Among the big names, Besiktas and Lilla are also smiling, while AZ Alkmaar is also at risk. Everything will be decided in a week
Roma triumphed for the first time. Last year West Ham won, beating Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina in the final. In exactly one week, the names of the 32 teams that will participate in the group stage of the third edition of the Conference League will be known. Today, between 4 and 8.45 pm, twenty teams took to the field for the first leg of the competition’s playoffs. Among the big names, Fenerbahçe, Besiktas and Lille smile – respectively victorious against Twente, Dinamo Kiev and Rijeka –, while Eintracht and AZ are at risk (1-1 with Levski Sofia and SK Brann) and Fiorentina, defeated 1-0 from Rapid Wien. However, there are still ninety minutes available to try to overturn the result in the return matches (Thursday 31 August).
GOLEADE
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In the first round of the playoff challenges, the excellent condition of Aston Villa, Ferencvaros, Nordsjaelland, Fenerbahçe and Maccabi Tel Aviv stands out. The English, awaiting new signing Zaniolo, won 5-0 at Hibernian, led by center forward Ollie Watkins, who scored a hat-trick. The Villains’ fixture was scheduled for Wednesday evening, as was Dnipro’s 1-1 draw at Spartak Trnava. After a market session full of spins – among others, Fred, Tadic, Dzeko and Cengiz Under also moved to Istanbul -, Fenerbahçe gives a handful (5-1 the final result) to the Dutch side of Twente. Kahveci is exalted with a brace as substitute, Dzeko – on the bench to make room for Batshuayi – only plays the last twenty minutes. Poker for Ferencvaros at Vilnius, five goals for Nordsjaelland against a bewildered Partizan Belgrade. For former Palermo Zahavi’s Maccabi (36 years old, hat-trick for him) everything was simple against Slovenian side Celje, defeated 4-1.
LILAC, EINTRACHT AND AZ
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Like Fiorentina, who next weekend will try to make up for the 1-0 draw against the Franchi in Vienna, Eintracht is also returning home with a bitter taste. The transfer market rumors that associate him with PSG didn’t distract striker Kolo Muani, who unlocked the game in the 6th minute. The Frenchman’s goal seemed destined to decide the match for a long time, but in the 95th minute the Bulgarians equalized with the newcomer Fadiaga, who had been on the pitch for eight minutes. Marco Pasalic’s goal was not enough for Rijeka, however, who were forced to surrender against Lille: Paulo Fonseca’s team first equalized through Zhegrova and then, in the 89th minute, completed the turnaround through Yoro. Bruges also did well, winning 2-1 at Osasuna, led by former Bologna player Skov Olsen. Finally, only one draw for AZ Alkmaar, who obtained a 1-1 draw against Norwegian side SK Brann.
Here are the results of all matches:
SPARTAK TRNAVA-DNIPRO 1-1 (55′ Ofori, 67′ Pikhalyonok on penalty pen)
HIBERNIAN-ASTON VILLA 0-5 (17′, 33′, 48′ Watkins, 42′ Bailey, 74′ Luiz from pen.)
ASTANA-PARTIZAN TIRANA 1-0 (41′ Loncar)
TOBOL KOSTANAY 1-2 VIKTORIA PLZEN (72′ Lopes Cruz, 89′ Kalvach, 98′ Deble on penalty pen)
STRUGA 0-1 BREIDABLIK KOPAVOGUR (35′ Gunnlaugsson)
VILNIUS-FERENCVAROS 0-4 (17′, 83′ Traore, 65′ Varga on penalty, 75′ Pesic)
NORDSJAELLAND-PARTIZAN BELGRADE 5-0 ( (11′ Frese, 43′, 68′ Ingvartsen on pen, 73′ Villadsen, 87′ auto. Ilic)
FARUL COSTANZA 2-1 HJK HELSINKI (50′ Toivio, 58′ Rivaldinho, 82′ Popescu)
LEVSKI SOFIA 1-1 EINTRACHT (6′ Kolo Muani, 95′ Fadiaga)
ACS SEPSI-BODO GLIMT 2-2 (19′ Moumbagna, 47′ Alimi on pen, 69′ Berg, 81′ Matei on pen)
FENERBAHÇE-TWENTE 5-1 (20′ Ugalde, 32′ Oosterwolde, 60′ Szymanski, 62′, 74′ Kahveci, 93′ Tadic on penalty)
DYNAMO KIEV-BESIKTAS 2-3 (Aboubakar 40′ on pen, Shaparenko 60′, Colley 63′, Voloshyn 65′, Zaynutdinov 94′)
RAPID VIENNA 1-0 FIORENTINA (35′ Grull on pen)
MACCABI TEL AVIV 4-1 CELJE (22′, 51′, 72′ Zahavi, 29′ Bajde, 91′ Turgeman)
GENT 2-0 APOEL (Fofana 77′, Hong 92′)
MIDTJYLLAND 3-3 LEGIA WARSAW (16′ Juninho, 26′ Gual, 34′, 71′ Franculino, 64′ Slisz, 86′ Kramer)
LILAC 2-1 HNK RIJEKA (24′ Pasalic, 43′ Zhegrova, 89′ Yoro)
GENK 2-1 ADANA DEMIRSPOR (47′ Akbaba, 77′ Arokodare, 94′ Munoz)
OSASUNA 1-2 BRUGES (50′ Skov Olsen, 78′ Avila, 80′ De Cuyper)
BALLKANI-BATE BORISOV 4-1 (10′ Laptev, 31′ Jashanica, 57′, 66′ Tolaj, 89′ Thaqi)
AZ ALKMAAR 1-1 SK BRANN (59′ Nygard Castro, 71′ Hatzidiakos)
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN-PAOK 1-2 (9′ Shankland from penalty, 12′ Schwab, 75′ Zivkovic)
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