Champions League: Roger Schmidt reaches group stage with Benfica

Red Star fails after an own goal

German coach Roger Schmidt has qualified for the group stage of the Champions League with his new club Benfica Lisbon. The Portuguese defeated the Ukrainian record champions Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 (3-0) on Tuesday. The goals in Lisbon came from Nicolas Otámendi (27′), Rafa Silva (40′) and David Neres (42′). The first leg, played in Łódź, Poland, due to the war in Ukraine, was won by Benfica 2-0. The “Adler” got into the qualification in the previous round and easily prevailed 4:1 and 3:1 against the Danish representative FC Midtjylland.

In addition to Benfica, Maccabi Haifa and Viktoria Pilsen can also be seen in the “premier class”. Haifa won the first leg against Red Star Belgrade 3-2, but were 0-2 behind in the second game. Daniel Sundgren (45+5) pulled the ball back before Milan Pavkov’s own goal in the 90th minute secured Israel’s place in the group stage. After Pilsen and Qarabağ FK drew 0-0, the Czechs turned a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 draw in the second leg. Jan Kopic (58th) and Jan Kliment (73rd) scored the goals. The group stage draw is on Thursday (6 p.m.) in Istanbul.

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