UCL: Third Qualifying Round Begins

The third qualifying round for the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League commenced on Tuesday with four games.

This year, this round of qualifying is split into two sections, the Champions Path and Non-Champions Path. The winners of these 15 two-match sets (10 and 5 in the respective sections) would play in the playoff round for berths in the group stage in the Champions League, while the losers will play in the playoff round for group stage play in the Europa League (the ex-UEFA Cup).

The Tuesday contests:

Champions Path:

At Baku Azerbaijan:

The first match between Baki and visiting Levski Sofia ended up as a 0-0 stalemate.

At Aktobe, Kazakhstan:

Maccabi Haifa FC held hosts FC Aktobe to a 0-0 game-one deadlock.

Non-Champions Path:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Sparta Prague took the opening match at home, 3-1, over Panathinaiklos. Jan Holenda (26'), Kamil Vacek (32'), and Lubos Kalouda (86') each tallied once for the hosts.

At Brussels, Belgium:

RSC Anderlecht belted visiting Sivasspor 5-0 at home in the series opener for both clubs. Tom De Sutter scored twice (17'. 56') for the hosts.