Round-up: Ajax humbled

Ajax were crushed 3-0 in Moscow by the Russians, who won their last 16 tie 4-0 on aggregate thanks to an inspirational performance from midfielder Alex Meschini.

Alex, who got the only goal in Amsterdam last week, set up the first for Dmitri Kombarov and Welliton, another Brazilian, also scored as Spartak went 2-0 up in half an hour against Ajax.

Alex, a Libertadores Cup winner with Internacional in 2006, curled in a freekick for the third shortly after the break.

Villarreal booked a place in the quarter-finals after beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on the night and 5-3 over the two legs.

The game was settled by strikes from Santi Cazorla and Giuseppe Rossi before the German side extracted a measure of consolation through Eren Derdiyok's goal.

Benfica went through as well, drawing 1-1 at Paris St Germain to win 3-2 on aggregate. Argentine Nicolas Gaitan put Benfica ahead and Mathieu Bodmer levelled for the French team.

Later in the evening Portuguese rivals Porto joined them, adding a 2-1 home victory against CSKA Moscow to the first leg triumph in Russia for a 3-1 overall scoreline.

FC Twente overcame defiant Zenit St Petersburg, losing 2-0 on the night but winning 3-2 overall.

Zenit, UEFA Cup winners in 2008, looked capable of wiping out their first leg deficit as Roman Shirokov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov put them 2-0 ahead by halftime. But the Dutch champions weathered the storm in the second half.