AJAX LIVE DANGEROUSLY BUT TADIC PUTS DUTCH THROUGH

Last year’s Champions League

semi-finalists Ajax are through to the play-off

round of this year’s tournament, but they

lived dangerously before beating PAOK Salonica

3-2 at home last night to win the tie 5-4 on aggregate. Diego Biseswar gave the Greeks

the lead on the night midway through the first

half, putting them 3-2 up in the tie, but a second

penalty by Dusan Tadic after he had missed a first

spot-kick just before the break drew Ajax level.

The breakthrough was a long time in coming,

but in the end Nicolas Tagliafico got it for the

Dutch side just over ten minutes from time.

A third penalty by Tadic made

sure of the win, with Biseswar’s own second stoppage coming late into

time. Ajax’s opponents in the round will playoff

be Cypriot club Apoel, who beat Qarabag 2-0 in Azerbaijan to

go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Like Ajax, Porto are former winners

of the competition, but unlike the Dutch club

they failed to get through the third qualifying

round. Taking a 1-0 lead into their home leg against

FK Krasnodar, they lost 3-2 on the night to

Dynamo go out on away goals. Kiev were another famous name

to be eliminated, drawing 3-3 at home

to Club Brugge to go out 4-3 on aggregate. Rosenborg, by contrast, went through in fairly straightforward

fashion, beating Maribor 3-1 at home

– the same result they had managed in

the first leg.

Red Star Belgrade were the beneficiaries

of the evening’s most dramatic conclusion, Copenhagen beating FC 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw

in Denmark had seen the tie end

Dinamo 2-2 on aggregate. Zagreb won 4-0 at Ferencvaros

to go through 5-1. LASK won 3-1 at

home to Basel, having won 2-1 in the first leg in

Switzerland. And Olympiakos are also safely through

after winning 2-0 at home against Istanbul

Basaksehir, whom they had beaten 1-0 in Turkey.