UEFA Champions League Playoff Round: Lyon Win, Twente And Benfica Draw

There were lots of matches in the UEFA Champions League playoff round on Tuesday, but none were as high anticipated as the clash between BATE Borisov and SK Sturm Graz and the battle between Plzen and FC Copenhagen. They were the stars of the day in Europe and the excitement will only build before next week’s second leg. Okay, so maybe the two matches weren’t anticipated by anyone outside the participating clubs, but they were still Champions League matches so I suppose we’re supposed to care.

BATE Borisov 1-1 SK Sturm Graz

After an absolutely disastrous start to the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff round tie against Rubin Kazan, Olympique Lyonnais have all but punched their ticket to the group stages of the competition with a 3-1 home win on Tuesday night. Though Rubin’s away goal will still give them plenty of work to do in Russia, the French giants look set for yet another trip to the final 32 of the competition, and will just have to manage to avoid a 2-0 loss or any three goal loss next week.

Vladimir Dyadyun got the visitors on the board after just three minutes, indicating that the match might be a potentially disastrous one for OL. However, they fought back quickly through Bafetimbi Gomis, who netted goals in the 10th and 40th minutes to give OL a halftime lead. Jimmy Briand added a goal in the 71st minute, sealing a win for Lyon and giving them a massive advantage going into the second leg.

It’s finished FC Twente 2-2 SL Benfica in Enschede, with Bryan Ruiz nodding home an equaliser in the second half to keep Twente in with a shout of progressing to the group stages.

In the first half, it was the Dutch side who opened the scoring, after Luuk De Jong finished a galloping midfield run with a 25-yard stunner into the top corner. But soon after, Benfica scored a screamer of their own, after good work from Pablo Aimar led to Oscar Cardozo making a similar run and long-range finish.

Though expected to play a conservative and defensive match, Rubin Kazan and Olympique Lyonnais have done nothing of the sort to this point, playing a shockingly open match that produced three first half goals. Rubin appeared to have had their hosts reeling after scoring just three minutes in, but Lyon are now back in control of the tie thanks to two goals from Bafetimbi Gomis. At halftime, they lead by a score of 2-1.

Vladimir Dyadyun scored the opener on a very crafty finish inside of the box, giving his team a massive advantage. It took Lyon just eight minutes to equalize, though, as Gomis applied a fantastic finish of his own in the 11th minute. Lyon would finally find their go-ahead goal in the 40th minute, as Gomis scored off a deflection at the near post. Despite the deflection, Sergei Ryzhikov should have done better. Anyone who is a regular viewer of Rubin Kazan’s matches will think I sound like a broken record.

It’s FC Twente 1-2 SL Benfica in Enschede, with the Portuguese coming from behind to take the lead. Twente opened the scoring relatively early, as Luuk de Jong picked up the ball in midfield, driving at the Benfica defence before unleashing a superb 25-yard missile which left Artur Moraes with no chance.

Their lead was not to last long though – Benfica had already shown signs of their attacking danger as Gaitan forced his way through the Twente defence, only to misplace his finish. Shortly afterwards, however, Cardozo equalised, with another screamer coming after Pablo Aimar had won the ball in midfield. The Paraguayan was given the freedom of Enschede to run through the centre and unleash a powerful drive in the far side of the goal, albeit one which Mihaylov should have done better with.

Based on their matches against other teams in the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League, most expected a tight and cagey affair between Olympique Lyonnais and Rubin Kazan where goals would be at a premium. Instead, the teams are playing a surprisingly wide open game in which both have already scored a goal after just 11 minutes of play.

The opener was scored by Vladimir Dyadyun after just three minutes of play, stunning the home crowd in Lyon. The home side’s defending on the goal was poor to say the least, but Dyadyun’s finish was all class as he poked the ball into the back of the net from the center of the box, touching the opposite way from where he was running.

The teamsheets for Twente-Benfica have just been released . FC Twente start with Bryan Ruiz and Emir Bajrami leading the line in place of Marc Janko in an attacking formation, in what will be a huge game and Co Adriaanse’s first real test as Twente boss.

Benfica line up largely as expected, with another attacking formation, with Pablo Aimar lining up behind Oscar Cardozo and Nolito. The full teams are as follows:

Based on the performances of both teams over the last two years in Europe, it’s a bit of a shame that one of either Olympique Lyonnais or Rubin Kazan will not be able to participate in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. Of course, both have made their own bed by not finishing high enough in their domestic leagues last season, but there is little doubt that both are among the 32 teams most deserving of a Champions League place this season. Sadly, one will be banished to the Europa League come next week. Lyon will be looking to get a big win at home, and anything less will be a major disappointment. Here are the lineups.

Lyon lineup: Lloris; Kone, Lovren, Kallstrom, Lisandro, Michel Bastos, Reveillere, Gomis, Briand, Cissokho, Gonalons

The playoff round of the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League kicks off on Tuesday evening with some fantastic ties, as the competition finally hits a truly exciting round with lots of big teams involved. The third round of qualifying had some decent ties, but big guns like Arsenal and Olympique Lyonnais - true threats to make the knockout stages - start their campaigns Tuesday against big opposition. We’ll be covering all five games at SB Nation, four of them in this space. If you’re looking for an Arsenal-Udinese preview, we did an extensive one separately.

All games take place at 2:45 pm ET, 7:45 pm BST and can be seen on FoxSoccer.tv in the USA. Teams enter through either the League Route or the Champions Route. The teams entering through the Champions Route won their league, while the League Route teams qualified through high finishes, but did not win their league.