Europa League Playoff Round Opens

The playoff round for Europa League group-stage berths opened on Thursday with 21 games.

CHAMPIONS PATH:

At Ljubljana, Slovenia:

Marek Bakos (PK-23') and Branko Ilic (OG-35') each scored once as Spartak Trnava blanked Olipija Ljubljana 2-0 on the road in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

Wanderson de Jesus Martins, also known as Caju, scored the only goal of the match in the 79th minute as APOEL FC took game one at home, 1-0 over Astana.

At Trondheim, Norway:

Nicklas Bendtner scored the winning goal in the 15th minute as Rosenborg took their series opener, 3-1 over visiting Shkendija.

At Luxembourg City:

David Turpel (67') and Danel Sinani (80') each scored once as F91 Dudelange blanked visiting CFR Cluj 2-0 in their series opener.

At Marijampole, Lithuania:

Ovidijus Verbickas' equalizer in the 13th minute enabled FK Suduva Marijampole to salvage a series-opening 1-1 home draw with Celtic.

Oliver Ntcham scored for the Bhoys in the third minute.

At Tiraspol, Moldova:

Rifet Kapic's goal in the eighth minute lifted FC Sheriff to a series-opening 1-0 victory over visiting Qarabag.

At Malmo, Sweden:

Gustav Wikheim (60') and Ayo Okosun (77') each scored a second-half goal as FC Midtjylland erased a two-goal deficit to gain a series-opening 2-2 road draw with Malmo FF.

Markus Rosenberg (12') and Carl Marcus Antonsson (25') each scored once in the first half-hour for the hosts.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

Wanderson's goal in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time carried Ludogorets Razgrad to a series-opening 1-0 road win over Torpedo Kutaisi.



MAIN PATH:

At Olomouc, Czech Republic:

Pablo Sarabia's goal in the 84th minute carried Sevilla to a series-opening 1-0 road win over Sigma Olomouc.

At Sarpsborg, Norway:

Matti Lund Nielsen's successful penalty kick in the seventh minute produced the winning goal as Sarpsborg 08 defeated visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 in their series opener.

At Ghent, Belgium:

KAA Gent and visiting Bordeaux battled to a series-opening 0-0 stalemate.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Tolgay Arslan's equalizer in the 15th minute carried Besiktas to a series-opening 1-1 road draw with Partizan Belgrade.

Ricardo Gomes scored for the hosts in the 14th minute.

At Vienna, Austria:

Mario Sonnleitner scored the winning goal in the 40th minute as Rapid Vienna defeated visiting Steaua Bucharest 3-1 in the series-opening contest.

At Basel, Switzerland:

Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored twice (6', 69') and Eray Comert once (84') as FC Basel defeated visiting Apollon Limassol 3-2 in the opening game of their two-match series.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Connor Goldson's goal in the 41st minute carried Rangers to a series-opening 1-0 home win over Ufa.

At Reggio Emilia, Italy:

The opening contest between Atalanta and visiting FC Copenhagen was played to a 0-0 deadlock.

At Saint Petersburg, Russia:

Anton Zabolotny scored the game winner at 80 minutes as Zenit Saint Petersburg defeated visiting Molde 3-1 in their series opener.

At Zilina, Slovakia:

Acoran Barrera Reyes' equalizer in the 60th minute carried AEK Larnaca to a series-opening 1-1 road draw with Trencin.

Joey Sleegers scored in the 55th minute for the Slovakian club.

At Genk, Belgium:

Mbwana Samatta produced a hat trick (37', 55', 70') while Leandro Trossard added a double (PK-45'+1, 90'+1) as KRC Genk dominated visiting Brondby 5-2 in their series opener.

At Piraeus, Greece:

Konstantinos Fortounis scored twice (19', PK-60') as Olympiacos defeated visiting Burnley 3-1 in game one.

At Zaporizhia, Ukraine (due to continuing warlike conditions in eastern Ukraine):

Zorya Luhansk and visiting RB Leipzig battled to a series-opening 0-0 draw.