Spurs Book UEFA Cup Advancement

Tottenham Hotspur advanced to the UEFA Cup Round of 32 after Dimitar Berbatov converted a 71st minute penalty kick equalizer to earn a crucial point from Spurs' trip to Anderlecht earlier today. Three minutes earlier, Bart Goor had put the hosts in front. The North London side now have seven points from four games and are temporarily in first place in Group G (the group's four other teams all have a game in hand).

Leverkusen and Spartak Moscow also used today's games to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. Yesterday, more than half a dozen teams did so. All told, 13 teams have booked their tickets to the Round of 32: the trio mentioned here, Everton, Villareal, FC Zürich, Panathinaoikos, Atletico Madrid, Hamburg, Basel, Bordeaux and Helsingborg. Eleven spots are still up for grabs. The eight third placed teams from the Champions League will then fill out the first knockout round, to be drawn Dec. 21.

Bolton did everything they needed to today, beating the team formerly known as Red Star Belgrade in their final group stage match. The Trotters now have to hope the Dec. 19 game between Bayern Munich and Aris does not end in a tie or that Braga do not beat Red Star (or whatever they're called now). Bolton's chances of advancement are pretty good, I would think.