Soccer

UEFA Champions League 2013: Celtic, Zenit and Lyon get wins in third round qualifying

Celtic, Zenit St. Petersburg, Lyon all have one foot into the playoff round after close, but positive first leg results.

by Zach Woosley

Aug 1, 2013, 7:09 PM UTC

Epsilon

We’re halfway through third round UEFA Champions qualifying and while several notable teams are in good shape, there remains several ties with everything hanging in the balance after close first leg matches.

Several more recognizable European sides entered the competition in this round including Fenerbahce, who drew 1-1 away against SV Salzburg, and Lyon who earned a 1-0 home win over Grasshoppers.

Celtic, who entered the tournament in the previous round, continued their march back towards the group stages with a 1-0 win at home versus Elfsborg. The Swedish champions played the Hoops tough and if not for a late goal from Kris Commons, they would have returned home with a scoreless draw.

In the battle between Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Nordsjaelland, two teams who were in the group stages last season, the Russian side earned a crucial 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Alexander Kerzhakov early in the second half.

Shakhter Karagandy, who upset BATE Borsov in the second round, hammered Skenderbeu 3-0 and are 90 minutes away from a chance to place in the group stages.

This is the final qualifying round of the the tournament with all advancing teams entering a playoff round that will either send them on to the group stages of the Champions League or the Europa League. All teams that lose in this round of the tournament will move to a Europa League playoff round.

All second leg matches will be played Tuesday, August 6th and Wednesday, August 7th.