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On Tuesday evening, the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round second leg matches began. Five games were played, after which five clubs advanced to the Champions League group stage - these are the teams "Liverpool", "Benfica", "Milan", "Valencia", and "Hamburger".
In the first leg, "Valencia" lost by a narrow margin as the visitors against "Salzburg". However, back at home, "Valencia" quickly set out to erase the one-goal deficit. Within fifteen minutes, "Valencia" surged ahead and equalized the overall score - Fernando Morientes sent the ball into the empty net after "Salzburg" goalkeeper deflected David Villa's shot. Just twenty minutes later, the balance was in favor of the "Valencia" team - a penalty kick was awarded for a handball in the visitors' goal. Although the "Salzburg" goalkeeper saved D.Villa's penalty shot, the Spanish striker was the first to reach the ball and sent it into the net with a powerful shot.
"Salzburg" tried to score a goal and equalize the overall score, but "Valencia" managed to defend and in the added time Silva scored the third goal for the team, burying the opponent's hopes. The match ended with a 3-0 victory for the Spanish club, securing a 3-1 victory on aggregate and a place in the Champions League group stage.
Meanwhile, at home, Lisbon's "Benfica" managed all tasks perfectly - after a 1-1 draw as visitors against Vienna's "Austria", "Benfica" left no hope for the opponents at home and secured a 3-0 victory, advancing to the group stage starting in September.
It is worth mentioning that this season three Portuguese clubs will play in the Champions League. We will also see the "Hamburger" club in the Champions League this year. The first leg between "Hamburger" and "Osasuna" in the German port city ended goalless, but in the second leg, a 1-1 draw was recorded, allowing "Hamburger" to advance to the group stage with an away goal.
In Ukraine, the second leg match between "Maccabi" and "Liverpool" took place. The first match in England ended with a 2-1 victory for the home team, so in order to surprise and secure a place in the Champions League in this match, "Maccabi" needed a 1-0 victory. The Israeli club managed to score after about twenty minutes, but Alain Masudi's header was disallowed for offside.
The first goal came around the hour mark when Peter Crouch scored a header after a pass from the right. Ten minutes later, "Maccabi" managed to equalize the score, but that was all they could achieve in this match. The match ended 1-1, and thanks to the home victory, "Liverpool" advanced to the next round.
Meanwhile, "Milan" managed to secure a victory in the second leg against "Crvena Zvezda" - in the Belgrade encounter, "Milan" took the lead after about half an hour when Filippo Inzaghi scored a header after a Gennaro Gattuso cross. At the end of the match, Clarence Seedorf doubled the score in the 78th minute with a precise shot from thirteen meters, and a few minutes later the home team's forward Dusan Djokic managed to reduce the deficit. "Milan" secured a 3-1 victory on aggregate and earned the right to compete for the strongest European team title.
Champions League 3rd qualifying round Tuesday statistics:
"Maccabi" 1 - 1 "Liverpool" (First leg 1-2, aggregate score 2-3) 54' [0 - 1] Peter Crouch 63' [1 - 1] Roberto Colautti
"Benfica" 3 - 0 "Austria" (First leg 1-1, aggregate score 4-1) 21' [1 - 0] Rui Costa 45' [2 - 0] Nuno Gomes 57' [3 - 0] Petit
"Osasuna" 1 - 1 "Hamburger" (First leg 0-0, aggregate score 1-1) 6' [1 - 0] Carlos Cuellar 74' [1 - 1] Nigel de Jong
"Crvena Zvezda" 1 - 2 "Milan" (First leg 0-1, aggregate score 1-3) 29' [0 - 1] Filippo Inzaghi 78' [0 - 2] Clarence Seedorf 80' [1 - 2] Dusan Djokic
"Valencia" 3 - 0 "Salzburg" (First leg 0-1, aggregate score 3-1) 14' [1 - 0] Fernando Morientes 33' [2 - 0] David Villa 90' [3 - 0] Silva
