German Teams Advance

Hamburg and Nuremberg survived the group stage of play Thursday, Dec. 20. Along with Munich, Leverkusen and Bremen, they'll be headed to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup in February.

Hamburg's strong record allowed it to advance with a 1-1 draw against Basel of Switzerland, which had to play one man short after Reto Zanni was sent out at the beginning of the second half. Ivan Ergic scored for Basel in the 58th minute. But Ivica Olic struck back for Hamburg 15 minutes later.

Nuremberg secured their spot with a 3-1 victory against Greece's Larissa. Ivan Saenko, Marek Mintal and Angelos Charisteas all kicked in goals after an early score by Larissa's Jozef Kozlej.

Elimination rivals drawn

Munich and Leverkusen both qualified Wednesday. The pair, along with Hamburg, topped the final standing in their groups.

Four-time European champions Bayern Munich will travel to Scotland to play Aberdeen in the tournament's next round.

Leverkusen drew Turkey's Galatasaray in the round of 32. Hamburg will face FC Zurich. Nuremberg, who came in second in their group, will take on two-time European champions Benfica of Portugal. Werder Bremen, will also face a Portuguese team: Sporting Bragal.

The third round games will be played in February.

Hamburg's missed chances

Hamburg and Basel had both qualified for the knockout stages ahead of their final game, but both badly wanted to win the group D. The German hosts had plenty of chances to settle the match in the first half, but Nigel de Jong, Rafael van der Vaart and Olic wasted the best opportunities.

Hamburg's chances looked even better when Zanni left in the 49th minute, but they were then caught out cold less than 10 minutes later when Ergic tapped in for Basel's surprise lead.

Olic eventually grabbed the equalizer from short range in the 73rd minute assuring Hamburg of first place with 10 points. Basel finished with eight points.

"We should have led early, but these things happen," said Hamburg captain van der Vaart. "But the most important thing is that we won the group."

Nuremberg come from behind

Nuremberg fell behind early in their match against bottom club Larissa, who took the lead after 11 minutes.

But Saenko evened things out shortly before halftime. Twelve minutes after the break, Mintal tapped in for 2-1 and Charisteas' goal assured them of a spot in the next round.

Though Nuremberg finished second in Group A with seven points behind England's Everton, who won the group with a perfect 12 points, it's a result the side was pleased with.

"We were rank outsiders when the group stage began," said Nuremberg coach Hans Meyer. "It is a big surprise that we have made the next round."