Spartak Moscow hammered Ajax 3-0 at the Luzhniki Stadium to wrap up a 4-0 aggregate Europa League victory with a free-kick from Brazilian Alex adding to first-half strikes from Dmitri Kombarov and Welliton.
Spartak, who had suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss at Rostov in their Russian League opener on Monday night, dominated, although Christian Eriksson hit the bar for Ajax and was also denied by Spartak keeper Andriy Dikan.
Reigning Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg staged a heroic comeback bid at home to FC Twente but their 2-0 win on the night was not enough and they slid to a 3-2 aggregate defeat.
Roman Shirokov and Alexander Kerzhakov gave Zenit hope with first-half strikes, but Twente defended well and ought to have put the game out of Zenit's reach when Oguchi Onyewu missed a fine chance late on.
There was more Russian woe in Portugal, where Porto's 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow gave them a 3-1 aggregate success. Hulk and Freddy Guarin scored early before Zoran Tosic replied for the visitors.
Benfica joined Portugal in the last eight after a 1-1 draw in France gave them a 3-2 aggregate win over Paris St Germain. Nicolas Gaitan opened the scoring for Benfica on 27 minutes and Mathieu Bodmer's 35th-minute equaliser was not enough.
Villarreal wrapped up a 5-3 aggregate success over Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-1 home win. Santiago Cazorla and Giuseppe Rossi put the game beyond the Germans' reach before Eren Derdiyok's late consolation.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
