Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach built on commanding first-leg advantages to cruise through the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday, while Russian side Rostov thrashed Ajax 4-1 to reach the group stage for the first time.
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Davy Klaassen converted the resulting penalty, but it was nothing more than a consolation as Rostov eased to a 5-2 aggregate win. The now Peter Bosz-managed team has competed in the Champions League group-stages in four of the last five seasons; Rostov, meantime, have never previously competed in a play-off, let alone the Champions League proper.
Dinamo Zagreb mounted a rousing second-half comeback to record a 2-1 victory at Red Bull Salzburg, having been held to a 1-1 draw on home soil in the first leg. We played a hopeless game from the first minute…
The icing on the cake came as Poloz ran half the length of the field unchallenged and rounded Ajax ‘keeper Jasper Cillessen – who is expected to sign for Barcelona in the coming days – to make it four.
It also means champions PSV Eindhoven will be the only Dutch representatives in the group stage.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart, dropped for City’s first two league games of the season, was picked by manager Pep Guardiola and given a rapturous reception by the home supporters.
Thorgan Hazard, brother of Chelsea forward Eden, and Raffael both scored hat-tricks for the German side against the Swiss team.
Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia, quarter-finalists four years ago, went ahead through Pieros Sotiriou but Federico Santander equalised for Copenhagen with four minutes left to earn a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate win.
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Dinamo Zagreb forced extra-time in Austria via Junior Fernandes’ late equaliser against Salzburg, who had led through Valentino Lazaro.
