A superb Gonzalo Higuain goal rescued SSC Napoli to see them draw visitors Athletic Bilbao 1-1 in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League playoffs, while Jonatan Soriano struck the woodwork three times, but still scored in Red Bull Salzburg’s 2-1 victory over visiting Swedish side Malmo FF.
In the day’s other first-leg ties, Bayer 04 Leverkusen won 3-2 at FC Copenhagen and a late goal gave Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest a 1-0 home win over PFC Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria.
Serie A was left in danger of having only two teams in the group stage after Napoli, playing their first competitive match of the season, failed to beat La Liga side Bilbao.
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Iker Muniain side-footed the visitors ahead four minutes before halftime as Napoli struggled to find their rhythm. However, Argentina forward Higuain leveled for the Italian club in the 68th minute when he brilliantly pulled down a pass and, despite being surrounded by three defenders, managed to make space and score with a low shot into the far corner.
Jose Callejon and Higuain missed sitters and the latter also saw a close-range effort brilliantly stopped by Gorka Iraizoz as Napoli pressed in a frenetic ending.
“Considering the way the game went, we can consider our reaction positive and must begin again from that,” Azzurri boss Rafael Benitez said after the match.
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Austrian champions Salzburg, who have been eliminated in the qualifiers six times since Red Bull’s takeover in 2005, once again made life difficult for themselves against Malmo.
Franz Schiemer and Soriano put them 2-0 up in less than an hour and the Spaniard also hit the woodwork three times as Salzburg dominated the game.
However, the match ended farcically for the hosts when a mix-up between Schiemer and goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi in the 90th minute left Emil Forsberg to tap into an empty net for the 1979 European Cup runners-up, who have never played in the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition.
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Denmark’s chances of having two sides in the group stage for the first time look remote after Copenhagen’s home defeat against seasoned campaigners Leverkusen.
Stefan Kiessling gave the Bundesliga side a fifth-minute lead, only for the Danish side to hit back with headed goals by Mathias Joergensen and Daniel Amartey before 15 minutes were up.
Karim Bellarabi and Son Heung-min replied before halftime for Leverkusen, who should wrap up the tie at home next Wednesday.
Former European champions Steaua Bucharest gave themselves a slender lead to take to Bulgaria when Alexandru Chipciu scored the only goal in the 88th minute.
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
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