[EUROPA LEAGUE] Juventus and Liverpool, two of the great names of European soccer, are enduring rough seasons but picked up wins in the Europa League, the old UEFA Cup that moved into the knockout phase this week.

Juve was the more impressive of the two teams, winning, 2-1, at Ajax, another former European giant, on a pair of goals by Brazilian striker Amauri.

Liverpool struggled to beat Unirea Urziceni of Romania, 1-0, an Anfield on a late goal by young French striker striker David Ngog.

Besides Juventus, the only team to win on the road on Thursday was French club Marseille, a 3-1 winner at FC Copenhagen.

Europa League Results:
Ajax (Netherlands) 1, Juventus (Italy) 2
Athletic Bilbao (Spain) 1, Anderlecht (Belgium) 1
Atletico Madrid (Spain) 1, Galatasaray (Turkey) 1
Club Brugge (Belgium) 1, Valencia (Spain) 0
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) 1, Marseille (France) 3
Everton (England) 2, Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) 1
Fulham (England) 2, Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 1
Hamburg (Germany) 1, PSV (Netherlands) 0
Hertha Berlin (Germany) 1, Benfica (Portugal) 1
Lille (France) 2, Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1
Liverpool (England) 1, Unirea Urziceni (Romania) 0
Panathinaikos (Greece) 3, Roma (Italy) 2
Rubin Kazan (Russia) 3, Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) 0
Standard Liege (Belgium) 3, Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) 2
Twente (Netherlands) 1, Werder Bremen (Germany) 0
Villarreal (Spain) 2, Wolfsburg (Germany) 2