Wednesday 28 August 2013

Steaua do enough, home joy in Vienna

Elsewhere, 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest returned to the group stage for the first time since the 2008/09 season after sneaking past Legia Warsaw on away goals. After the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, early goals from Nicolae Stanciu and Federico Piovaccari effectively ended the tie as a contest. Legia came back to draw 2-2 on the night, but the 3-3 aggregate saw Steaua progress.

Swiss champions Basel enjoyed smoother progress, beating Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad 2-0 for a 6-2 aggregate success. Fabian Frei and Philipp Degen got the goals for last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finalists.

Meanwhile, Austria Vienna became the first club from the country to reach the group stage since Rapid Vienna in 2005 with a 4-3 aggregate victory against Dinamo Zagreb. Leading 2-0 from the first leg, the Austrians took an early lead on the night only for the Croats to score three, leaving them in the driving seat. However, a late Roman Kienast goal clinched the hosts' progress.

The remaining play-off ties will be played on Wednesday, including AC Milan against PSV Eindhoven, Real Sociedad against Lyon, and Celtic against Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan, with the Scots looking to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit.

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