Champions League playoff bracket finalized; Celtic, Fenerbahce crash out
There were some notable results as the third Champions League qualifying round reached its conclusion Tuesday with 10 second-leg ties taking place across Europe.
Arguably the round’s biggest heavyweight clash between Fenerbache and Benfica – the Turkish league and Portuguese league runners-up, respectively – played out to a 1-1 draw, which saw the Lisbon side progress courtesy of its 1-0 win at home in the first leg.
Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic suffered their earliest continental exit since 2011-12 thanks to a dismal 2-1 defeat at Greek champion AEK Athens. The Yellow-Blacks had earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Glasgow despite playing the majority of the final 35 minutes with 10 men.
Full second-leg results from third qualifying round:
Champions Path
AEK Athens 2-1 Celtic (3-2 on agg.)
BATE Borisov 1-1 FK Qarabag (2-1 on agg.)
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Astana (3-0 on agg.)
MOL Vidi 0-0 Malmo (1-1 on agg. via away-goal rule)
Shkendija 0-1 Red Bull Salzburg (0-4 on agg.)
Spartak Trnava 1-2 Red Star Belgrade (2-3 on agg.)
Losing teams drop into the Europa League playoff round
League Path
Ajax 3-0 Standard Liege (5-2 on agg.)
Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 Slavia Prague (3-1 on agg.)
Fenerbahce 1-1 Benfica (1-2 on agg.)
Spartak Moscow 0-0 PAOK Salonika (2-3 on agg.)
Losing teams drop into Europa League group stage
The winning teams from those 10 ties will now advance to the marathon competition’s final tie before the group stage, the playoff round, where they will be joined by Dutch Eredivisie champion PSV Eindhoven and Swiss Super League king BSC Young Boys.
Full playoff-round fixtures (teams at home in first leg listed first):
Ajax vs. Dynamo Kyiv
BATE Borisov vs. PSV Eindhoven
Benfica vs. PAOK Salonika
BSC Young Boys vs. Dinamo Zagreb
MOL Vidi vs. AEK Athens
Red Star Belgrade vs. Red Bull Salzburg
Ties to be played Aug. 21-22 and Aug. 28-29.