Schalke edge closer to last four

Schalke took a giant stride towards the last four of the UEFA Cup after coming from behind to beat Levski Sofia 3-1 in their quarter-final first-leg clash in Bulgaria.

Goals from Gustavo Varela (48), Lincoln (69) and Gerald Asamoah (79) cancelled out a sixth-minute strike for Levski from former Bundesliga player Daniel Borimirov and put Mirko Slomka’s side into the driving seat.

They will now look to complete the job in Gelsenkirchen next week but with three away goals and a two-goal cushion they can start preparing for a place in the last four.

To make matters worse for the home side, they lost Cedric Bardon to a red card and had to play with just 10 men for 55 minutes.

The Bucharest derby first-leg match between hosts Rapid and visitors Steaua finished 1-1.

Steaua took a fifth-minute lead when Banel Nicolita netted following good work from Daniel Oprita on the right.

However, early in the second half Rapid got back on terms when Viorel Moldovan tucked away a loose ball from close range after Carlos Alberto had parried the initial shot from Emil Dica.

The winners of the all-Romanian tie face either Middlesbrough or Basle in the semi-finals.