UEFA Cup, Last 16.

In a night of upsets—which saw giants Milan and Valencia dumped out on away goals—many, if not all, the clubs left in this years UEFA Cup will fancy their chances of a night in Istanbul come May.

Let’s have a look at the ties for the last 16:

Werder Bremen v Saint-Étienne

Shock winners against Milan after a 2-2 draw in the San Siro, Thomas Schaaf’s team will be looking to put their dreadful Bundesliga form behind them and advance to the quarter-finals.

More performances like last night, including two late goals from veteran Claudio Pizarro, will surely see Werder advance.

After overcoming a lacklustre Olympicos 5-2 on aggregate, Alain Perrin’s Saint-Étienne are looking to re-establish themselves on the European stage after nearly 30 years.

The 1976 European Cup finalists will need the likes of  Belgium’s Kevin Mirallas, Brazilian Ilan and local boy Bafétimbi Gomis to play well if they are to beat the German outfit.

Prediction: A close one, I fancy Werder to go through.

CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk

Get the red flags flying for this one.

After both clubs defeated weakened English opposition to set up this Soviet showdown, fans of the Russian and Ukrainian teams will be relishing the prospect of testing themselves against close neighbours.

The Army and Miners squads are a mixture of Brazilian and home-grown talent, and both managers have previously had successful spells managing in Turkey. CSKA’s Zico with Fenerbaçhe, and Shakhtar’s Lucescu with Galatasaray.

Prediction: I fancy Shakhtar to progress.

Udinese v Zenit St. Petersburg

The team from Udine defeated Lech Poznan of Poland, 4-3 on aggregate, to reach the last 16 and will be putting their disappointing league form behind them when they take on last years winners Zenit.

Dick Advocaat’s men defeated Stuttgart 2-1 in both legs of the last round, and with both favourites out will be looking to advance and possibly retain their UEFA crown.

Prediction: Experience counts a lot in European football, so I’ll go with Zenit to progress.

Paris Saint-Germain v Braga

PSG destroyed Wolfsburg 5-1 on aggregate in the last round and the sleeping French giants will surely take heart from this win against talented opposition.

Paul le Guen will be looking for Péguy Luyindula to continue his goalscoring form and wonderkid defender Mamadou Sakho to keep playing well if the Paris side are to advance.

Braga overcame Belgian champions Standard with surprising ease in the last round, going through 4-1 on aggregate. The pressure will be on the French side for this last 16 tie, will this work to the Portuguese sides favour?

Prediction: PSG, just.

Dinamo Kiev v Metalist Kharkiv

The second all former Soviet tie sees Ukrainian teams Dinamo Kiev and Metalist Kharkiv meet.

After dumping Valencia out following a 2-2 draw in the Mestalla last night, Kiev will be looking to regain their place at the top table of European football after a few years in the relative wilderness.

They will be playing one of this years surprise packages in Metalist who easily overcame Italian side Sampdoria in the last round after finishing top of their group. The team from Kharkiv also remain unbeaten in this seasons UEFA Cup.

Prediction: A “derby” means this tie is even more difficult to predict, I’m going for a shock Metalist victory.

Manchester City v Aalborg

England’s only remaining representative face Danish opposition once more after defeating FC Copenhagen 4-3 on aggregate. Mark Hughes will surely be looking to win the competition to ease some of the pressure at Eastlands.

City face a difficult prospect in Danish champions Aalborg—the Danes smashed Deportivo 6-1 in the last round and held city rivals United to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the final group match of this seasons Champions League.

Prediction: City to go through, just.

Marseille v Ajax

Both teams left it late on Thursday night to advance.

Ajax won through courtesy of Leonardo’s 88th minute equaliser against Fiorentina to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate.

Marseille defeated Steve McLaren’s Twente 7-6 on penalties after Hatem Ben Arfa’s goal had given the French side a 1-0 win in Holland to force extra-time.

With both sides off the pace in their respective championships, the UEFA Cup represents their best shot of glory this season.

Prediction: Marseille to progress.

Hamburg v Galatasaray

Martin Jol’s German league leaders brushed aside NEC 4-0 on aggregate to set up this tie against Galatasaray.

The Istanbul outfit beat Bordeaux 4-3 last night, after a goalless draw in France last week, to advance, thanks to a 90^th minute winner from Sabri. The win giving Bülent Korkmaz a victory in his first game in charge since the sacking of Michael Skibbe.

There will be a great atmosphere at the AOL Arena thanks to Galatasaray’s massive support amongst the thousands of Turkish resident in Germany.

Prediction: Another tricky tie to predict, I’ll go for Hamburg as it seems that this season that the Rothosen can do no wrong. Should be a close one though.

There’s my look at the last 16 of this year’s UEFA Cup. No doubt the next round will throw up as many shocks as the last one, so if you don’t (or do!) agree with my predictions then please leave a comment below…