Barcelona, AS Roma and Liverpool were dumped out of the UEFA Cup after a dramatic evening of fourth-round, second leg matches on Thursday.
Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Scotland's Celtic, Roma beat unfashionable Spanish side Villarreal 2-1 but lost the tie 3-2 on aggregate and Liverpool's season took another turn for the worse when they were beaten 2-1 at Olympique Marseille.
Inter Milan restored Italian pride by defeating Benfica 4-3 to reach the last eight, where they were joined by Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, French team Girondins Bordeaux, England's Newcastle United and Spain's Valencia.
In next month's two-legged quarter-finals Marseille will play Inter, Celtic meet Villarreal, PSV face Newcastle and Bordeaux take on Valencia.
Villarreal, who have battled through the competition from the Intertoto Cup, looked to be heading out when goals by Roma's Emerson and Antonio Cassano levelled the tie.
But Brazilian forward Sonny Anderson scored for the Spaniards midway through the second half and Villarreal withstood fierce late pressure to advance.
"Unfortunately, in football you sometimes need luck as well," said Roma coach Fabio Capello. "The team played OK. They ran a lot and they showed plenty of determination but the away goal punished us heavily."
Celtic, the Scottish champions and last season's UEFA Cup runners-up, weathered intense pressure from Barcelona at the Nou Camp to claim a 0-0 draw that took them through 1-0 on aggregate.
Without first-choice goalkeeper Robert Douglas, suspended after being sent off in the first leg, Celtic defended bravely against a team who have won nine straight Spanish Primera Liga games and 19-year-old reserve keeper David Marshall made several fine saves.
Inter edged a terrific match at the San Siro, coming from behind to beat Benfica 4-3 on the night and on aggregate.
Portuguese forward Nuno Gomes put the visitors ahead but young Nigerian Obafemi Martins equalised in first-half injury time.
Goals by strikers Alvaro Recoba and Christian Vieri gave the Serie A side a 3-1 advantage before Gomes pulled one back, only for Martins to claim his second goal 20 minutes from time.
TENSE FINALE
Inter, three times UEFA Cup winners in the 1990s, looked to be cruising but Mendes Tiago scored for Benfica with 13 minutes remaining to set up a tense finale.
Marseille came out on top in a battle of former European champions, recovering from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 and knock Liverpool out 3-2 on aggregate.
England striker Emile Heskey gave Liverpool an early lead but the visitors, UEFA Cup winners in 2001, were reduced to 10 men when Croatian defender Igor Biscan was sent off for tugging back Marseille striker Steve Marlet.
Didier Drogba converted the resulting penalty seven minutes before halftime and Aboudlaye Meite's towering header just before the hour mark sent his team through.
PSV's quarter-final tie with Newcastle gives the English premier league team's manager Bobby Robson a clash with one of his former clubs.
"It's marvellous how football brings up these equations," said Robson who agreed a one-year contract extension on Thursday.
"I had three great years there, I know a lot of people there and am looking forward to going back but I hope we knock them out."
COMFORTABLE EVENING
Robson enjoyed a comfortable evening as two goals by captain Alan Shearer and a brilliant solo effort from substitute Craig Bellamy earned Newcastle a 3-0 win at an under-strength Real Mallorca to secure a 7-1 aggregate success.
PSV striker Mateja Kezman struck twice in the first 27 minutes and midfielder Mark van Bommel added a third to give his team a 3-0 victory over AJ Auxerre and a 4-1 aggregate win.
Valencia finally ended the surprise run of Turkish side Genclerbirligi by beating them 2-0 after extra time for a 2-1 aggregate success.
Mista levelled the tie midway through the second half and after Genclerbirligi's Mustapha Ozkan had been sent off Vicente struck the silver goal winner four minutes into the extra period to sink the Turks.
Bordeaux defeated Club Bruges 1-0 in Belgium with forward Maruane Chamakh scoring a late winner to seal a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory for the French side.
The UEFA Cup final takes place on May 19 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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