Four Teams Advance in Champions League

Chelsea, Deportivo La Coruna, Sparta Prague and RSC Anderlecht all advanced to the group stage of the European Champions League by winning their two-game qualifying legs Tuesday.

Those four will join the winners of today’s 12 other qualifying matches to help form the final 32 teams that will continue the tournament with games beginning Sept. 16 and 17.

Glen Johnson, Robert Huth and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored goals for Chelsea of England in a 3-0 victory over MSK Zilina of Slovakia for a 5-0 aggregate win.

In Spain, a 16th-minute goal by striker Albert Luque earned Deportivo La Coruna a 1-0 win over Norway’s Rosenborg after the teams had played to a scoreless tie in their first game.

Sparta Prague, the Czech champion, advanced to the group stage, despite a 2-2 tie at home against Vardar Skopje. Sparta Prague held a 5-4 edge on aggregate, getting goals Tuesday from Karel Poborsky and Libor Sionko, the latter only eight minutes from the end of regulation.

Anderlecht’s 1-0 victory over Wisla Krakow in Poland on a goal by Aruna Dindane completed a 4-1 aggregate win.

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Crespo Deal Done

Chelsea completed the transfer of Argentine international striker Hernan Crespo from Inter Milan, announcing the deal worth $26.2 million during halftime of its Champions League game.

Crespo, who could make his debut this weekend against Blackburn, is the ninth player to join the team since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich became owner July 1.

Chelsea reportedly still has hopes of signing disgruntled Real Madrid and French midfielder Claude Makalele.

Meanwhile, although Inter Milan lost an Argentine, it also added one when it acquired midfielder Kily Gonzalez from Valencia in the Spanish league.

Gonzalez will be reunited with Inter coach and fellow Argentine Hector Cuper, who coached Gonzalez for two seasons at Valencia.

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Elber on the Outs

Bayern Munich’s acquisition of Dutch striker Roy Makaay earlier this month has Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld speaking freely about Brazilian forward Giovane Elber’s status.

“It would be better for the whole team if Giovane Elber left,” said Hitzfeld, content with his other strikers. “The future belongs to Makaay, Claudio Pizarro and Roque Santa Cruz.”

Last season Elber, 31, tied for the lead in the Bundesliga with 21 goals. So far, Makaay is scoreless in two games while Elber has been on the bench.

Teams in Turkey, France, Spain and Russia have reportedly expressed interest with AS Monaco and Olympique Lyon appearing to be the front-runners.

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Palencia to Chivas

Forward Juan Francisco Palencia, who returned from Spain last month looking for a job in the Mexican league, signed with Chivas of Guadalajara after attempts to mend fences with his old club, Cruz Azul, failed.

Palencia and Chivas came to an agreement last week, but he was formally presented to reporters Monday.

“I’m very happy to come here and to play for a team with such fan support throughout Mexico,” Palencia said.

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Pope to Stay in MLS

Major League Soccer signed U.S. national team defender Eddie Pope to a multiyear contract extension and he will remain with the MetroStars.

Pope, who had played with D.C. United since the inception of MLS in 1996, was traded to the MetroStars last December.

Pope, 29, has played for the national team 57 times and was a key member of the American team that advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002.

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Quick Passes

Dutch midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who joined Arsenal two seasons ago but failed to earn a starting spot, has been loaned to Barcelona for one year with the possibility of a transfer next season.... Italian playmaker Francesco Totti might sit out his country’s Euro 2004 qualifying match against Wales next week because of a bruised right hip.... Thomas Haessler, a 37-year-old midfielder who helped West Germany win the 1990 World Cup, signed a one-year deal with SV Salzburg of the Austrian league.... Teddy Sheringham’s three goals led Portsmouth to a 4-0 victory over Bolton and put the newly promoted team at the top of the English Premier League standings after three games.... A knee injury will force Ajax Amsterdam defender Hatem Trabelsi to sit out the team’s Champions League game today against Grazer AK of Austria.

Times wire services contributed to this report.