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The French Lille and the Croatian Dinamo Zagreb achieved solid victories against the Czech Slavia Prague (2-0) and the Azerbaijani Qarabag (3-0), respectively, in the first leg of the playoff for access to the single group of the new Champions League.
The Norwegian Bodo/Glimt also moved closer to that goal, defeating Serbian Red Star 2-1, although that tie seems more open.
This round of the playoff is the last of the preliminary phases to participate in the new and reformed Champions League, alongside the continent’s big teams, in a season when the most important European tournament will debut its new format.
The usual division into eight groups of four teams will no longer exist, but instead there will be a single group and a points-based ranking system for the 36 participating teams.
Lille is very close to being there, having eliminated José Mourinho’s Turkish Fenerbahçe in the previous round, and now they took a 2-0 lead against Slavia Prague, winning with goals from Canadian Jonathan David (minute 52) and German-Kosovar Edon Zhegrova (77).
The French will therefore arrive in a very favorable situation for the return leg next week in the Czech Republic.
The victory of Dinamo Zagreb at home was even wider, surpassing Qarabag from Azerbaijan 3-0.
Sandro Kulenovic was the star of that match, scoring two goals.
On the other hand, Bodo/Glimt gained an advantage over Red Star with their 2-1, but the Norwegians had been ahead 2-0, and Ognjen Mimovic’s goal with a quarter of an hour left gives the Serbians some hope for the return in Belgrade.
The other round of first-leg playoff matches will be played on Wednesday with four other matchups: Young Boys-Galatasaray, Dinamo Kiev-Salzburg, Malmö-Sparta Prague, and Midtjylland-Slovan Bratislava.
— Results of the Champions League playoff:
– Tuesday:
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 3 Pjaca (29), Kulenovic (75, 80)
Qarabag (AZE) 0
Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 2 Bjortuft (52), Maatta (62)
Red Star (SRB) 1 Mimovic (75)
Lille (FRA) 2 David (52), Zhegrova (77)
Slavia Prague (CZE) 0
– Wednesday:
Young Boys (SUI) – Galatasaray (TUR)
Midtjylland (DEN) – Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Malmö (SWE) – Sparta Prague (CZE)
Dinamo Kiev (UKR) – RB Salzburg (AUT)
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