The big surprise of the play off entry to the “16” of the Europa League took place in “Municipal” of Braga, where Karabakh passed like… wind and scattered the home team 4-2.
With two goals from the experienced Frenchman Abdellah Zubir and one each from Jankovic and Vieira, the champions Azerbaijan crushed Braga and set the stage for a very important qualification.
AC Milan can now be thinking about the next stage thanks to a 3-0 win over Rennes at the San Siro, with Loftus-Cheek finding the net twice.
And Sporting Lisbon already “cleared” the qualification to the “16”, as it went through Bern with 3-1 against Young Boys. Thus, it turned into a formal procedure the rematch that will take place next Thursday in the Portuguese capital.
In the remaining pairs, there were… open accounts ahead of the rematches. Roma were held 1-1 by Feyenoord in Rotterdam with Lukaku scoring his 6th goal of the competition, while in Istanbul star-studded Galatasaray overcame Sparta Prague’s resistance in stoppage time, winning 3-2 with an Icardi goal at 90+1′.
The Turks took the lead twice with Demirbay and Mertens, but Sparta found answers with Presiado and Kuchta, while Nelson’s dismissal of the hosts with a straight red card in the 62nd minute played a key role.
Development-thriller also in “Da Luz” in Lisbon, with Benfica beating Toulouse 2-1 with two penalties by Angel Di Maria, the winner in the 8th minute of stoppage time!
In Hamburg, the typically home team Shakhtar Donetsk drew 2-2 with Marseille. In the 90th minute, the French team “touched” victory with the first European goal of the Senegalese Iliman Ediage, but in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, the 19-year-old Brazilian Eguinaldo had the last word.
The results of the first games of the Europa League playoffs:
Feyenoord (Netherlands)-Roma (Italy) 1-1
(45+1′ Paisao – 67′ Lukaku)
Galatasaray (Turkey)-Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 3-2
(19′ Demirbai, 60′ Mertens, 90+1′ Icardi – 47′ Preciado, 65′ Kuchta)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)-Marseille (France) 2-2
(68′ Matvijenko, 90+3′ Eginaldo – 64′ Aubameyang, 90′ Ediage)
Young Boys (Switzerland)-Sporting Lis. (Portugal) 1-3
(42′ Ugrinic – 31′ Amed, 41′ pen. Giokeres, 48′ Inasio)
Benfica (Portugal)-Toulouse (France) 2-1
(68’pen., 90+8’pen. Di Maria – 75′ Dessler)
Milan (Italy)-Ren (France) 3-0
(32′, 47′ Loftus Chik, 52′ Leao)
Lens (France)-Freiburg (Germany) 0-0
Braga (Portugal)-Karabakh (Azerbaijan) 2-4
(44′ Banza, 90+1′ penalty Moutinho – 21′ penalty Jankovic, 54′, 69′ Zubir, 65′ Vieira)
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