UCL QR3: Bhoys Smothered In Portugal; Rosenborg, Basel Take Series Openers On Road; Convincing Win For Partizan

Nine games were played on Wednesday to start the remaining two-game series in the third qualifying round for the upcoming UEFA Champions League.

Champions Path:

At Aktobe, Kazakhstan:

Samat Smakov, with his successful penalty kick,  scored the only goal of the match at 67 minutes as FK Aktobe took game one of their two-match set at home, 1-0 over Hapoel Tel Aviv.

At Borisov, Belarus:


The opening contest between FC Copenhagen and hosts FC BATE Borisov ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Tiraspol, Moldova:

Alexandr Erokhin's score at 35 minutes salvaged a 1-1 home draw in game one for FC Sheriff with Dinamo Zagreb.  The Croatian club got what might well still be an important goal on the road at 3 minutes from Jorge Sammir.


At Budapest, Hungary:

Valentin Stocker scored the only goal of the match (34') as FC Basel took the opening contest on the road with Debreceni VSC 1-0. 


At Solna, Sweden:

Markus Henriksen delivered the only goal of the match at 33 minutes as Rosenborg took game one of their two-match series with AIK  1-0 on the road.


At Belgrade, Serbia:

Partizan Belgrade are halfway to the playoff round after their 3-0 home beatdown of HJK Helsinki in game one.  Ivica Iliev (8'), Sasa Ilic (42'), and Cleo (90'+2) each scored once for the Serbian champions.


Non-Champions Path:


At Amsterdam, Netherlands:

Vladimir Ivic scored the game-tying goal at 73 minutes, lifting PAOK FC to a 1-1 road draw in game one with Ajax Amsterdam. Luis Suarez scored at 13 minutes for the hosts.


At Bern, Switzerland:

Moreno Costanza's penalty kick at 89 minutes, along with Emiliano Dudar's earlier tally (18') salvaged a 2-2 opening match home draw for BSC Young Boys with Fenerbahce.  The Turkish club, because of away goals, gain the advantage in this two-match set.  Emre Belozoglu ( 5') and Miroslav Stoch (42') scored in the first half for the Yellow Canaries.


At Braga, Portugal:

SC Braga dominated their opening match with Celtic, hammering the visiting runners-up from Scotland 3-0.  Alan (PK-26'), Elderson (76'), and Matheus (88') each tallied once for the hosts.