Champions League Play-Off Round Up: Part One

FK Partizan survived the concession of a two-goal lead on the night to eliminate RSC Anderlecht on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League group stage for the second time.

Cléo headed the visitors in front from a corner on the quarter-hour mark and added his and Partizan’s second eight minutes after the break. Yet less than 20 minutes later the Belgian champions were level through goals by Romelu Lukaku and Guillaume Gillet. With no further scoring in regular or extra time the tie was settled by spot kicks, Partizan winning just as they did at Newcastle United FC in 2003/04 when they last reached the group stage.

Knowing they had to score to progress, Partizan began by taking the game to their hosts, and it was no real surprise when they opened the scoring. Ivica Iliev whipped in a corner from the right and Brazilian striker Cléo cleverly flicked the ball beyond Silvio Proto with a deft header. The home side almost equalised five minutes later when RadiÅ¡a Ili? spilled Mbark Boussoufa’s dipping drive, but the ball rolled just wide. Yet it was another 15 minutes before they fashioned another opening, Matías Suárez cutting in from the right and poking his shot a metre past Ili?’s right-hand post.

Anderlecht started the second half in a more determined frame of mind, however it was Partizan who doubled their lead eight minutes after the restart. Substitute Aleksandar Davidov’s deep cross eluded the home defence and Cléo had the time and space to chest the ball down before knocking it beyond Proto.

Les Mauves et Blancs were soon back in it, however, when Jan Polák’s curling centre was subtly headed in by Lukaku, before chances arrived at either end. First, Proto made a point-blank save to deny Nemanja Tomi? and then Lukaku’s miscued shot was narrowly off target. However, the home support did not have long to wait. With 20 minutes remaining Gillet picked up a pass from Lucas Biglia and rifled a beautiful dipping shot beyond Ili? from outside the box.

With chances scarce in extra time, the tie drifted towards penalties, where Suárez, Biglia and Boussoufa fired their efforts over the bar. Despite Proto saving from Mladen Krstaji? and Davidov, Partizan advanced to Thursday’s draw, leaving Anderlecht with the consolation of a place in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.

Alexander Frei scored two and set up another as FC Basel 1893 eased into the UEFA Champions League group stage for the third time at the expense of FC Sheriff.

A goal up following the first instalment of their play-off tie, Marco Streller doubled Basel’s aggregate lead in the 74th minute by heading in Frei’s free-kick from the left. After home captain Vazha Tarkhnishvili was dismissed for a second booking soon after, Frei put the seal on a comfortable passage with two late efforts, meaning Sheriff – making their tenth successive attempt at reaching the group stage – must settle for the UEFA Europa League again.

Andrei Sosnitski’s pre-match assertion that his Sheriff team had “nothing to lose” was borne out in a highly-charged start from the Moldovan side, who soon had the Basel rearguard in retreat. For all their early endeavour, however, the only moment of concern for Basel goalkeeper Franco Costanzo arrived just before the quarter-hour mark when he dived on Benjamin Balima’s low cutback.

Basel soon gained a measure of control and after Balima headed MiloÅ¡ Adamovi?’s free-kick wide, only José Nadson’s block in front of goal prevented Streller from doubling the Swiss side’s aggregate lead. That was the one clear-cut chance for either team in a first half high on effort but lacking in cutting edge; Valentin Stocker’s wayward shot eight minutes after the restart did little to suggest the course of proceedings was about to change.

Baco Nikoli?’s shot straight at Costanzo typified the limited nature of Sheriff’s attacking means and if the expectant home fans were already beginning to doubt their team’s chances, Streller’s glancing header 16 minutes from time all but extinguished their hopes. With Sheriff looking beaten and a man down following Tarkhnishvili’s dismissal, Frei seized on Vladislav Stoyanov’s failure to gather Stocker’s cross to add a second. Basel’s third came three minutes from time, Frei neatly chipping the Sheriff goalkeeper after being played in by substitute Xherdan Shaqiri. Basel discover their group opposition on Thursday.

FC Salzburg’s aspirations of a UEFA Champions League group-stage berth were dashed in Israel for the second consecutive season as Eran Zahavi’s added-time equaliser confirmed Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC’s progression at the Bloomfield stadium.

A 3-2 defeat in the home leg had left Salzburg facing the prospect of elimination at the same stage as their last campaign, when Maccabi Haifa FC completed a 5-1 aggregate triumph, but their hopes were raised when Douglas da Silva scored an own goal three minutes before the interval. Hapoel – still ahead on away goals – did not panic, however, and Zahavi’s 92nd-minute drive ensured they would become only the third Israeli side to reach the group stage.

The opening 20 minutes were cagey with Hapoel’s cause not helped by Etay Shechter being replaced in the starting XI by Victor Mare just prior to kick-off due to a hamstring injury. The contest began to open up when Ben Sahar headed narrowly off target from Dedi Ben-Dayan’s cross. The hosts appeared to be gaining the upper hand only for Gonzalo Zárate to pierce their offside trap and fire a presentable chance over.

Eli Gutman’s charges did not heed the warning, though, allowing Louis Ngwat-Mahop to escape untracked down the right flank and whip in a low cross that Douglas unwittingly turned into his own net after a wayward punch by Vincent Enyeama. Zahavi immediately fired wide in response while Sahar’s swerving effort nearly deceived Gerhard Tremmel after the break as the home side refocused.

Gil Vermouth came agonisingly close to quelling Hapoel’s nerves only for his fierce drive to cannon against the post and run along the line to safety. Sahar and Vermouth both failed to beat Tremmel from ten metres but a place in Thursday’s draw was finally secured when Yadin slipped in Zahavi and his low drive beat Tremmel at his near post.

“It’s a dream come true,” said an emotional Gutman. “What a team they are. It was not the greatest game and we conceded a goal from nothing but I am honoured and privileged that for the second season in succession a coach from Israel has taken a side to the Champions League group stage.” Salzburg will now compete in the UEFA Europa League, in which they reached the round of 32 last season.

Lima came on and scored a hat-trick as SC Braga beat Sevilla FC on the night and on aggregate to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time.

Matheus, the match-winner in last week’s play-off first leg, gave Braga a telling advantage at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán with his fourth goal in six games. Antonio Ãlvarez’s hosts received a further blow on 58 minutes when substitute Lima left them needing to score four. They swiftly got one through Luís Fabiano but despite Jesús Navas restoring parity on the night, two late goals from Lima extended the Portuguese team’s lead, rendering Frédéric Kanouté’s added-time strike immaterial.

Navas’s ability to ghost into space had caused Braga an early headache, but it was Sevilla’s aerial threat which proved most problematic for them throughout the opening period. Luís Fabiano was three times the perpetrator – once heading over and twice at Felipe – though it was Kanouté who spurned the two most presentable opportunities, nodding over on one occasion and into Felipe’s arms on another.

The visitors, who appeared overrun in midfield, had nevertheless registered a valuable away goal amid Kanouté’s profligacy. Paulo César’s break injected some much-needed energy and appeared to catch Andrés Palop off guard, the Sevilla keeper fumbling his drilled shot into the path of Matheus, who turned the ball in despite Palop’s best attempts to smother at the second attempt.

Los Rojiblancos emerged from half-time with positive intentions but could muster only a long-range Didier Zokora shot which whistled wide before Braga stretched their lead. Despite being on the back foot, Domingos Paciência’s side counterattacked to devastating effect once more, Matheus this time doing the leg work and crossing for Lima to slot past Palop just three minutes after coming on.

With a mountain to climb, Sevilla responded in defiant fashion, Luís Fabiano’s low effort squirming through Felipe’s grasp almost immediately. José Carlos hit the bar from an acute angle and Kanouté headed over soon after but it was not until Navas’s cool finish six minutes from time that their faint hopes received a boost.

They were dashed within 60 seconds, though, Lima racing through and rounding Palop before rubber-stamping a memorable night for he and his team with a last-minute finish from a corner. Kanouté’s added-time header barely registered among a delirious away support.

SV Werder Bremen are through to the UEFA Champions League group stage for the sixth time in seven seasons after edging past UC Sampdoria in a pulsating extra-time win in Genoa.

Two first-half goals by Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Cassano’s 85th-minute strike appeared to have done enough to earn Domenico Di Carlo’s men a 4-3 aggregate victory. However, substitute Markus Rosenberg gave the visitors a lifeline with a dramatic added-time strike, paving the way for Claudio Pizarro to settle matters from distance ten minutes into extra-time.

Spurred on by deafening home support, Cassano headed Franco Semioli’s cross over the bar on six minutes. He soon made amends for his miss, though, picking out Pazzini at the far post with a chipped cross that the former ACF Fiorentina striker nodded in at Tim Wiese’s near post. Pazzini quickly doubled his tally, lashing Marius Stankevi?ius’s right-wing free-kick into the roof of the net.

Unbowed, Bremen gathered themselves, earning a succession of free-kicks and corners which were repelled by the Blucerchiati. Tim Borowski’s header was well held by Gianluca Curci, and Sandro Wagner shot wide, but the visitors had to be grateful to Clemens Fritz for clearing Pazzini’s 39th-minute header off the goal line, and to Wiese for parrying Cassano’s low drive.

Bremen came at their hosts with greater purpose after the break, Pizarro and Wagner seeing headers saved and blocked respectively. Although Wiese had to be alive to Cassano’s instinctive shot, the Blucerchiati found themselves defending ever deeper as Thomas Schaaf’s men sought the crucial away goal.

Sampdoria, epitomised by the stoic Daniele Gastaldello, made a series of crucial interventions at the back and looked set to go through in normal time after surviving errant efforts by Per Mertesacker, Philipp Bargfrede and Marko Arnautovi?. Their chances increased with a breakaway third made by Semioli and finished with an impudent flick of the heel by Cassano. In added time, however, Rosenberg found enough time and space to make it 4-4 on aggregate with a low strike from 20 metres.

Buoyed by newfound hope, Bremen poured forward in the extra half-hour, Marko Marin setting the tone with a rasping shot from the edge of the area which came back off the bar. Indeed, it was the lively 21-year-old who teed up Pizarro to let fly from distance and silence the natives for the first time. Samp now required two goals, but the 20 remaining minutes were only long enough for them to see Marin hit the woodwork once more.