'Huge result for Russian football'

PFC CSKA Moskva 3-0 Parma FC (agg: 3-0)
All's well that ends well. The previous international football season ended for Russia on an unhappy note at EURO 2004 in Portugal. This season, characterised by a Russian-Portuguese rivalry, will also end there. And regardless of the final result this is a huge boost for Russian football. Nobody would have dared to suggest a Russian team could make it to Lisbon at the start of the campaign. (Sport-Express, Russia)

CSKA made their advance to the final look easy, and the first major footballing honour of the new Russia is now possible. The masters of Italian defensive tactics were overrun - quashed and helpless. (Sovetsky Sport, Russia)

It was a fair result because Parma could not ask their young boys for another miracle. It would have been great to write the last beautiful chapter of this adventure, but CSKA gave everything, while Parma gave only what they could give. CSKA were a completely different side compared to the first leg and Parma could not match them. (Corriere dello Sport, Italy)

AZ Alkmaar 3-2 Sporting Clube de Portugal (agg: 4-4, Sporting win on away goals)
Despite a heartening performance in this exciting and memorable match, AZ fell at the last. They could not repeat their trick of 24 years ago, when Georg Kessler's side reached the UEFA Cup showpiece. A day after PSV showed the quality of Dutch football in the Champions League, AZ followed suit, showing that great football can be played in a modest stadium. (De Volkskrant, Netherlands)

Tears flowed after the knockout blow from Miguel Garcia. The final had been so close, but in the end so far away. Alkmaar will wonder what might have been without injuries to key players. AZ became famous in every far corner of Europe during their campaign that started in Thessaloniki and ended abruptly last night in the Alkmaarderhout. (Algemeen Dagblad, Netherlands)

Sporting made history in the Netherlands by qualifying for their first UEFA Cup final in epic fashion. The Lions fought until the last seconds and found their way to the final. The match in Alkmaar was not always pretty but had an incredible intensity, nearly ending with many people dressed in green with tears in their eyes. A fantastic moment for Portuguese football. (A Bola, Portugal)

In a match unfit for the faint-hearted, Sporting progressed thanks to a last-gasp goal from Miguel Garcia. After the final whistle the Sporting fans were out partying in the Lisbon streets. (Diário de Notícias, Portugal)