Champions League Playoff roundup: Plzen, Haifa and Benfica through to group stages

Viktoria Plzen - Qarabag 2-1 (2-1 AGG)

Viktoria Plzen secured their place in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage for a fourth time with a 2-1 play-off second-leg victory to triumph via the same score on aggregate over Qarabag FK.

It was all to play for heading into this second leg, and both sides were given breaks from their respective domestic programmes over the weekend to serve as extra preparation time for this winner-take-all clash. With so much at stake, there was very little in the way of clear-cut chances in the early exchanges.

Tame efforts at either end from Pavel Bucha and Abdellah Zoubir were the closest attempts to a shot on target in the opening half hour.

But that all changed in stunning fashion when Filip Ozobic drew first blood in the tie for Qarabag with a sublime volley, after Kady’s free-kick was headed into his path. Buoyed by the goal, Richard Almeida then tried his luck from distance with a long-range strike which skimmed just over the bar shortly before half-time.

Gurban Gurbanov’s team began the second half brightly and Kady’s speculative attempt from distance was pushed away by Stanek. However, the tide began to turn, with Almeida forced off through injury following an impressive shift in Qarabag’s midfield.

Their lead was then wiped out just shy of the hour mark in a goalkeeping horror show from Shakhruddin Magomedaliyev, who made a hash of Vaclav Jemelka’s speculative ball into the box and Jan Kopic was on hand to punish the shot stopper with a clinical finish.

Then, 15 minutes later, the Plzen comeback was complete when Jan Kliment showed brilliant composure to poke the ball through Magomedaliyev’s legs after Jhon Mosquera played Libor Holik’s cross back across the box.

Plzen held on for crucial victory, extending their unbeaten run at the Doosan Arena to 27 games, and can now look forward to Thursday’s UCL group stage draw, while Qarabağ drop down into the UEFA Europa League and find out their opponents on Friday. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: Jan Kopic (Viktoria Plzen)

Benfica - Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 (5-0 AGG)

Benfica easily brushed aside FC Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 in the second leg at the Estadio Da Luz, to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. Already leading 2-0 from the first leg, Roger Schmidt’s side cruised past the Ukrainian side 5-0 on aggregate, and remained unbeaten in eight UCL qualifiers.

Benfica started the game on the front foot with summer signing David Neres enjoying plenty of the ball, constantly forcing the Dynamo defence to panic. Former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi made Bilo-Syni goalkeeper, Heorhiy Bushchan, save well from his header as Benfica probed for an early goal.

This game was already a tall order for Dynamo Kyiv being down by two goals after the first leg. They had used their previous UCL games as practice for their up-and-coming league campaign, seeing off Fenerbahce and Sturm Graz to qualify for the playoff tie. 

The chances kept on coming in the first period for the hosts, as Alex Grimaldo’s free-kick shaved the outside of the post and minutes later, Neres’ overhead kick was pushed away by Bushchan.

Benfica were protecting an excellent record in the UCL qualifiers, having only lost once on home soil since 2003, such was the domination of the Eagles in the first period, Dynamo were unlikely to hold out.

Their defence was broken on 27 minutes when Otamendi nodded in at the back post to open the scoring and put the tie beyond the visitors.  

Just before half time, Dynamo’s defence gifted Rafa Silva an opportunity following a poor square ball, which Silva capitalised on and slotted into the net.

A minute later, from one end of the pitch to the other Benfica stormed forward with Ramos squaring for Neres to fire home for the hosts’ third.   

There was a slight delay moments into the second period as Benfica players Rafa Silva and Goncalo Ramos clashed heads. Ramos came off worse and was substituted, replaced by Petar Musa.

Enzo Fernandez and Musa had efforts as Benfica pushed for more goals in the second half. However, their first-half performance was enough to qualify for the Group Stage of the UCL, while Dynamo will move into the UEFA Europa League. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: David Neres (Benfica)

Red Star Belgrade - Maccabi Haifa 2-2 (4-5 AGG)

Maccabi Haifa progressed to the UEFA Champions League group stages for the first time since 2009 and ended Red Star Belgrade’s five-match winning run at home after errors from Milan Borjan and Milan Pavkov allowed the Greens to progress with a 5-4 aggregate win. 

Possibly in an attempt to control the pre-match nerves in front of a deafening 52,000-strong Stadion Rajko Mitic, Red Star Belgrade took the unusual decision to warm up outside of the stadium as they aimed to overturn the 3-2 scoreline against Maccabi Haifa and reach their first Champions League group stage in three years.

Red Star certainly looked more composed early on and a quick break from the hosts ended with Osman Bukari cutting back to Guelor Kanga on the edge of the area before his curling strike clipped the post.

Having won seven straight matches before last week’s defeat in Haifa, the Red Whites were always going to provide a threat and they took the lead when Aleksandar Katai raced towards the goal line and passed back to Aleksandar Pesic, who fired his third goal in three matches into the net from point-blank range.

Pesic then turned provider by flicking the ball through the Haifa defence to Mirko Ivanic and the midfielder lashed a first-time shot high into the net past Joshua Cohen.

The Greens were not going to go down without a fight and Red Star goalkeeper Milan Borjan went from hero to zero just before half-time.

Borjan first saved a Dolev Haziza penalty after Slavoljub Srnic handled in the area before letting Daniel Sundgren’s long-range strike slip through his fingers moments later.

Momentum swung in Maccabi Haifa’s favour in the second half and the visitors almost pulled level straight after the break but Frantzdy Pierrot’s close-range effort was saved by Borjan before Pierre Cornud’s long-range effort cannoned off the post.

As the game edged nervously towards extra time, Maccabi Haifa pressed forward and Omer Atzil’s whipped free-kick was deflected into the net by Milan Pavkov in the dying stages.

It was heartbreak for Red Star after they clawed their way back into the tie, only to lose just their second Champions League qualifier at home since 2006.

But Maccabi Haifa’s never-say-die mantra that helped them come back in the first-leg from 2-1 down repeated itself in Belgrade and the Israeli side were rewarded for their positive approach.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Frantzdy Pierrot (Maccabi Haifa)