Simone Pepe and Antonio Di Natale steered Udinese through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup after seeing off Lech Poznan of Poland with the Bianconeri being the only remaining Italian in the competition as Milan, Fiorentina and Sampdoria all fell short.

After the Polish outfit came back from 2-0 at home in the first leg to draw 2-2 Poznan's Rengifo put his side ahead in Udine in the 12th minute.

With the attacking trident of Di Natale, Pepe and Quagliarella threatening, backed up by the consistent D'Agostino, Udinese equalised in the 57th minute thanks to Pepe after he slotted home a loose ball. 

This made the aggregate 3-3 and advantage Udinese as they had scored two away goals in Poland in the first leg.

However Bianconeri captain and Italy striker Antonio Di Natale effectively eliminated Lech with his 91st minute winner and securing his team a place in the Round of 16.

AC Milan were made to pay for defensive errors as Werder Bremen mounted a tremendous come-back in both legs of their UEFA Cup tie. 

Milan had been leading the first leg away in Bremen only for the Germans to equalise at home to stand a chance in the second leg in Italy. 

Things began badly for Werder as Thorsten Frings was judged to have handled the ball in the area and Andrea Pirlo converted the resulting penalty in the 26th minute.

Seven minutes later Pato steamed down the left flank and beat a couple of defenders as he smashed an outrageous shot into the top of the net from outide the area to stamp Milan's authority on the game for 2-0 and a 3-1 aggregate lead.

But it was a different second half for the Rossoneri and Claudio Pizarro scored two goals in eleven minutes midway through the term to make the tie 3-3 and advantage Werder on away goals.

The pressure is now on Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti as his team now exit from Europe's second best tournament without even qualifying for the semi-finals.

Fiorentina led away in Amsterdam against Marco Van Basten's Ajax but were made to rue poor finishing as Leonardo scored a heart-breaking 91st minute equaliser to send the Dutch side through to the next phase.

Alberto Gilardino put La Viola up in the 61st minute with his valuable away goal which was crucial as Ajax won the first leg 1-0 in Florence. This made the tie 1-1 with both sides scoring an away goal.

As the game in Amsterdam went on Fiorentina missed chance after chance and Leonardo eventually ended Fiorentina's tournament undeservedly. 

Sampdoria crashed out to Metallist Kharkiv of Ukraine after today's away 2-0 loss and the first leg 1-0 home loss as Antonio Cassano was rested. 

Kharkiv's Valyayev and Jaja secured the 2-0 result by half time while Sampdoria's second string attack looked to have potential but lacked the scoring touch.

AusItalia's David Ferrini reports.