Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg eased into the third qualifying round of the Champions League despite slipping to a second-leg defeat to HB Torshavn in the Faroe Islands on Tuesday.
The Austrians were never in danger after winning the first leg 5-0 last week, but the Faroese champions were determined to make their mark, a 73rd minute strike from Simun Samuelsen giving them a memorable 1-0 victory on the night.
Salzburg rested four players as they had one eye on next week’s third qualifying round first-leg tie against Cypriot champions Omonia, who wrapped up a 5-0 aggregate win over Renova with a 2-0 victory in Skopje.
Takis Lemonis’ side got their noses in front in the 15th minute through Tassos Aloneftis. Leandro added a second nine minutes later and new signing Lomana LuaLua had the luxury of being able to miss a couple of good chances before the final whistle.
Welsh champions TNS overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to defeat Irish side Bohemians 4-1 on aggregate. Their reward is a tie with Belgian giants Anderlecht.
It was less comfortable for Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, who probably expected an easy ride after their 5-1 first-leg annihilation of Slovenia’s Koper.
Instead, the second leg in Nova Gorica turned into a real nail-biter as Koper came very close to an astonishing turnaround.
Enes Handanagic put them ahead after 11 minutes and further goals in the second half from Ivica Buberac and a penalty from Mitja Brulc left the Croatians hanging on for the last 12 minutes. One more goal would have seen the Slovenians through on the away goals rule, but Dinamo clung on to go through 5-4 over the two legs.
They will next face Moldova’s FC Sheriff, who lost 1-0 away at Dinamo Tirana, but go through 3-2 on aggregate.
Bulgaria’s Litex Lovech made short work of Rudar, winning 4-0 in Montenegro to complete a 5-0 aggregate win. Lovech will meet Maltese side Birkirkara or Slovakia’s MSK Zilina in the next round.
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