Middlesbrough eliminated VfB Stuttgart, Roma, Basel and Steaua București in the knockout stages, while Sevilla beat Lokomotiv Moscow, Lille, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Schalke 04.

Middlesbrough switched to an attacking formation in the 70th minute, but Sevilla were able to counter-attack, and doubled their advantage when Enzo Maresca scored from a rebound.

Sevilla attacked twice more in the opening ten minutes, but on both occasions, the Middlesbrough defender Chris Riggott was able to put the ball behind for a corner kick.

[7] After 20 minutes, Sevilla attacked down their right wing;[8] Alves had the opportunity to shoot, but passed the ball across to Javier Saviola, whose shot was blocked by Gareth Southgate.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Sevilla pressed hard for a second goal, consistently putting crosses in the Middlesbrough penalty area.

Their closest effort came when Julien Escudé headed wide from a José Luis Martí free kick, but despite their pressure, it remained 1–0 at half-time.

[7] In the 51st minute, Middlesbrough had a rare attack; a free-kick from Rochemback was headed on by Riggott for Mark Viduka, who fired a shot from close-range, which was saved by Palop.

Sevilla went on the counter-attack directly after the appeal;[7] outnumbering Middlesbrough, who had committed too many players to their attack, the ball was played wide to Jesús Navas, who passed it to Kanouté.

Maresca scored his second six minutes later, with a low shot from 20 yards,[6] which The Guardian's Mike Adamson suggested Schwarzer should have saved.