Winners and Losers as Red Star Belgrade make history in Champions League play-offs

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On an intense night across the continent, the last three Champions League group stage places have finally been confirmed.

After weeks of fiercely competitive preliminary action, the group stages for Europe’s premier knockout tournament have been decided, and the draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday.

Red Star Belgrade, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica have all booked their tickets for a place in the draw tomorrow evening and will now pit their wits against the continent’s heavyweights.

So, after a hugely entertaining night of European football, who were the winners and losers from the final Champions League play-off matches?

Winner: PSV wingers

Hirving Lozano became a household name after his explosive exploits during the World Cup in Russia for Mexico, and alongside 20-year-old Dutch winger Steven Bergwijn, PSV boast a pair of devastatingly lethal forces on their flanks.

The duo proved too hot to handle for BATE Borisov’s hapless full-backs, and it took only 14 minutes for Bergwijn to break the deadlock, firing a close-range effort past gloveman Denis Scherbitskiy.

From there, the Belarusian outfit went for broke with the club 4-2 down on aggregate, and PSV’s wingers took full advantage. BATE’s beleaguered defence looked paralysed by fear as the incisive wingers ran at will.

Their intense energy was infectious as they galloped eagerly into enemy territory, and PSV soon found themselves 2-0 up on the night, before Lozano also decided to get involved on the goalscoring action, netting a right-footed effort to put PSV 3-0 up.

Mark van Bommel will be encouraged by his side’s performance as they thwarted a toothless BATE Borisov, but Lozano and Bergwijn will, without question, be in the crosshairs of a number of Europe’s elite, and their stocks will only have increased after their efforts tonight.

Loser: PAOK’s record versus Benfica

Interestingly, Benfica’s record in Greece is not the best, as prior to tonight’s encounter with PAOK, the club had only won three matches across eight outings in the Balkan Peninsula – that record now stretches to four wins from nine.

To make matters worse for Razvan Lucescu’s men, out of those four victories that Benfica have claimed in Greece, three have come at the hands of PAOK: a 2-1 win in 1999, a 1-0 victory in 2014, and of course, tonight’s mauling.

Rui Vitoria’s men were sensational on the night, calling on their old guard to get the job done, with vice-captain Jardel opening the scoring, before an Eduardo Salvio brace and a Pizzi finish secured qualification for the Portuguese club.

As a result, this is now the ninth successive season the Eagles have progressed through to the last 32, though they will be hoping to improve on last season’s debacle having finished bottom of their group without recording a single point.

Winner: PSV’s home record

PSV have now stretched their unbeaten home record to 20 matches across all competitions after tonight’s victory against BATE Borisov; in truth, they were not forced to work too hard for the result, despite being stretched to their limits in the first leg.

The last time Boeren tasted defeat in Eindhoven was during a Europa League qualifier in July 2017 against Croatian outfit Osijek, with the club losing both legs 1-0.

However, there was perhaps a silver lining in that dark cloud and defeat to Osijek may have worked in the club’s favour as PSV went on to clinch the Eredivisie title, losing just three matches across the season – all away from home. Without the distraction of Europe, PSV ran rampant; this season might prove to be too difficult to replicate last term’s success given the intensity of Champions League football.

Saying that, if the club can keep hold of their star assets, in winger Bergwijn and talisman Lozano, after the European transfer window slams shut on Friday, then they could cause a few upsets this campaign.

Winner: Ben Nabouhane

With Red Bull Salzburg two goals to the good and seemingly coasting in this fixture, Ben Nabouhane stepped up and netted two goals within a minute to claw Red Star Belgrade back into the match, putting them in the driving seat on away goals, and ultimately guiding the club to Champions League football for the first time in their history.

In truth, the Comoros international was slightly fortunate to be given the second goal, as the initial header was by Milos Degenek – who thought he had scored the historic goal – but Nabouhane was deemed to get the final touch as the ball was bundled into the back of the net.

The 29-year-old has been prolific since joining the Serbian outfit in January from Olympiacos, scoring 14 goals in just 23 appearances across all competitions, and he has now etched his name into Red Star folklore after scoring the decisive goals that took the club into Champions League football for the first time.

Winners of the European Cup in 1991, Red Star Belgrade will now be looking to take inspiration from the heroes of that famous triumph and secure a place in the pantheon of European greats when they take to the Champions League next month.

Loser: Red Bull Salzburg

It could have, and most definitely should have been an historic night for Red Bull Salzburg, as they would have clinched qualification to the Champions League for the first time since the 1994/95 season – ending a 24 year wait for elite European football – had they seen off Red Star Belgrade.

With the club two goals up in the second half, and given Die Roten Bullen’s formidable European home record, stretching across 12 matches prior to tonight’s fixture, it should have been in the bag.

However, Red Star refused to yield after going two goals down, and the pendulum soon swung in their favour as they threw the kitchen sink at the hosts, scoring two goals in quick succession, and ultimately holding out to make history.

Given Salzburg reached the Europa League semi finals last term, they looked frontrunners to clinch qualification, but in a match that veered between mesmerising and madness, Red Star Belgrade prevailed.

The post Winners and Losers as Red Star Belgrade make history in Champions League play-offs appeared first on Squawka News.



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