Despite taking an early lead through Roman Neustadter, the German side was ultimately undone by strikes from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz just before the break.

Although Michel Bastos levelled just after the hour, Schalke still needed another as the Turks had scored more away goals and their all-out attack left them vulnerable at the back, with Gala making sure of its progress thanks to Umut Bulut’s injury-time effort.

The Super Lig leader was looking to bounce back from an embarrassing home defeat to Genclerbirligi in its last domestic outing and it started in confident fashion.

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba looked imperious early on and Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had to be at his best to tip the striker’s fierce effort round the post.

The Ivorian then played in Selcuk Inan, who ran through on goal but lost his balance and his shot did not unduly trouble Hildebrand.

It seemed only a matter of time until the Schalke goal was breached but it was the hosts who took a 17-minute lead very much against the run of play.

The visitors failed to clear their lines from a corner and Joel Matip played the ball back to Neustadter, who slotted home with his outstretched left foot.

The strike seemed to settle Schalke, who had won all three league games since the draw with Tuesday night’s opponent in the first leg.

Wesley Sneijder served notice to the Gelsenkirchen side, however, when he fired narrowly wide from just inside the area before Altintop brought the tie back to life in the 37th minute.

Drogba squared a free kick to the Turkey international 25 yards from goal and his fierce blast went in off the post.

And five minutes later, Gala had taken the lead when Burak shrugged off the challenge of Benedikt Howedes and lifted over Hildebrand for his eighth Champions League goal in as many games.

Jens Keller’s men started the second half in positive fashion and Teemu Pukki — starting in place of injured star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar — turned on the edge of the box before his rattling low effort was pushed away by Fernando Muslera at his near post.

The Gala goalkeeper was at fault, however, when Michel Bastos levelled in the 63rd minute.

Marco Hoger fired against the crossbar and although it looked like there would be no follow-up, Muslera fumbled and left Atsuto Uchida to square for the Brazilian to fire into an empty net.

Sneijder went close to immediately regaining the lead for Gala but he hammered wide but it was Schalke who gained the upper hand thereafter, with Muslera slightly redeeming himself by smartly parrying away Julian Draxler’s effort.

Gala then had to make a change as defender Semih Kaya was carried off the pitch having been knocked out although that did not seem to affect the Istanbul side, who held firm in spite of some probing pressure from Schalke.

However, the hosts left themselves wide open to the counter in search of a winner and it was Gala who stole up the other end to make sure of their progress to the quarterfinal.

Substitute Umut beat the offside trap in the fifth minute of injury time and beat Hildebrand at the second attempt to send the visitors wild with joy.

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Midfielder Valentin Eysseric put Nice ahead in the 11th minute from the penalty spot and Argentine centre-half Renato Civelli scored in the 85th after Reims left back Aissa Mandi was sent off midway through the second half.

Nice has lost only once in all competitions this year and is pressuring Marseille ahead of its trip to play bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

Second-place Lyon, which is three points behind PSG and two ahead of Marseille, hosts Lorient on Sunday.

Reims is just one point and one place above the relegation zone in 17th place.

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The European Union’s police agency said an 18-month review found 380 suspicious matches in Europe and another 300 questionable games outside the continent, mainly in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. It also found evidence that a Singapore-based crime syndicate was involved in some of the match-fixing.

Europol refused to name any suspected matches, players, officials or match-fixers, saying that would compromise ongoing national investigations, so it remained unclear how much of the information divulged Monday was new or had already been revealed in trials across the continent.

“This is a sad day for European football,” Europol director Rob Wainwright told reporters. He said criminals were cashing in on soccer corruption “on a scale and in a way that threatens the very fabric of the game.”

Europol’s probe uncovered 8 million euros ($10.9 million) in betting profits and 2 million euros ($2.7 million) in bribes to players and officials and has already led to several prosecutions.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” said German investigator Friedhelm Althans, who also said two World Cup qualification matches in Africa and one in Central America were among those under suspicion.

Europol said 425 match officials, club officials, players and criminals from at least 15 countries were involved in fixing European soccer games dating back to 2008, and 50 people have already been arrested.

While the investigation’s “focus has been on other countries, not the United Kingdom,” Wainwright said, one of the two Champions League matches under suspicion took place in England “in the last three to four years.”

Neither UEFA, which oversees European soccer and organizes the Champions League, nor the English Football Association were aware of the probe and seemed surprised by the breadth of Europol’s accusations. UEFA said it expected to get more information on the investigation shortly.

“Once the details of these investigations are in UEFA’s hands, then they will be reviewed by the appropriate disciplinary bodies in order that the necessary measures are taken,” UEFA said in a statement.

Because of “ongoing judicial proceedings,” Wainwright refused to name which English Champions League match was being investigated, and the FA is also at a loss to know which one.

“The FA are not aware of any credible reports into suspicious Champions League fixtures in England, nor has any information been shared with us,” an FA spokesman said.

A Europol spokesman said he was unable to comment when asked why neither the FA nor UEFA had been informed.

Wainwright revealed the scale of the corruption in Germany, where $21.7 million was wagered on matches in the country with payments of $2.7 million believed to have been paid to those involved.

He said a Singapore-based criminal network was involved in the match-fixing, spending up to 100,000 euros ($136,500) per match to bribe players and officials.

“The ringleaders are of Asian origin, working closely together with European facilitators,” Europol said in a statement, but adding that “Russian-speaking” and other criminal gangs were also involved.

Ralf Mutschke, director of security at FIFA, the world soccer body, said the report highlighted the need for soccer authorities and police to tackle corruption together.

“The support of law enforcement bodies, legal investigations, and ultimately tougher sanctions are required, as currently there is low risk and high gain potential for the fixers,” he said.

Mutschke said while FIFA can ban players, referees and club officials, it is powerless to sanction people not directly involved in the sport.

“For people outside of football, currently the custodial sentences imposed are too weak and offer little to deter someone from getting involved in match-fixing,” he said.

Europol is not a police force but provides expertise and helps coordinate national police across the 27-nation European Union. It said 13 European countries were involved in this match-fixing investigation, pouring through 13,000 emails, paper trails, phone records and computer records.

Wainwright said while many fixed soccer matches were already known from criminal trials in Europe, the Europol investigation lifted the lid on the widespread involvement of organized crime.

“It is clear to us this is the biggest-ever investigation into suspected match-fixing in Europe,” he said. “It has yielded major results which we think have uncovered a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe.”

Wainwright said the soccer world needed a “concerted effort” to tackle the corruption.

Meanwhile, the Danish FA on Monday banned a player for six months for placing bets on a 2011 cup match in which he played. Kristoffer Wichmann, who plays for second-tier side FC Vestsjaelland, was deemed to have used middlemen to place bets on the match, although he is appealing against the ban.

Previous investigations have found that a World Cup qualifier between Liechtenstein and Finland in September 2009 was fixed by a referee from Bosnia, who UEFA banned for life.

Last year, UEFA expelled a Malta player implicated in fixing a European Championship qualifier between Norway and Malta in June 2007.

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At a time when Ron Atkinson has cited a lack of leaders as one of the biggest problems facing his former club in their survival battle, the Republic of Ireland international has suffered a blow in his comeback plans.

Dunne, 33, was considered to be on the verge of returning to Paul Lambert’s youthful defence but the manager has given a worrying update in the wake of the 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United.

“It looks like he has had a setback,” the manager said. “We will have to wait and see over the next few days whether it settles down again. He trained on Monday but came in today (Tuesday) and felt something.”

With supporters close to giving up on any hope of transfer-market reinforcements before the window shuts on Thursday night, Dunne’s availability would feel like a big boost as he hasn’t played for the club since the defeat at Norwich at the end of last season. He then had five outings for the Republic before and at Euro 2012.

The Dubliner’s two previous clubs, Everton and Manchester City, appear ominously on Villa’s fixture list over the next month and a half, with a trip to Arsenal also thrown in. It is a tough run for a side low on confidence but at least midfielder Fabian Delph may be fit after a sprained ankle for the first of those assignments, at Goodison Park on Saturday.

And Gabby Agbonlahor, who won the penalty that accelerated last night’s sustained but unavailing rescue bid against Newcastle, said: “In the second-half performance, there was a lot more fight and belief. We have to take some heart out of that for Everton.”

Lambert acknowledges that his squad have to ‘fight like hell’ to haul themselves out of a hole that deepened with the good draws gleaned by QPR and Wigan on Tuesday.

Villa have taken only two points from their last seven League games, conceding 22 goals and scoring five in the process while also going out of the two domestic cups to lower-division opposition.

“If things don’t go your way, people don’t want to make mistakes,” the manager said. “They want to play the safe pass.

“The performance against Newcastle was night and day between the first and second half. We were too deep in the first half and too reserved with our passing. We are going to have to fight like hell to get ourselves out of it.”

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It was a miserable night for Madrid, who was without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, with Kaka sent off 19 minutes after coming on as a substitute, while Jose Maria Callejon had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside decision.

The result means Madrid is 15 points behind La Liga leader Barcelona, which plays Malaga on Sunday, and four behind neighbor Atletico.

Osasuna had the better of the second half and could have won, but its final ball continually let them down.

Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had been dropped by Mourinho for the past two league games, returned to the side with replacement Antonio Adan suspended following his red card last time out.

Ronaldo was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last week, and his absence was keenly felt.

Mourinho acknowledged the strong performance of Casillas but would not guarantee the club captain will be in the starting side next week.

In our last two games, the team has played well defensively, and (Casillas) has been a part of that,” Mourinho explained. “I liked how he played against Celta as well, rising to the occasion to give his team a boost. Nevertheless, it is still too early to tell if he will play against Valencia on Tuesday.”

There was little of note in the opening stages with neither team creating any clear openings.

Osasuna’s Damia’s opening shot went wide, and it took until the 25th minute for Madrid to have an effort on goal, with Angel Di Maria firing past the post.

Madrid was finding it a struggle to get in behind the hosts’ defense, and when Fabio Coentrao found himself unmarked on the left of the area, rather than provide a crisp pass to the onrushing Gonzalo Higuain, the defender headed the ball into the ground and the hosts cleared.

Callejon’s back header narrowly cleared the bar for Madrid and as the half wore down, Osasuna midfielder Alvaro Cejudo blazed a half-volley high and wide.

Madrid failed to take advantage of a good chance in the final minute when Callejon set up Coentrao with the goalkeeper out of position but he fired wide.

The second half started much as the first ended with plenty of possession for Madrid but no clear openings.

Two quick-fire corners for Osasuna ended with Manuel Lolo heading over when he could have directed it across Casillas and into the far corner, but the hosts were enjoying a threatening spell, with Emiliano Armenteros forcing the goalkeeper to go down to his left.

The tempo of the game had risen considerably and Osasuna sensed it could take all three points, an outcome that appeared more possible when Madrid was reduced to 10 men.

Kaka had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he was booked and when he did not retreat so Osasuna could take a quick free kick, he was given a second yellow in the 77th minute.

However, it was Madrid that thought it had taken the lead moments later, but Callejon was judged to have been offside in a borderline decision.

Karim Benzema forced Fernandez to go down to collect his shot in Madrid’s first shot on target in the second half but it was one of the last kicks of a miserable game for the visitors.

Roberto Soldado took his tally to 17 goals for the season as Valencia beat Sevilla 2-0 and continued its improvement since Ernesto Valverde replaced Mauricio Pellegrino as coach.

Los Che made it seven wins from eight games under Valverde to move up to seventh a point behind Malaga in the final Champions League spot in fourth. Sevilla remains 12th in the table following the loss.

Soldado netted from close range five minutes into the second half then wrapped up the win in the closing moments with a header from a Pablo Piatti corner to make it 11 La Liga goals for the season.

Patrick Ebert inspired Valladolid with two goals and an assist as it claimed its first win in five games over Mallorca with a 3-1 victory.

The German fired the hosts into the lead with a wonderful strike from 20 yards after 21 minutes but Mallorca was level before halftime as Victor rose to head home Javier Arizmendi’s cross 16 minutes later.

Ebert proved the difference in the dying minutes as Oscar Gonzalez turned home his cross three minutes from time and the former Hertha Berlin man then went through on goal and jinked past Dudu Aouate before slotting into an empty net.

Sergio Garcia’s first-half goal was enough to hand Espanyol a crucial three points as it moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

The former Spanish international gave the hosts the perfect start as he tapped home Christian Stuani’s cross from close range on 23 minutes, and despite having more of the ball after the break, Celta struggled to create clear-cut chances.

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Before taking the field in his native Venezuela to play for the Lions of Caracas, Urbina described himself as “more mature” and said he was “very excited to play baseball again.”

“I’m excited to be here,” Urbina told reporters at the University Stadium in Caracas, where the Lions played the Zulia Eagles.

The 38-year-old pitcher was released from prison on Sunday after serving roughly half of his 14-year sentence for attempted murder during a dispute over a gun on Oct. 16, 2005.

Urbina was found guilty of attacking and injuring workers with a machete. Several other men participated in the attack at his family’s ranch, located about 25 miles from Caracas.

Urbina, who pitched for the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, has repeatedly denied involvement with the incident that landed him in prison, saying he was sleeping at the time of the attack.

A two-time All-Star, Urbina saved 237 big league games from 1995-2005. He had two saves in the 2003 World Series to help the Marlins beat the New York Yankees, and last pitched in the majors with the Phillies in 2005.

Urbina told reporters he hopes to play professional baseball in the United States again.

“The first order of business is pitching in Venezuela,” he said.

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