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On Tuesday, UEFA Cup 2nd round and Champions League 3rd round qualification matches started with four games. The previous year's Champions League finalist "Arsenal" proved their supremacy in the first match by defeating "Ekranas" 3-0 in Zagreb, eliminating the local team "Dinamo" from the tournament. The match between "Austria" and "Benfica" ended in a draw, while in the UEFA Cup, "Auxerre" faced failure without any drawn matches.
In the lineup of "Arsenal," there were several changes compared to the final match against "Barcelona" - the team didn't have Roberto Pires and Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg were injured, Jens Lehmann was disqualified, Ashley Cole couldn't play, and Jose Reyes, often linked with "Real," remained on the bench.
In the first half, the young "Dinamo" goalkeeper Luka Modric posed the biggest threat to the "Arsenal" goal, but after the break, the visitors solved everything with three goals in a 16-minute period - in the 63rd minute, Cesc Fabregas put his team ahead after Robin van Persie's pass, then R. van Persie scored after a minute receiving a pass from Alexander Hleb, and in the 79th minute, C. Fabregas scored his second goal from the penalty spot.
Thus, "Arsenal" practically revealed the winner of the pair in the first match, while the other game was much more intense - Lisbon's "Benfica" took the lead in the 16th minute in Vienna against "Austria" with a goal by Nuno Gomes, but the hosts' captain Jocelyn Blanchard managed to equalize the result in the 36th minute. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and thanks to the away goal, "Benfica" became the favorite to win.
In Belgrade, the team of "Auxerre" suffered an unexpected failure against the local team. The French failed to capitalize on an early opportunity and had to leave with defeat, as Serbian captain Milos Bajalica scored with a header in the 21st minute. This was the only and winning goal for the hosts, and in the return match, "Auxerre" will have to seek revenge. Meanwhile, the second pair playing on Tuesday, Nicosia's "Omonia" and Lovech's "Litex," will determine their relationship in the return match since the first ended goalless.
All the remaining matches of the Champions League third qualifying round will be played on Wednesday - Lithuanian teams such as Edinburgh's "Hearts," Moscow's "Spartak" and "CSKA," as well as Liberec's "Slovan" will begin their fights. UEFA Cup matches, which will also involve "Kaunas" and Marijampole's "Sūduva," will take place on Thursday.
Results of the Tuesday's 3rd qualifying round matches of the Champions League
"Austria" (Austria) 1 - 1 "Benfica" (Portugal) "Dinamo" (Croatia) 0 - 3 "Arsenal" (England) in Zagreb
Results of the Tuesday's 2nd qualifying round matches of the UEFA Cup
"Belgrade" (Serbia) 1 - 0 "Auxerre" (France) "Nicosia" (Cyprus) 0 - 0 "Litex" (Bulgaria) from Lovech
