UEFA Champions League: Malaga Win; Udinese And Anderlecht Grab Away Goals

BATE Borisov appear to be on their way back to the UEFA Champions League group stage. Their hopes of a return trip to the competition looked to be dashed in the last round when they drew 1-1 at home against Debrecen with some of their stars gone for the Olympics, but they recovered in the return leg. With Renan Bressan and their other Olympic players back, they defeated Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 2-0 at home on Wednesday.

Vitaly Rodionov was BATE’s star with two excellent goals. He opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a fantastic finish, taking a great first touch, turning Shir Tzedek and hitting a low finish after Dimitri Mozolevski set him up with pass into his feet. He netted his team’s second goal in the 78th minute following a red card by Hapoel Kiryat’s Dusan Matovic, running onto a through ball by Alexander Volodko and finishing comfortably to seal BATE’s win.

Zagreb got the scoring started early in the 10th minute thanks to Duje Cop. The initial shot from distance in the box deflected out wide to the right and was run down by Domagoj Vida. He promptly sent the ball back in to the box where it was met by Cop making a great run and he put the ball in to the back of the net. Zagreb dominated the play in the first half and looked to be rolling right despite giving up way to many free kick chances to Maribor. That backfired right before halftime when Jerko Leko gave up a dangerous set peice just outside the Zagreb box. Goran Cvijanovic’s free kick was low toward goal and a sliding Milan Badelj, in an attempt to put it out for a corner, deflected the ball just inside the post.

Maribor looked better and better as the half progressed but were undone by a lapse of defensive focus that allowed Badelj redeemed himself in the second half. The match winner came as Zagreb’s captain made a great run from the midfield to get on the end of Cop’s perfectly weighted pass and beat Jasmin Handanovic with a hard low shot.

Panathinaikos have lost some of their top attackers in recent years, and it showed on Wednesday. Their attack looked rather anemic against a very mediocre Malaga defense.

Belgian side Anderlecht got an away goal, but still have some work to do in the second leg of the Champions League playoff after falling 2-1 to Cypriot champion AEL Limassol. It was a physical match, with seven yellow cards and one red card that set things up nicely for the return leg next week.

AEL scored first midway through the first half thanks to Junior but also managed to pile up some yellow cards thanks to their overly aggressive play. Despite offering up several free kick opportunities to Anderlecht as the half progressed, AEL’s defense was able to stand strong and take the lead in to the locker room.

FC Basel look unlikely to make a repeat run to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. They made some key sales over the summer and it showed, as they were outclassed in the second half of their first leg playoff match against CFR Cluj. The home side went up early, but Cluj stormed back to claim a 2-1 road victory.

The second half belonged to Moudou Sougou, who tore the Basel defense to pieces. His equalizer came in the 65th minute with a composed finish after he ran onto a through ball, and the winner came just five minutes later on a vicious shot into the roof of the net. Cluj now heads home as heavy favorites to progress.

The sales of Marco Reus, Roman Neustädter and Dante appear to have caught up with Borussia Mönchengladbach. They purchased replacements, but Dante’s absence created the most obvious glaring hole. Gladbach’s defense was poor and they fell apart in a 3-1 loss to Dynamo Kiev.

Gladbach actually got off to a brilliant start, with on-loan winger Alexander Ring scoring the opening goal in the 13th minute. Things went south quickly, however, and Dynamo eventually took over the match. Taras Mikhalik equalized in the 28th minute, striking a half volley past Marc-Andre ter Stegen following a corner kick. It took a wicked deflection on the way in, and ter Stegen couldn’t adjust.

Celtic look like they’re heading through to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League following their impressive 2-0 away victory against Helsingborg on Tuesday. Helsingborg had only allowed one goal in their four previous qualifying matches and had won those games by an aggregate score of 9-1.

Samaras sealed the win for Celtic in the 75th minute, nodding in a corner kick from Scott Brown. They head home to Glasgow with two away goals, and their lead should be an insurmountable one for Helsingborg.

Copenhagen got their Champions League playoff tie against Lille off to a good start with a 1-0 win at home tonight. Cesar Santin’s goal late in the first half was enough as Copenhagen’s defense held off Lille’s attack and Johan Wiland saved a penalty.

The first half was an interesting one highlighted by a missed PK and dreadful bit of defending that allowed the Løvernes to grabbed a 1-0 lead right before the break. Former Chelsea player Soloman Kalou earned a penalty for Lille in the 15th minute thanks to a takedown by Bryan Oviedo. Instead of grabbing a crucial away goal, Johan Wiland saved Dimitrie Payet’s PK attempt. Late in the half, Copenhagen’s captain Lars Jacobson made a straight run up the right side of the pitch, as if waiting for a Lille defender to close down the space, yet none did. He finally got close enough and placed a perfect cross in to the box that was easily headed for the goal by Cesar Santin was standing completely unmarked between two Lille defenders.

Spartak Moscow are taking a lead into the second leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff round tie, but they will only be slight favorites to advance. Even though they put in a very solid performance and grabbed a stellar winner late in the second half, they allowed Fenerbahce to score an away goal. Spartak’s 2-1 victory on Tuesday should set up a thrilling second leg in Istanbul.

The first half was extremely dull, but it didn’t take long for things to get interesting in the second half. Spartak grabbed the opener after 59 minutes on a great quick move, with striker Emmanuel Emenike providing the finish. The goal was made by Dimitriy Kombarov, who provided a great assist with a perfect diagonal into the center of the box that went around the Fener defense, then curled back into Emenike’s foot for an easy finish.

The playoff round of the UEFA Champions League has previously featured the elimination of multiple excellent teams, due to many of the teams in the round holding onto their star players in hopes that they can make the competition’s group stage and boost their finances. This season, most of the clubs in the playoff round were not willing to take that risk.

The most interesting tie is the first one to get underway. Both Fenerbahce and Spartak Moscow spent some money to improve their teams in the summer, and both will have a solid chance of grabbing second place in their group if they go through and do not get thrown into an inevitable group of death. Their match gets underway at 12 p.m. ET.