The major winners and losers as Celtic crash out of the Champions League

Tuesday night saw the Champions League return as teams vied for a place in the play-off rounds.

Celtic were the biggest name to fall at the third-qualifying round as they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by AEK Athens having lost their second leg 2-0 in Greece.

Ajax and Benfica found their way through to the next round, though Swedish side Malmo will now drop down to the Europa League play-offs.

There were also wins for Dynamo Kiev, BATE Borisov, PAOK, Dinamo Zagreb and Red Bull Salzburg.

Here are the winners and losers from Tuesday night’s Champions League ties.

Winner: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

After three years of getting knocked out of the Champions League at the third-qualifying round, Ajax are now just one step away from the group stage.

The Dutch side took a slender away goals lead into their second leg against Standard Liege but did not let themselves hold back.

Taking the lead through Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after half an hour, Ajax put themselves in firm control as Matthijs de Ligt headed in from a corner to double their advantage.

Huntelaar has now scored in 14 separate games in all competitions since returning to Ajax, with the Dutch side winning 13 of them – the only draw coming against Standard Liege last week.

David Neres put the tie beyond any doubt in the second half, with Ajax now facing Dynamo Kiev in the play-off.

The win also extended manager Erik ten Hag’s unbeaten run at the Johan Cruijff Arena to 11 in all competitions since he took over, with nine wins and two draws.

Loser: Brendan Rodgers

What a torrid week it has been for Brendad Rodgers and Celtic.

First, they lose to Hearts in just their second Scottish Premiership game of the season, and now they are out of the Champions League before the group stages.

Celtic went into the game on Tuesday knowing they needed to score to stand a chance at going through after being held by a 10-man AEK Athens last week.

But the Bhoys went behind after just six minutes after Rodrigo Galo reacted quickest to a cross inside the box, despite three Celtic defenders being in the immediate vicinity.

And things got worse for Celtic at the beginning of the second half as Marko Livaja put AEK Athens 2-0 up on the night, making the Scottish side pay for slow defensive starts in each half.

Scott Sinclair did manage to pull one back for Celtic but the Greek side held on to relegate Rodgers’ side to the Europa League play-off.

Winner: MOL Vidi

For the first time in the club’s history, MOL Vidi are now just one round away from the Champions League group stage.

The Hungarian side have reached the third qualifying round of the competition just once before, in 2015/16 when they were knocked out by BATE Borisov after losing the second leg 1-0 at home.

But there was to be no such repeat against Malmo as MOL Vidi held on for a 0-0 draw in the second leg, going through on away goals after earning a 1-1 draw in Sweden.

The Hungarian side had the chance to win the tie outright but Danko Lazovic saw his second-half penalty saved by goalkeeper Johan Dahlin – though the Serbian will likely forget about the miss with his side in the play-offs.

MOL Vidi were formerly known as Videoton due to sponsorship reasons, and once contested the 1984/85 UEFA Cup final, losing 3-1 to Real Madrid over two legs despite winning 1-0 at the Bernabeu.

They will now face AEK Athens in the play-off round.

Loser: Luiz Adriano

Despite going into their second leg tie against PAOK 3-2 down on aggregate, Spartak Moscow would have fancied their chances of reaching the Champions League qualifying play-offs.

The Russian side had the home draw and had managed to score two goals in Greece, meaning just one goal would see them through on the away goals rule.

But 33 minutes into the game in Moscow, Spartak’s job got harder when forward Luiz Adriano was sent off for an off-the-ball incident inside PAOK’s box.

As a result, the Russian side had to face the final 60 minutes of the match trying to score against a team ready to defend for their lives – something they couldn’t do.

If it is any consolation however, Spartak Moscow will now go directly into the Europa League group stages without having to take part in the play-offs due to the new qualification system and their place in the ‘League route’.

Winner: Viktor Tsygankov

Viktor Tsygankov has been linked with a move to Serie A this summer, with both Roma and Napoli both reportedly watching his progress, and the 20-year-old winger did himself no harm on Tuesday night.

The Ukranian has been ever present for Dynamo Kiev this season and set up both of their goals against Slavia Prague to book their place in the Champions League play-offs.

His first assist was a beautifully floated free-kick into the penalty area which was touched in by Benjamin Verbic after the goalkeeper had move to watch the flight of the ball.

The second showed another aspect of his game, as his produced a one-two after running from his own half before playing in a weighted reverse ball into Artem Besiedin.

Loser: Fenerbahce

For the third consecutive time, Fenerbahce have failed to get past the third-qualifying round of the Champions League.

Going into the second-leg on Tuesday night with a slender 1-0 deficit, the Turkish side may have still liked their chances of reaching the play-offs but they needed to prevent Benfica from scoring in they were to stand a chance.

But that is exactly what they didn’t do in Turkey, allowing their opponents to score an away goal through Gedson Fernandes after 26 minutes and take full control of the tie.

An equaliser just before half-time was not enough to push Fenerbahce, however, as they spend the second half chasing two goals which did not come.

The Turkish side will now compete in the Europa League group stages, having bypassed the play-off round.

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