Paris Saint-Germain went out of the Europa League despite a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, losing their place to fellow big spenders RB Salzburg, who fought back to win 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava.
Dynamo Kiev were also knocked out after squandering a two-goal lead and finishing with nine men in a 3-3 draw at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, as the evening’s 12 ties produced 51 goals.
A last-minute goal cost last year’s runners-up Fulham their place in a 2-2 draw at home to Odense in more drama.
Lazio, Besiktas, former European champions Steaua Bucharest and Wisla Krakow reached the last 32, which will include Manchester United after their Champions League elimination last week.
Salzburg and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) finished level with 10 points each from six games in Group F, with the Austrian side progressing thanks to their better head-to-head record.
Bilbao, led by eccentric former Argentina and Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa, had already qualified.
PSG, backed by Qatari investors, spent over 80 million euros (US$104 million) on new players before the start of the season and their elimination is a setback for coach Antoine Kombouare after he appeared to have got back on track in Ligue 1.
Jon Aurtenetxe gave Athletic a third-minute lead but Javier Pastore, the most expensive of PSG’s signings, equalized and Mathieu Bodmer put them 2-1 ahead by halftime.
“It’s a great disappointment because to be honest, there was a good chance to qualify from this group,” Kombouare said. “I think we lacked realism during the group stage, especially against Salzburg and Bratislava.”
Although David Lopez made it 2-2, an Inigo Perez own goal and a Guillaume Hoarau penalty in the last five minutes gave PSG the win, which turned out to be in vain after Jakob Jantscher scored twice in Salzburg’s win.
Salzburg, who have invested heavily since their takeover and subsequent re-branding by energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull in 2005, were 2-0 behind after six minutes after Milos Lacny scored twice for the Slovakian champions.
However, the Austrians, who have never reached the Champions League since the takeover, were level by the 25th minute thanks to a Jantscher penalty and a strike from Leonardo.
Jantscher then sidefooted the crucial goal in the 68th minute.
Kiev, two winners of the old Cup Winners’ Cup, had needed a large win combined with a Besiktas defeat to qualify from Group E. The evening began promisingly as Seran Yeini’s own goal and an Oleh Gusev effort put them two ahead after 17 minutes.
However, they had Leandro Almeida sent off just after halftime and saw Omer Vered score from the resulting free-kick before Yevhen Khacheridi was dismissed in an off-the-ball incident.
Elran Atar and Munas Dabbur made it 3-2 for the visitors, but Gusev earned Dynamo a draw.
Besiktas came from behind to beat already-qualified Stoke City 3-1.
Fulham, needing a win to qualify from Group K, led 2-0 at halftime against Odense through Clint Dempsey and teenager Kerim Frei.
However, Hans Henrik Andreasen pulled one back midway through the second half and much-traveled Senegalese forward Djiby Fall headed home with the last touch of the game.
Polish champions Wisla Krakow pipped the London side by one point with a 2-1 win over already-qualified Twente Enschede.
Two goals in the last 20 minutes from Stefan Nikolic gave Steaua Bucharest, European champions in 1986, a 3-1 win over AEK Larnaca, which secured them second place in Group J behind Schalke 04, whose 3-0 win at Maccabi Haifa ended the Israeli team’s chances to progress.
Libor Kozak and Giuseppe Sculli scored in each half to give Lazio a 2-0 win over Group D winners Sporting and a second-placed finish.
Vaslui, who needed to equal Lazio’s result to qualify on their head-to-head record against the Italians, blew their chances by losing 2-0 at previously winless FC Zurich.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two