Paris (AFP)
FC Porto and especially Rosenborg made a good move by winning respectively Krasnodar 1-0 and Maribor 3-1, in the third round of the preliminary round of the Champions League on Wednesday, Celtic Glasgow only bringing back 1-1 draw from Cluj.
On the other hand, Basel, who beat PSV Eindhoven in the previous round, was beaten at home by Austria's Linz 2-1.
Tuesday, Ajax Amsterdam, semi-finalist of the last Champions League, brought a good 2 to 2 of Thessaloniki while the Red Star Belgrade, crowned in 1991, could not do better than 1-1 face in Copenhagen.
The ten survivors of the third round (return Tuesday 13) will still have to go through the play-offs (go: 20/21 August, return: 27/28 August) where they will be joined by the Swiss Young Boys Bern and the Czechs from Slavia Prague.
The six winners will enter the group stage, where big teams like Real Madrid, Barça, Liverpool (defending champion) and PSG are waiting for them.
The draw for this group stage will take place on August 29 in Monaco. It will start on 17/18 September.
The final is scheduled for May 30 in Istanbul.
Results of the 3rd preliminary round to go:
Tuesday:
PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE) - Ajax Amsterdam (NED) 2-2
APOEL Nicosia (CYP) - Qarabag (AZE) 1-2
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) - Ferencvaros (HUN) 1-1
Bruges (BEL) - Dynamo Kiev (UKR) 1-0
Belgrade Red Star (SRB) - Copenhagen (DEN) 1-1
Wednesday:
Krasnodar (RUS) - Porto FC (POR) 0-1
Basaksehir (TUR) - Olympiakos (GRE) 0-1
Basel FC (SUI) - Linz ASK (AUT) 1-2
Cluj (ROM) - Celtic Glasgow (SCO) 1-1
NK Maribor (SLO) - Rosenborg (NOR) 1-3
© 2019 AFP