2008 UEFA Europa League round of 16 enters final stages

The 2008 UEFA Europa League is headed towards the final stages with only two games left to play in the round of 16, before the remaining teams head to the quarterfinals of the competition.

The weekend saw two of the three English contenders knocked out of the 2008 UEFA Europa League by their European counterparts. Everton was the first to go, knocked out by Fiorentina in a heartbreaking penalty shootout after having pulled back the two goal deficit incurred during the first leg of their tie.

Next to crash out was Tottenham Hotspur, who also succumbed to a penalty shootout, this time against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven after conceding the one goal advantage they had built up in their home leg.

The results leave only Bolton representing England in the competition. After drawing their first leg tie against Sporting Lisbon, Bolton have a real chance of proceeding to the next round as they are more than capable of beating Sporting in Portugal.

The strongest club at this stage of the tournament looks to be German giant Bayern Munich, who coasted through to the quarterfinals after putting a hapless Anderlecht to the sword in a crushing 6-2 aggregate defeat.

The only other club to have won their two-legged tie without having to resort to penalties was sensational UEFA Europa League Spanish debutante Getafe CF.