Qualifying for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League concluded on Wednesday:
At Borisov, Belarus:
A 1-1 home draw in game two against Bulgaria's Levski Sofia enabled FC BATE Borisov to win their two-match set 2-1 on aggregate and become the first club from Belarus ever to qualify for the UEFA Champions League's group stage. Sergei Sosnovski scored what would be the series-clinching goal for BATE at 14 minutes.
At Kiev, Ukraine:
Dynamo Kiev delivered a second 4-1 pasting of Spartak Moscow for the second time in as many meetings in their two-match set, the second game at home, to wrap up their two-game series 8-2 on aggregate and return to the group stage. Artem Milevskiy doubled for the club from the Ukrainian capital while Olexandr Aliyev and Ismael Bangoura each contributed a tally to the Dynamo cause.
At Kaunas, Lithuania:
Denmark's Aalborg BK advanced to the group stage as they delivered a second 2-0 victory over homestanding FBK Kaunas in game two, enabling AaB to win their two-game set 4-0 on aggregate. Kasper Risgard scored both goals for the reigning Danish champions.
At London:
Arsenal delivered a 4-0 frontier-styled fistbeating on FC Twente in game two before the home fans as the Gunners finished off the Dutch club 6-0 on aggregate. In the second match, the Gunners were powered by goals courtesy of Samir Nasri, William Gallas, Theo Walcott, and Nicklas Bendtner.
At Istanbul, Turkey:
Fenerbahce advanced to the group stage with their 2-1 home win over Serbia's Partizan Belgrade as they won their two-match set 4-3 on aggregate. Semih Senturk and Alex provided the decisive goals for the Yellow Canaries.
At Liverpool, England:
Dirk Kuyt scored the only goal of both the game and series in the 28th minute of overtime as Liverpool took game two of their series with Belgian club Standard de Liege 1-0 and the two-game set 1-0 on aggregate.
At Zagreb, Croatia:
Luiz Adriano (42'), Brandao (59'), and Willian (70') each delivered a goal as Sao Paulo-----errr----Shakhtar Donetsk punched their ticket for their return to the group stage with their 3-1 road win in game two, enabling the Ukranian club to win their two-match set with Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 on aggregate.
At Marseille, France:
Mamadou Diang's second-half double (65',90') provided the goalpower for Marseille as they defeated visiting SK Brann of Norway in game two 2-1 and took their two-match series 3-1 on aggregate. This will mark OM's first appearance in back-to-back UEFA Champions League group stage campaings.
At Madrid:
Atletico Madrid overturned their game one 1-0 road defeat big time as they throttled visiting FC Schalke 04 4-0 in game two at home to take their two-match set 4-1 on aggregate. Sergio Aguero (22'), Diego Forlan (54'), Luis Garcia (82'), and Maxi Rodriguez (PK-86') provided the scoring punch for Atletico.
At Basel, Switzerland:
Goals from Valentin Stocker (11') and Eren Derdiyok (54') lifted FC Basel to a 2-1 home win in game two to take their two-match set with Portugal's Vitoria SC Guimaraes 2-1 on aggregate.
At Prague, Czech Republic:
A 0-0 deadlock on the road in game two sealed Fiorentina's berth in the group stage as the Italian club took their two-match set with Slavia Prague 2-0 on aggregate.
At Athens, Greece:
Despite dropping game two 1-0 on the road, Anothosis Famagusta FC became the first Cypriot club to advance to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League as they defeated Olympiacos 3-1 on aggregate.
At Bucharest, Romania:
With their 1-0 home win in game two, Steaua Bucharest advanced to the group stage by winning their two-match set with Turkish club Galatasaray on aggregate 3-2. Banel Nicolita scored the game's only tally at 57 minutes.
All the teams that lost their two-match series still qualify for the first round proper of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.
The drawing for the Champions League's group stage will take place on Thursday.
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