Header Ads Widget

Responsive Advertisement

UCL Play-off results: Liverpool, Napoli, Sevilla, others secure places, await Thursday's draws

UCL Play-off results: Liverpool, Napoli, Sevilla, others secure places, await Thursday's draws

The 32 teams to compete in the Champions League have now been confirmed.

Napoli, Sevilla, Celtic, Olympiakos, Maribor, Liverpool, Copenhagen, Sporting Lisbon, APOEL Nicosia and Qarabag became the last ten teams to reach the Champions League after Wednesday night games — sealing the line-up for this year's group stage.

There are 32 teams, with 17 nations represented — and five British clubs in the mix.

The 32 teams in this season's Champions League group stage can now begin to think about their dream draw after the final seeding pots were confirmed following Wednesday's final qualifying ties.
The draw for the group stage begins at 5 p.m. BST, midday ET on Thursday, Aug. 24.

See below how the teams qualified over two legs of matches:


MATCHES


NAPOLI

Second-half goals from Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne earned Napoli a 2-0 win in Nice and ensured their qualification for the Champions League group stages.

The Serie A side won 4-0 on aggregate but it could have been more with Dries Mertens also striking the post and missing several opportunities in a game they largely dominated.

After a frustrating first half, Callejon opened the scoring from close range in the 48th minute from a Marek Hamsik cross while Mario Balotelli was on the sideline receiving treatment.

Insigne's well-placed effort from the edge of the box in the 89th minute wrapped up proceedings.

Nice, who started with Balotelli, Wesley Sneijder and reported Barcelona target Jean Seri in their side, did rally after going behind but were unable to break down a superior side.

The Ligue 1 outfit will now play in the Europa League for a second consecutive campaign.

SEVILLA

Sevilla overcame a scare from Istanbul Basaksehir to advance 4-3 on aggregate after a 2-2 draw.

After Gabriel Mercado hit the post for the Spanish club, the visitors took a shock lead as Emmanuel Adebayor played in Junior Caicara, whose cross found Eljero Elia in the 17th minute.

That put the Turkish side ahead on away goals, and Sevilla needed to wait until the second half to regain control as Sergio Escudero headed home from a Jesus Navas cross in the 52nd minute.

Wissam Ben Yedder then supplied some breathing room from a tight angle on 75 minutes after some good control by Nolito.

And it would prove to be a needed goal as Edin Visca got a goal back in the 83rd minute, but Basaksehir could not find another, though Emre Belozoglu cracked the post in stoppage time.

CELTIC

Celtic slipped to a surprise 4-3 defeat against Astana in Kazakhstan but qualified 8-4 on aggregate thanks to their 5-0 first leg win.

There were some nervy moments for the Scottish champions as they slipped to a first defeat of the season in a pulsating encounter at the Astana Arena.

Celtic's 19-year-old defender Kristoffer Ajer, in for injured Jozo Simunovic, deflected a shot from defender Dmitri Shomko past goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the 26th minute to put the Kazakh side in front, but Scott Sinclair had Celtic level eight minutes later.

Two goals in a minute at the start of the second-half from attackers Serikzhan Muzhikov and Patrick Twumasi brought the home side back to life and, when Ghanaian Twumasi grabbed his second to make it 4-1, the visitors were on the ropes.

However, late goals from Olivier Ntcham and Leigh Griffiths confirmed Brendan Rodgers' side's passage into the group stages for the second successive season.

OLYMPIAKOS

Olympiakos confirmed their participation in the Champions League group stage with a 1-0 win away to Croatian champions Rijeka.

Former Chelsea winger Marko Marin scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute, scoring from an angle following a ball from Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe.

That ensured the Greek side a 3-1 aggregate win and a return to the Champions League after they fell at this stage last season.

MARIBOR

Maribor advanced on away goals after securing a 1-0 win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Mitja Viler scored the only goal of the night after a cross from the endline deflected out to him to just inside the box, and he lashed home in the 15th minute.

That ensured the Slovenian champions reached the group stage 2-2 on aggregate after their 2-1 win in Israel last week

LIVERPOOL

Three quick thoughts from Anfield as Liverpool beat Hoffenheim 4-2 on Wednesday in the second leg of their playoff (6-3 on aggregate) to reach the group stages of the Champions League.

This was one of Jurgen Klopp's biggest matches as Liverpool manager, and even with the unthinkable pressure if they had lost, his side wrapped up the victory within the first 20 minutes. Liverpool are back in the group stages of the Champions League for only the third time in the last nine seasons. A first-half flurry at Anfield helped put them in Thursday's draw, which will see the five-time Champions League winners benefit from Europe's top competition both on the pitch and off it.

Post a Comment

0 Comments