Manchester City 2 Hamburg 1 (agg 2-3):Manchester City's quest for their first bit of silverware since becoming the richest club in the world will have to wait another year at least after Mark Hughes's side failed to overhaul the two-goal deficit inflicted by Hamburg in the first leg of their Uefa Cup quarter-final.
Goals from Elano and Felipe Caicedo offered City hope after Paolo Guerrero had given the visitors the lead, but ultimately it was that opener, and the sending off of captain Richard Dunne, that pushed the tie out of the homeside’s reach.
It leaves City with little to play for, bar a morale-boosting win over derby rivals Manchester United, and will cast further doubt over the future of Hughes with the close season looming.
City created chances but were left cursing their luck after Elano twice saw superb free-kicks come back off the woodwork and Dunne was sent off in the second half for two bookable offences.
City midfielder Stephen Ireland, who was recently critical of his team-mates for not trying hard enough, told ITV4 afterwards: "We had a lot of chances and we didn't take them, we should have been more clinical.
"I think Caicedo had a few clear-cut chances and didn't finish them, the same with Micah Richards.''
Hamburg manager Martin Jol, formerly in charge at Tottenham, said: "It's unbelievable, to get to the semi-finals is fantastic. I think we were the better team at home and the first half (tonight) we were probably the better team.
"The penalty was also harsh but the crowd was fantastic and they've got some good players."
The Uefa Cup will now go to either a German or Ukrainian club after results elsewhere set up meeting with teams from the same countries.
Dynamo Kiev were the first club through to the semi-finals after strolling past Paris St Germain at home.
Dynamo, who had managed a goalless draw in Paris in the first leg, broke the deadlock after just four minutes when Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura scored with a low drive from just outside the box.
PSG goalkeeper Mickael Landreau helped Dynamo double their advantage 12 minutes later when he punched Olexandr Aliyev's cross into his own net.
Landreau played his part in third as well when he failed to hold an Aliyev free-kick and Ognjen Vukojevic finished it and PSG off.
The Ukrainian league leaders will meet compatriots Shakhtar Donetsk, who securing a smash-and-grab 2-1 win over Marseille at the Stade Velodrome to complete a comfortable aggregate victory.
Shakhtar built on their 2-0 home win in last week's quarter-final first leg by going ahead through Fernandinho.
Needing to score four goals without reply, Marseille pulled one back when Hatem Ben Arfa slammed home two minutes before half-time but that was all they could muster.
After soaking up lots of pressure, Shakhtar broke forward three minutes into second-half stoppage time and Luiz Adriano finished with aplomb to seal victory on the night.
Werder Bremen set up an all-German semi-final with Hamburg after coming through a thrilling second leg to win their quarter-final against Udinese 6-4 on aggregate.
Coming into the match with a comfortable-looking 3-1 advantage from the first leg, Bremen found themselves back on level terms at the interval after a strike from Gokhan Inler and a Fabio Quagliarella brace either side of Diego's effort had made it 4-4 on aggregate.
But the Germans were a different side after the break and in the end, could even afford to miss a penalty as Diego's second and a further goal from Claudio Pizarro were enough to send Thomas Schaaf's side through.
