Deportivo qualify through the back door in UEFA Cup

Deportivo La Coruna qualified by the back door from the UEFA Cup group stages as the 2004 Champions League semi-finalists struck a late winner through Rodolfo Bodipo for a 1-0 victory at home to Nancy.

FC Copenhagen thanked Cesar Santin for a second-half winner in their 1-0 win at FC Bruges to also get their ticket through while Lech Poznan got the third and final berth of the night following a win by the same scoreline at Feyenoord with Ivan Djurdjevic on target.

Another six places in February's two-leg Round of 32 are on offer in Thursday's fixtures before Friday's draw which comprises the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League groups and the 24 UEFA Cup qualifiers.

AC Milan's late conceding of an equaliser in a 2-2 draw at home to VfL Wolfsburg meant the Germans held on to top spot in Group E, meaning they play a third-placed team in the Round of 32.

AC Milan fans staged a protest against their own club during the meaningless tie at the San Siro which was practically empty with few fans other than the 1,600 travelling German supporters.

Aston Villa skipper Nigel Reo-Coker was far from happy as they fell 3-1 at Hamburg – coached by former Spurs handler Martin Jol – meaning they only qualified in third spot from Group F.

“(We take this result) very hard – no-one likes to lose,” Reo-Coker told Channel Five television. “It's not the mentality we've got at this club.

“We're very disappointed, we're here to win games, regardless of which team is out there. We've set standards and expect to maintain them. We let ourselves down by conceding very poor goals.”

Manager Martin O'Neill did not field his strongest line-up contributing to the defeat with two goals from Ivica Olic and another from Mladen Petric, though Nathan Delfouneso pulled one back late on.

Making things worse, Villa's Steve Sidwell was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 84th minute.

Portsmouth's Peter Crouch scored twice in their 3-0 victory at home to Dutchmen Heerenveen though Pompey had already been eliminated from the competition.

Spartak Moscow coach Michael Laudrup is hoping for another upset at White Hart Lane on Thursday after witnessing Jol's exit during his last visit to Tottenham.

Denmark's Laudrup was with Getafe last season and beat Spurs on a bizarre night when Jol's dismissal circulated around the ground during the match while the Dutchman was still in the dug-out.

Now with Spartak in Russia, Laudrup needs to beat Harry Redknapp's men to have any chance of progressing in the UEFA Cup, with the result of Udinese's clash with NEC Nijmegen having a bearing.