Salzburg, Ajax and Club Brugge out of UCL

The third qualifying round for the Champions League has ended this Wednesday night with a few surprises, with teams like Ajax, Club Brugge, Salzburg and Dinamo Kiev being all eliminated from the competition.

Nice qualified with two draws

Vincent Marcel guarantees Nice’s qualification.

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, at the Allianz Riviera, Nice travelled to the Amsterdam Arena this Wednesday night where they discussed a well-balanced match that ended 2-2, with the french team qualifying to the next round. Nice had a very strong start of the game and converted in goal their first scoring opportunity, with a fantastic team-play that ended with Pléa isolating Lees-Melou, who shotted for Onana’s defense, but Arnaud Souquet was nearby and scored in the reload and dictated the 0-1 to the french team.

However, Nice’s happiness lasted just a few moments, since in the 25th minute a huge passivity from Nice’s defense permitted Ajax to exchange the ball in front of the penalty area without any pressure, with Donny van de Beek scoring the equalizer. Ajax started to grow in the match and continued to attack in search for another goal, ending up finding the back of the net once again, in the 55th minute, with a Davinson Sánchez goal. When all seemed lost, a Nice’s counter-attack in the 78th minute saw Vincent Marcel scoring the equalizer only 10 minutes after substituting Malang Sarr. This goal guaranteed Nice’s qualification to the next stage.

HNK Rijeka has already made history

HNK Rijeka made history after reaching the play-off round.

After a 1-1 draw in Austria, at Red Bull Salzburg’s home, in the first leg, it was now time for Rijeka to host this second leg, which ended in a draw as well but, this time, without goals. Well, this 0-0 draw served perfectly for Rijeka to secure a place in the play-off round and are now closer than ever to reach the Champions League’s group stage, with this being the first time they secured access to a play-off round in the competition. The final result, 0-0, is a little misleading, since this was an entertaining match.

Rijeka was the first team to create danger, with a strong shot from Kvrzic, obliging the goal-keeper Walke to make a good defense. Red Bull Salzburg seem to had woken up after this shot from Rijeka and created a few goalscoring chances after that. The austrian side was really close to score twice, but saw two goals being nullified after the referee claimed both goals were scored in a off-side position.

Adebayor gave the qualification to Basaksehir

One goal and one assist from Adebayor took Basaksehir to the next stage.

The turkish team has never, in their whole history, took part in a stage group in a european competition, Europa League or Champions League. After a 3-3 draw in Belgium in the first leg, Basaksehir only needed a 0-0 draw to qualify to the next stage, but at home is where they are stronger and they have proven so, winning by 2-0. A strong start in the match saw the turkish team score in the 6th minute, after a perfect cross from Clichy, with Adebayor finishing it with a header.

The home team was stronger than the visitors and it was confirmed once agains, in the 33th minute, with Basaksehir scoring the 2-0, this time with Adebayor assisting Visca, who scored a screamer from outside of the box. In the 40th minute, Edin Visca was really close to score, again from outside of the penalty area, but the ball hit the post. The second time of the match was monotonous and there were little scoring chances, with the match finishing 2-0.