It looked like being even more comfortable for the Bundesliga outfit - a brace from Diego (34 and 67) and a Hugo Almeida effort (69) putting them 3-0 up.

But Fabio Quagliarella pulled one back three minutes from time to give the Italians a glimmer of hope.

Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland admitted his side were "not brave enough" after they slipped to a 3-1 UEFA Cup quarter-final defeat in Hamburg.

Ireland told ITV4: "We threw it away. We got off to a great start and didn't defend well enough or get back in shape. We're absolutely gutted but we have to return the favour back at our place.

"I think we can do the same to them. But they created more chances and put us under more pressure. We weren't really brave enough on the night."

Ireland swept City ahead after just 35 seconds at the HSV-Arena, only for Joris Mathijsen to head the hosts level in the ninth minute.

Shay Given kept City in the game with a string of splendid first-half saves, but a Piotr Trochowski penalty (64) and a close-range finish from Paulo Guerrero (79) put Hamburg in control.

Shakhtar Donetsk hold the upper hand against Marseille following a 2-0 first-leg win in Ukraine.

Tomas Hubschman and Jadson scored the goals either side of half-time, although things might have been different had Mamadou Niang's shot gone in instead of rebounding off the inside of the far post when the game was still goalless.

And there was frustration for the other French side in the competition as Paris St Germain were held to a goalless draw at home by Dynamo Kiev.