Leverkusen oust 10-man Lazio, Astana make history
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Updated 27/08/2015 at 07:01 GMT
Leverkusen thumped Lazio 3-0 to go through 3-1 overall and Astana became the first Kazakh team to qualify when they netted a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at APOEL Nicosia for a 2-1 aggregate success.
Leverkusen's midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu (L) celebrates scoring during the UEFA Champions League playoff football match between Bayer Leverkusen and SS Lazio, in Leverkusen, western Germany, on August 26, 2015
Image credit: AFP
While Mauricio’s 68th-minute sending off did the Italians no favours, Lazio were already two goals down after strikers from Hakan Calhanoglu (40) and Admir Mehmedi (48)
It was left to Karim Bellarabi to put added gloss on an already polished performance with an 88th-minute strike.
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Bayer Leverkusen's Hakan Calhanoglu scores a goal which is then disallowed, as Lazio's Dusan Basta (R) watches during their Champions League play-off soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome, Italy August 18, 2015. REUTERS/Alessandra Bianchi
Image credit: Reuters
Serbian midfielder Nemanja Maksimovic grabbed the crucial goal for Astana six minutes from time as Kazakhstan became the 32nd country to be represented in the group stage.
Spain are the first country to have five clubs in the group stage in one season after Valencia progressed past Monaco 4-3 on aggregate despite a 2-1 defeat at the Ligue 1 side in their playoff second leg on Tuesday.
Valencia joined Barca, Real, 2014 finalists Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who qualified as last season's Europa League winners.
Malmo, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Shakhtar Donetsk also won their playoff ties on Tuesday.
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