottenham eased the pressure on its under-fire manager, Juande Ramos, by completing a 3-1 aggregate victory with a 1-1 draw at Wisla and will join Manchester City in the next phase after the newly enriched Premier League club repeated its 2-1 first-leg victory over Omonia Nicosia. Aston Villa was held 1-1 by Litex Lovech, but was carried through 4-2 on aggregate. Standard Liège defeated Everton, 2-1, to win the two-leg series 4-3. Stuttgart drew 2-2 with Cherno More Varna, but progressed 4-3 past the Bulgarian team; Schalke had a comfortable 4-1 first-leg advantage over Apoel Nicosia and played out a 1-1 draw; Wolfsburg tied Rapid Bucharest 1-1 to eliminate the Romanians 2-1 on aggregate; and after a scoreless first leg, Hamburg overcame Unirea Valahorum Urziceni 2-0 in Romania. Benfica turned around a 3-2 first-leg loss to... [read full story]