22 Feb 2013

Atletico Madrid eliminated from Europa League

4:51 pm on 22 February 2013

Holders Atletico Madrid were sent spinning out of the Europa League by Russian outsiders Rubin Kazan Friday morning, while Champions League winners Chelsea scored with almost the final kick to scrape into the last 16.

Another Russian club, Zenit St Petersburg, knocked out five-times European champions Liverpool on the away goals rule while little-known Czech side Viktoria Plzen surprisingly won their tie against Napoli who are riding high in Serie A.

Atletico slumped to a shock 2-0 home defeat by Rubin in Madrid last week and were ousted 2-1 on aggregate even though Radamel Falcao's 84th-minute strike earned them a 1-0 win in the return match in Russia.

Chelsea scored with the last kick of their last 32 second leg match to grab at 1-1 draw with Sparta Prague and move through 2-1 on aggregate.

Tottenham and Newcastle have also moved through to the next round of the Europa League.

Liverpool scored three times at Anfield, but needed four as they were eliminated by Zenit St Petersburg.