EUROPEAN football breathed a huge sigh of relief last night as Middlebrough Football Club's trip to Spain passed off without incident.

Boro's UEFA Cup match at Villarreal was the first time a Premiership club had returned to Spain since racist taunts were directed at England's black players during a friendly match nine days ago.

Any repeat of those scenes would have overshadowed a huge night of European football for the region, with Newcastle visiting French club Sochaux in the same contest.

But the crowds were well-behaved on what turned out to be a mixed night for the North-East clubs.

As Newcastle cruised into the next round with a 4-0 win, Middlesbrough slipped to a 2-0 defeat.

The Boro match was set against the background of recent unsavoury incidents at Spain's Bernabeu stadium, home of Real Madrid, which saw racist taunts directed at England's Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The scenes that night, and subsequent episodes, have placed the issue of racism high on the agenda amongfootball's top officials.

Birmingham City's Dwight Yorke was the subject of racial abuse from Blackburn Rovers fans at a Premiership game on Sunday.

And the spotlight was turned on Spain again when Real Madrid fans directed chants towards black players from Bayer Leverkusen during Tuesday's Champions League game, again at Bernabeu.

As a result, Steve McClaren's men knew there would be as much focus on the behaviour of the crowd as their performance on the pitch last night.

In the end, it was a hugely disappointing evening for Middlesbrough, who only needed a draw to guarantee a place in the last 32 of the competition, but went down to a goal in each half.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have qualified for the later stages after goals from Lee Bowyer, Shola Ameobi, Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert.