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Ten-man English Premiership side Manchester City bowed out of the UEFA Cup on Thursday, falling short against Hamburg, who advanced to an all-German semi-final against Werder Bremen.
City came from behind to win 2-1 on the night, and Elano twice hit the woodwork, but Paolo Guerrero's opener gave the hosts too much to do after the 3-1 loss in Germany as Hamburg advanced 4-3 on aggregate to delight coach Martin Jol.
The historical omens had appeared to favour Jol, who while in charge of Spurs won six times in as many attempts facing City and was also unbeaten in four clashes against City's former Blackburn boss Mark Hughes. Hughes was sanguine in elimination.
City ended the match down to ten men after skipper Richard Dunne was dismissed ten minutes from time for a second booking.
"We're very disappointed. Now we've got to concentrate on finishing as high in the league as we can," said City midfielder Stephen Ireland, as the club make a last-ditch bid to make next season's revamped Europa League tournament.
Shorn of Craig Bellamy's attacking guile and the width of Shaun Wright-Phillips, City rallied manfully and claimed the equaliser five minutes after Guerrero had shocked them with Hamburg's goal on 12 minutes.
Elano netted from the spot after his snapshot struck Piotr Trochowski on the arm. City came out full of fire after the interval and went in front five minutes after the restart with a neat Felipe Caicedo finish from Ireland's pass. Caicedo then ballooned over from point blank range before having an effort chalked off for offside.
But a third goal would not come in a frantic finale as City bowed out. Aided by a brace from Diego, Bremen drew 3-3 away to Italy's Udinese, to wrap up a 6-4 win overall while the other semi-final will be an all-Ukrainian affair after Dynamo Kiev swamping a poor Paris Saint Germain 3-0 after a goalless draw in France.
PSG goalkeeper Mickael Landreau handed the Ukrainians victory with two glaring errors which led to two of the goals. Shakhtar Donetsk inflicted more Ukrainian punishment on French opposition as they won 2-1 at Marseille with Brazilian pair Fernandinho Luiz Rosa and Adriano on target for a 4-1 aggregate win.
Jol rated Werder Bremen as favourites to reach the final after the latter saw off Udinese. With Udinese trailing 3-1 from the first leg they were forced to attack and Swiss star Gokhan Inler put them ahead on 15 minutes. But Brazil playmaker Diego, a reported target for Juventus, responded with a sublime equaliser on 28 minutes, turning on the ball before firing into the top corner.
Fabio Quagliarella struck twice within eight minutes to level the tie but Diego then headed home just before the hour mark. Although Diego then missed out on a hat-trick when Samir Handanovic saved his penalty on 72 minutes Claudio Pizarro poked home from close range to put the result beyond doubt.
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