British trio walking Europa League tightrope

Spanish side Villarreal and Portuguese giants FC Porto put their Europa League-winning credentials on show with 5-1 wins apiece in the first leg of the quarter-finals on Thursday.Three Portuguese sides -- Porto, Benfica and Sporting Braga -- are among the last eight of Europe's second tier club competition, boosting the chances of an all-Portuguese final at the Dublin Arena on May 18.

Liverpool and Manchester City are counting on the comforts of home to secure their passage into the Europa League quarter finals on Thursday.Liverpool host Sparta Prague at Anfield with Danish international Daniel Agger predicting a more attacking display after his side's drab 0-0 draw in the round of 32 first leg in Prague last week.City's tie with Aris Salonika is identically poised ahead of the Greek outfit's visit to Eastlands, with Roberto Mancini's men approaching the game in high spirits after their 5-0 FA Cup drubbing of Notts County.

Liverpool and Manchester City enjoyed a Europa League cruise as a tournament often derided as the Champions League's poor relation gorged on a feast of 78 goals and three hat-tricks.England midfielder Joe Cole scored the quickest European goal in Liverpool's history - after just 25 seconds - as his team enjoyed a 4-1 victory over fellow former European champions Steaua Bucharest at Anfield.Roberto Mancini's expensively-assembled Manchester City won 2-0 at Red Bull Salzburg while mighty Juventus were held to a 3-3 draw at home by unfashionable Polish side Lech Poznan.

Sporting Lisbon, Red Bull Salzburg and defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk can all book their places in the Europa League knockout phase with victories on Thursday.The trio are the only sides to have won all three of their group stage matches in the competition to date and now stand on the brink of the last 32.Shakhtar, 2-1 victors over Werder Bremen in last season's final, travel to Toulouse in Group J, having beaten the French side 4-0 when they last met two weeks ago.

Liverpool were brought down to earth in the Europa League on Thursday after losing 1-0 to Portuguese side Sporting Braga in the away leg of their last-16 tie.The Reds, rejuvenated under interim coach Kenny Dalglish and 3-1 victors over arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday, will have to turn the tie around in the March 17 return leg if they are to progress to the quarter-finals.Braga took the lead in the 18th minute in Portugal, with Alan guiding an emphatic penalty into the bottom-left corner after Mossoro had been sent sprawling by Sotiris Kyrgiakos.

Unheralded Sporting Braga edged domestic rivals Benfica 1-0 in a nerve-jangling semi-final second leg on Thursday to set up an all-Portuguese Europa League final with league champions FC Porto.Braga's success saw the club from northern Portugal advance on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw and thwarted neutrals' hopes of a clash between traditional rivals Porto and Benfica in the final in Dublin on May 18.Domingos Paciencia's side, runners-up to Benfica in last season's Portuguese championship, will be appearing in their first ever European final.

Troubled Aston Villa suffered another damaging setback on Thursday when they crashed out of the Europa League with Scottish hopes also suffering a triple wipeout.Villa, who saw Martin O'Neill quit as coach on the eve of the Premier League kick-off and James Milner sold to Manchester City, were beaten 3-2 by Rapid Vienna in their play-off second leg.That gave the Austrians a 4-3 aggregate win to follow up their victory over the Midlanders in last season's tournament.

Manchester City kept Juventus at arm's length in Europa League Group A after a 1-1 draw between the sides on Thursday, while Liverpool and holders Atletico Madrid also recorded draws.City fell behind in the 11th minute when a long-range effort from Vincenzo Iaquinta took a deflection off Kolo Toure and fizzed past Joe Hart, but the hosts drew level eight minutes before the interval with a goal of real quality.