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On Tuesday, eight return matches of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League were played, after which eight more teams were revealed, competing in the group stage for the strongest European club title.
An unexpected failure was experienced by the defending champions "Liverpool". The English team lost 0-1 at home to Sofia's "CSKA" team. The visitors took the lead early in the match, after a precise strike by V.Iliev. Later, "Liverpool" had several good opportunities to score, but failed to equalize the result.
A surprising result was provided by Vienna's "Rapid" club - the team defeated Moscow's "Lokomotiv", the Russian champions, 1-0 away from home and secured their place in the Champions League, as the first leg of these clubs ended in a draw in Austria. The winning goal in Tuesday's match was scored by the "Rapid" team five minutes before the end of the match.
A place in the Champions League was also secured by "Udinese", who finished fourth in the Italian championship last season. The Italians played 3-2 at home against "Sporting" and secured victory with an overall score of 4-3. The "Udinese" team took the lead after a penalty kick by the Italian striker V.Iaquinta. Their lead was doubled by the hosts' defender C.Natali, who scored a goal with a header in the 35th minute. Shortly after, "Sporting" player Douala reduced the deficit, but the hosts played successfully and in the 90th minute, P.Barreto scored a goal that "drowned" all "Sporting" hopes. In extra time, the goal by Pinilla of the Portuguese club further reduced the difference, but it no longer had an impact on the final result.
Seville's "Betis" played 2-2 away at "Monaco" and thanks to a home victory of 1-0, earned the right to play in the Champions League. In this match, one of the top scorers of the previous season's Spanish league, R.Oliveira, excelled. He scored to put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute. Later, "Monaco" managed to score two goals and even turn the result around, but R.Oliveira once again equalized the score.
"Thun" continued their successful run by defeating their Swedish opponents from "Malmo" for the second time. The hosts took the lead in the 26th minute after a precise strike by T.Bernardini. Later, "Thun" player M.Lustrinelli scored two more goals, sealing the fate of their opponents' hopes to reach the Champions League.
Another sensation was created by "Artmedia", who secured a place in the Champions League. The team from the capital of Slovakia defeated "Partizan" 4-3 in a penalty shootout. Since the main match, like the first game, ended 0-0, the players had to participate in extra time, but that still did not determine a winner. They had to take penalties, after which "Artmedia" triumphed.
"Rosenborg" also reached the most prestigious European football club tournament. The Norwegian club defeated the team from Bucharest "Steaua" 3-2 at home and secured victory with an overall score of 4-3. After about 60 minutes of play, "Rosenborg" were already leading 3-0, but the Romanian club did not give up and scored two goals. However, the "Steaua" players were unable to achieve a winning result.
In another match, "Panathinaikos" made their fans nervous and only managed to defeat "Wisla" after extra time. Just like in the first match, regular time ended with a score of 3-1, so the players had to participate in extra time. The hero of the match was "Panathinaikos" defender I.Kotsios - the Greek player scored a goal until the end of the second overtime period, helping his team secure a spot in the Champions League.
Tuesday's match statistics:
"Panathinaikos" 4 - 1 Wisla Krakow (Overall score 5-4, first leg 1-3) 62' [1 - 0] Nasief Morris 65' [2 - 0] Emmanuel Olisadebe 78' [2 - 1] Radoslaw Sobolewski 87' [3 - 1] Dimitrios Papadopoulos 114' [4 - 1] Ilias Kotsios
Monaco 2 - 2 Betis (2-3, 0-1) 17' [0 - 1] Ricardo Oliveira 33' [1 - 1] Gerard Lopez 63' [2 - 1] Toifilou Maoulida 75' [2 - 2] Ricardo Oliveira
Udinese 3 - 2 Sporting (4-2, 1-0) 23' [1 - 0] Vincenzo Iaquinta (penalty) 35' [2 - 0] Cesare Natali 38' [2 - 1] Roudolphe Douala 90'+1 [3 - 1] Paulo Barreto 90'+2 [3 - 2] Mauricio Pinilla
Liverpool 0 - 1 CSKA Sofia (3-2, 3-1) 14' [0 - 1] Valentin Iliev
Rosenborg 3 - 2 Steaua Bucharest (4-3, 1-1) 38' [1 - 0] Jan Gunnar Solli 57' [2 - 0] Alexander Odegaard 60' [3 - 0] Mirel Radoi (own goal) 74' [3 - 1] Mirel Radoi 76' [3 - 2] Constantin Iacob
Lokomotiv Moscow 0 - 1 Rapid Vienna (1-2, 1-1) 84' [0 - 1] Jozef Valachovic
Partizan 0 - 0 Artmedia (0-0, 0-0, penalty shootout 3-4)
Thun 3 - 0 Malmo (4-0, 1-0) 26' [1 - 0] Tiago Bernardi 40' [2 - 0] Mauro Lustrinelli 66' [3 - 0] Mauro Lustrinelli
