Red Star Belgrade, Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb Reach the Champions League

Three clubs secured their Champions League spot tonight, as the first batch of qualifying games ended. Red Star Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb, and Olympiacos Athens reached their ticket to the most prominent European competition.

In front of more than 55,000 spectators at Rajko Mitic stadium, the former world champions Red Star secured their second consecutive Champions League. They played 1-1 against the Swiss champions Young Boys, and are thought after 2-2 from the first leg, because of more scored goals on the road.

Though the guests dominated the match, they couldn’t create a noticeable difference when talking about the result, and the Serbs managed to eliminate them. Young Boys were better, had higher possession of the ball, and were much more dangerous for Milan Borjan, the goalkeeper of the home team. They had several open chances, but the lack of composure eventually cost them a lot. After a goalless first 45 minutes, Red Star got the lead in the 58th minute after one counter-attack, when Aleksa Vukanovic broke the lock of the guests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD8YGxpvBfk

The Swiss team went for all or nothing afterward, but couldn’t do anything up until eight minutes before the end, when one of the home team players scored an own goal. El Fardou Ben wanted to remove the danger after one strike, but he deflected the ball straight into his own net.

Then came the drama, but luckily for the hosts, they managed to withstand the enormous pressure of the Young Boys.

The Greek powerhouse Olympiacos played 1-2 with the Russian club, Krasnodar and they too advanced to the UCL group stage. The first clash in Athens ended with 4-0 for the hosts, the aggregate score was 1-6 for them. Tonight’s game began with the Russians scoring first, and electrifying the crowd. Utkin brought the advantage and some hope for the home team fans, after 10 minutes of play. But that lasted for only 60 seconds, before El Arabi leveled the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UU6Ree0Ak0

In general, the visitors were a better team at Krasnodar Stadium one of the venues of the latest World Cup held in 2018. The same player raised to 1-2, three minutes into the second half, and following that it was all a routine for the Greek side.

A very intense game took place in Norway. The champions of that country, Rosenborg tried to catch up a 2-0 deficit from the first game against Dinamo Zagreb. And they opened the match quite good, scoring after only 11 minutes of play through Akintola. From that moment on, the fans had the opportunity to see one very exciting and interesting match, with lots of goal chances on both sides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQqkTOqbBM0

Rosenborg had an ideal situation for 2-0, but one free-kick ended on the post of Dinamo’s goal, and the Croatian team survived somehow. It was the 71st minute when Gojak equalized and sent the team from Zagreb into the Champions League.

Three more qualifying matches for the UCL are set for tomorrow. Ajax Amsterdam plays with APOEL from Cyprus after 0-0 in the road. Club Brugge hosts LASK Linz, while Slavia Prague plays with CFR Cluj from Romania. Both home teams have a 1-0 lead from the first legs.