LONDON — Mario Gomez dusted off his shooting boots to put Fiorentina in the driving seat with a 1-1 Europa League draw at Juventus, while Benfica was too good for Tottenham Hotspur, winning their last-16 first leg 3-1 away Thursday. Germany striker Gomez had not scored since returning in February after five months out with a knee injury but tilted the tie in his team's favor with a 79th-minute strike while Real Betis tore up the form book to win 2-0 at local rival Sevilla. Twice winner Porto beat Napoli 1-0 thanks to Jackson Martinez's superb finish and Helton's agile goalkeeping. Valencia played for more than an hour with 10 men but still beat Ludogorets 3-0 in Bulgaria. The goals, however, dried up for the previous round's big scorers Salzburg who were held to a 0-0 draw at Basel, ending a run of 14 successive wins in all competitions. Juventus' clash with Fiorentina was a replay of the 1990 UEFA Cup final and came four days after the two sides met in Serie A. Juventus, three places and 27 points clear of its domestic rival, won 1-0 Sunday and took the lead after three minutes when the ball fell kindly at the feet of Arturo Vidal and he dispatched it powerfully into the net from 10 meters. Yet its failure to kill off the tie gave hope to Fiorentina who grew in confidence and eventually punished its host late on. Gomez came off the bench in the 67th minute and made a decisive impact, controlling a lofted pass before shooting through the legs of Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon. Tottenham was hosting Benfica for the first time since they met in the European Cup semifinal in 1962. Benfica went ahead after 30 minutes. Rodrigo raced onto a terrific throughball from Ruben Amorim and picked his spot, curling his finish with his in-step into the far corner. Luisao then headed home unmarked after 58 minutes to double the lead. Christian Eriksen curled in a free kick to reduce the deficit but Luisao struck again, pouncing on a rebound to shoot into the roof of the net from close range. The first Seville derby in Europe did not go according to the script as Sevilla, seventh in La Liga, suffered a shock home reverse against its struggling rivals who are bottom of the domestic table. Betis took the lead when Baptistao powered a header into the roof of the net after 15 minutes and Salvador Sevilla put the result beyond doubt in the 77th minute when he drove the ball into the far corner of the net. Porto's preparations for its tie against Napoli was undermined when it parted company with coach Paulo Fonseca last Wednesday, but it still looked a well-drilled unit against Rafa Benitez's tactically-wily Italian side. The Portuguese team survived an early second-half onslaught from Napoli thanks to the lithe reflexes of keeper Helton, who kept out a drilled shot on the turn from Gonzalo Higuain and blocked Raul Albiol's header from close range. Minutes later they went ahead when Martinez showed a fine scorer's instinct to drop off his marker at the far post and rifle a volley into the net from 15 meters. Bulgarians Ludogorets fell behind against a Valencia team unbeaten since matchday one of the group stage when Antonio Barragan fired a low drive into the bottom corner after five minutes. The Spanish side was reduced to 10 men 19 minutes later, however, when Seydou Keita was dismissed for bringing down Roman Bezjak, who spared the visitors a double punishment by fluffing the resulting penalty. Valencia made the most of the let-off when Fede Cartabia volleyed the ball low into the bottom corner after 33 minutes and Philippe Senderos grabbed his first goal for the club, heading home unmarked in the second half. Juninho Quixada was sent off for Ludogorets with 10 minutes remaining for kicking out. Salzburg was fresh from a 6-1 aggregate success over Ajax Amsterdam in the last 32 but found Basel a tougher nut to crack in Switzerland, with the Austrian side failing to score for the first time this season. Gueida Fofana scored twice as Olympique Lyon comfortably beat Viktoria Plzen 4-1 and AZ Alkmaar won 1-0 at home to Anzhi Makhachkala. — Reuters
