FK Sutjeska Nikšić (Montenegro) 0-3 FC Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)

(FC Sheriff Tiraspol wins 5-0 on aggregate)

The Moldovan champions entered the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round pairing in a good position after their home win in the first leg. It did not take them long to put the pairing out of reach as Dutch striker Fred Benson scored in the fifth minute to give Sheriff Tiraspol a 1-0 lead in the match and 3-0 on aggregate.

Any glimmer of hope held by Sutjeska and their fans was dashed away in the 10th minute when striker Goran Vujović was sent off for a tough challenge on Sheriff right back Marcel Metoua. The dismissal would limit the Montenegro side to only three shots on target while spending most of the match on defense.

Sheriff captain Henrique Luvannor doubled the lead in the 31st minute after intercepting an errant clearance from Nikola Stijepović and sliding the ball past the goalkeeper. Ismail Isa capped off the scoring in the 54th minute to secure a 3-0 victory on the night and 5-0 victory on aggregate for the three-time defending Divizia Naţională champions.

This was the second consecutive year that these two clubs met in this round of the UEFA Champions League; Sheriff won that pairing 6-1 on aggregate. Sutjeska will now continue with their pre-season as they prepare for their Montenegrin First League opener on August 9th against FK Rudar Pljevlja.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Tiraspol will open their Divizia Naţională campaign with a derby match against FC Tiraspol on Friday at the Sheriff Stadium before beginning their Third Qualifying Round pairing on the road next Tuesday or Wednesday.


FC Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) 1-1 AC Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)

(AC Sparta Prague wins 8-1 on aggregate)

The situation for AC Sparta Prague was exactly what they would have liked going into the second leg of their Second Qualifying Round pairing with FC Levadia Tallinn. Sparta Prague entered the match with a 7-0 lead on aggregate and that fact was very evident by the starting eleven for manager Vítězslav Lavička who made eight changes.

Despite being essentially eliminated from the competition before kickoff, Levadia Tallinn came out with pressure against the Czech champions testing former Yeovil Town goalkeeper Marek Štěch on numerous occasions. Sparta Prague continued to absorb the pressure during the first half but eventually made Tallinn pay for their commitment to attacking.

The counter-attack started from Tiémoko Konaté who burst down the wing with pace. He lifted in a cross into the area which found its way to Lukáš Mareček who did not miss his header from close range in the 38th minute.

FC Levadia Tallinn would not send their fans home disappointed though as Captain Ingemar Teever's diving header leveled the scoreline in the 68th minute off of a beautiful corner kick from Artjom Artjunin. The Estonian champions will return to league play on Friday when they host fourth-placed FC Infonet; they are in a tight top-three battle with FC Flora Tallinn and Nõmme Kalju FC with still a half-season to play.

AC Sparta Prague opens their Czech First League title defense on Friday away at Bohemians 1905, who barely survived relegation when Sigma Olomouc was not able to beat Slovan Liberec on the last day of the season. They will then host the winners of the Malmo FF/Ventspils pairing next Tuesday or Wednesday.


F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) 1-1 PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)

(PFC Ludogorets Razgrad wins 5-1 on aggregate)

The three-times defending champions from Bulgaria were happy yet disappointed when the full-time whistle was blown at the Stade Jos Nosbaum on Tuesday night. They had come within nine minutes of another win and clean sheet in European competitions; instead they had to settle for a draw in their UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round second leg match at F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg.

Ludogorets came into the match with an impressive 4-0 aggregate lead which was extended to 5-0 just after the start of the second period when Roman Bezjak made the Luxembourg champions pay after a defensive mistake. He calmly slotted his shot past Jonathan Joubert from the top of the box.

21-year-old David Turpel would be the man to bring the scoreline level with nine minutes reaming when he beat Bulgaria's backup keeper Vladislav Stoyanov. That was the first goal that Dudelange had scored in a European club competition since their 2012-2013 Europa League Playoff Round pairing with Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

FC Dudelange now turns their attention to the start of the Luxembourg National Division campaign, which begins on August 3rd with a match at home to FC Wiltz 71.

Ludogorets will be looking to bounce back from a 1-0 shock defeat to newly-promoted side FC Haskovo start their Bulgarian A League campaign. They will have another tricky road match-up with PFC Cherno More Varna before hosting the first leg of their Third Qualifying Round pairing next Tuesday or Wednesday.


Qarabağ FK (Azerbaijan) 4-0 Valletta FC (Malta)

(Qarabağ FK wins 5-0 on aggregate)

The champions from Azerbaijan took care of business on Tuesday night at the National Stadium in Baku with goals from four different players to lead them to a 4-0 win on the night and 5-0 win on aggregate over nine-man Valletta FC. The start was not promising for Valletta, who knew they were in for a very difficult match against a club who had barely missed the Europa League group stage in four of the last five seasons.

They held their defensive shape solidly for the first 15 minutes but Brazilian striker Reynaldo scored his 25th career goal with the Azerbaijan club to give Qarabağ the lead. That goal lifted Reynaldo into a tie with Vagif Javadov for 5th all-time in club history in terms of goal scoring.

Valletta was dealt a fatal blow just four minutes after the goal as center-back Jonathan Caruana was sent off for a tackle on the goal-scorer Reynaldo. The champions from Malta looked to break pressure but seemed to be offside on almost every attacking chance in the first half.

Qarabağ would put the pairing out of reach just three minutes into the second half with a goal from Chumbinho. They would add insurance goals from Danilo Dias and Leroy George to seal the victory.

The Azerbaijan side will move on to face Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in the Third Qualifying Round as they look to continue the good progress in their debut Champions League campaign but that will not be easy against the Austrians who have a rich history in European competitions. The first leg will be held in Baku early next week.


Maccabi Tel Aviv FC (Israel) 2-0 FC Santa Coloma (Andorra)

(Maccabi Tel Aviv wins 3-0 on aggregate)

The match was played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca, Cyprus due to the current military situation taking place in the Middle East. That change of venue did not disrupt the Israeli side who won this UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round pairing.

It took over an hour for Maccabi Tel Aviv to finally break through on an unlucky penalty call against the visitors. An innocent looking defensive play which was called a hand-ball on Albert Mercadé resulting in a yellow card to the Spanish left-back. Eran Zahavi stepped up and finished the penalty by goalkeeper Eloy Casals to give Maccabi Tel Aviv the lead 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate.

FC Santa Coloma was given a lifeline in the 78th minute when Maccabi substitute Barak Badash was given a straight red card. The Andorran side were starting to some momentum go their way in the subsequent minutes until Mercadé received his second yellow card leveling the playing field at ten men apiece.

Maccabi Tel Aviv would get the last laugh in the final minute of regular time when 24-year-old winger Tal Ben Haim took a pass from Maharan Radi before going around the charging Casals to double the lead. They advance to face off with the winner of the Zrinjski Mostar/Maribor pairing which is currently tied 0-0 going into the second leg on Wednesday.


The New Saints FC (Wales) 0-2 ŠK Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)

(ŠK Slovan Bratislava wins 3-0 on aggregate)

The New Saints FC has one of the best track records when it comes to qualifying for international competition; the Welsh club has appeared in Europe (Champions League, Europa League or UEFA Cup) in all of the last 15 seasons. Unfortunately for them, they have only won two of their pairings in all of those competitions; a 2010-11 Champions League Second Qualifying Round series win over Bohemians of Ireland and a 2011-12 Europa League First Qualifying Round series win over Cliftonville of Northern Ireland.

Their streak of appearances continued as well as their streak of losses as ŠK Slovan Bratislava defeated The New Saints FC 2-0 at the Corbett Sports Stadium in Rhyl. Midfielder Marko Milinković accounted for both goals for the visitors in the final 16 minutes of play.

The Welsh side looked the stronger of the two sides at the beginning of the match but were very unlucky when Greg Draper's close-range effort was barely saved by goalkeeper Dušan Perniš. Striker Michael Wilde had the other close chance for The New Saints in the first half but he could not keep his strike on target.

ŠK Slovan Bratislava has already kicked off their 2014-15 Slovak First League campaign and they will continue with a league match away to Spartak Trnava on Saturday before hosting the first leg of their Third Qualifying Round pairing with Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol.

The New Saints will face off with English side Middlesbrough in a friendly on August 2nd before kicking off the defense of their Welsh Premier League title on August 22nd at home to Bangor City.


KF Skënderbeu Korçë (Albania) 1-1 FC BATE Borisov (Belarus)

(Aggregate Tied at 1-1; FC BATE Borisov wins on away goals rule)

Everything was still up for grabs on Tuesday night in Korçë when the champions of Albania and Belarus met to advance one step closer to the prestigious group stages of the UEFA Champions League; the two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Belarus last week.

It would be the visitors FC BATE Borisov who would strike first against the run of the play as Anri Khagush beat Skënderbeu keeper Orges Shehi to give the Belarusians a critical away goal. For those who are new to European football rules, the away goals rule is the first tie-breaker in international competitions over two-legged ties. Essentially it means that away goals count for double in end so in this case BATE Borisov (the away team) had scored meaning that Skënderbeu Korçë (the home team) would need to score twice in order to win the series.

Skënderbeu could not find the target in the aftermath of the BATE Borisov goal; they only hit the target twice in the next 35 minutes. All of their luck changed in the 67th minute after Illya Aleksiyevich was whistled for a foul in a dangerous shooting position. Defender Marko Radaš came forward to take the costless kick which he placed in the perfect position to beat Syarhey Chernik thus leveling the match and the series.

The final scoring chance came in the 88th minute when Skënderbeu forward Andi Ribaji's effort hit the post before being cleared to safety by a nearby defender. The referee's final whistle came a few minutes later sending FC BATE Borisov to the third qualifying round and one step closer to their fourth UEFA Champions League Group Stage appearance since 2008-2009.


Havnar Bóltfelag (Faroe Islands) 1-3 FK Partizan (Serbia)

(FK Partizan wins 6-1 on aggregate)

The dream run of Havnar Bóltfelag in the UEFA Champions League in the 2014-2015 campaign came to an expected end on Tuesday at the hands of Serbian giants FK Partizan. HB entered this series on a high as a club after winning their first series ever in the First Qualifying Round (a 6-3 series win over debutant Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar). That win was the first win in a series for the club from the Faroes since they defeated RAF Jelgava of Latvia in the Preliminary Round of the 1993-94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; a win that was awarded due to the Latvian side withdrawing from the competition.

The minnows from the Faroe Islands already had the deck stacked against them coming into the match down 3-0 on aggregate with no away goals to their total. They were the recipient of a shock goal against the run of play from substitute Bartal Wardum; he scored after a stop and go five minute stretch in which there were as many costless-kicks as there were minutes.

A fire had been lit underneath the home team but they were not able to capitalize on the momentum as Partizan would close out the half with the best chances.

The series would be put away for good just four minutes after halftime when 19-year-old wunderkind Nikola Ninković leveled the scoreline. Partizan would add two more insurance goals as HB pressed forward with numbers in an effort to put more goals on the board. Danko Lazović and Petar Grbić added the final two tallies to finish the match 3-1 on the night and 6-1 in the series.


VMFD Žalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania) 0-2 GNK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

(GNK Dinamo Zagreb wins 4-0 on aggregate)

Dinamo Zagreb took advantage of a key four-minute stretch in the beginning of the second half to take control of their match with Žalgiris Vilnius on Tuesday. They were already up 2-0 in the series after the first leg victory last week but it was halftime substitute and Algerian international El Arabi Hillel Soudani who scored less than a minute after entering the match. Soudani made three appearances for Algeria in the recent 2014 FIFA World Cup.

His goal was followed up by a thundering header from Croatian international Josip Šimunić in the 49th minute to put the series to bed. Dinamo Zagreb moves on to Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League for the eighth consecutive season where they will square off with Aalborg BK from the Danish Superliga.

Žalgiris Vilnius returns to Lithuanian A Lyga play next Monday when they host third-place FK Sūduva Marijampolė in a key match at this point in the season. Žalgiris Vilnius currently holds a nine-point lead over third-place which is the final automatic European qualifying spot; a win would put them in a good spot to guarantee more international football for their fans next summer.


Debreceni VSC (Hungary) 2-0 Cliftonville FC (Northern Ireland)

(Debreceni VSC wins 2-0 on aggregate)

The winless streak for clubs from Northern Ireland in the UEFA Champions League was extended to 31 matches at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, Hungary where Debreceni VSC defeated Cliftonville FC 2-0 to advance into the Third Qualifying Round starting next week. They will host the first leg of their series with BATE Borisov on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Debreceni was the better of the two team for the entire ninety as they made 22 total attempts at goal compared to the five from Cliftonville but the lads from Northern Ireland kept a tight defensive shape. All of that hard work was compromised in the 54th minute when center-back Jamie McGovern was sent off for a vicious tackle on Dalibor Volaš. Midfielder Rene Mihelič stepped up and scored off of the ensuing costless kick to give the Hungarians the lead.

They continued to blitz the Cliftonville goal in search of that insurance goal which would come with 11 minutes to play as Ibrahima Sidibe put the game and series out of reach.

To find the last win from a Northern Ireland club in the Champions League, you have to go all the way back to July 19, 2000 where Linfield FC defeated FC Haka 2-1 at Windsor Park in Belfast. They picked up two goals from current Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson in route to the victory.

The only drawback to that match was that it was the second leg after Haka won the first in Finland 1-0 meaning that the 88th minute penalty goal scored by Péter Kovács would prove to be the away goal needed for FC Haka. Ironically, Kovács is still playing football in Norway for Strømsgodset IF, who has their second leg match with FC Steaua București on Wednesday.


Celtic FC (Scotland) 4-0 KR Reykjavík (Iceland)

(Celtic FC wins 5-0 on aggregate)

KR Reykjavik put up a valiant effort in the first leg of this series last week only allowing one goal from 19 total attempts on net for Celtic FC. As the second leg started the famed BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Tuesday, KR knew that a similar effort could result in a monumental upset for the nation that nearly made the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Unfortunately that dream did not come to pass as the Scottish giants scored three goals in the first 27 minutes of the match to run away with the series. Defender Virgil van Dijk scored the first two goals in the 13th and 20th minute off of corner kicks from midfielder Kris Commons. The last two tallies were scored by Finland international Teemu Pukki, his eighth and ninth goals for the club since transferring over from German side FC Schalke 04.

Celtic FC moves on to the Third Qualifying Round where they will travel for the first leg to the winner of the Legia Warsaw/St. Patrick's Athletic series.

KR Reykjavik returns to the Iceland Úrvalsdeild where they sit in third-place just six points off the pace of FH Hafnarfjarðar with ten matches remaining. They have a big set of matches in the next week starting with a league match on Sunday at home to 8th place Breiðablik UBK. Just four days later they will take part in their seventh consecutive appearance in the Icelandic Cup semi-finals; where they will play away to ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar.


UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round Schedule for Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan) vs. FC Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), 11:00 A.M ET

Aktobe Central Stadium (FC Aktobe leads 1-0 on aggregate)


FK Ventspils (Latvia) vs. Malmö FF (Sweden), 12:00 P.M. ET

Ventspils Stadions (Series Tied 0-0)


HJK Helsinki (Finland) vs. FK Rabotnički (Macedonia), 12:00 P.M. ET

Sonera Stadium (Series Tied 0-0)


FC Steaua București (Romania) vs. Strømsgodset IF (Norway), 1:30 P.M. ET

Arena Națională (FC Steaua București leads 1-0 on aggregate)


NK Maribor (Slovenia) vs. HŠK Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina), 2:00 P.M. ET

Ljudski vrt (Series Tied 0-0)


St Patrick's Athletic F.C. (Republic of Ireland) vs. Legia Warsaw (Poland), 2:45 P.M. ET

Tallaght Stadium (Series Tied 1-1)

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About the author
Matthew Evans
Matthew is an American sports journalist based out of Kennewick, Washington. He is a Managing Editor for VAVEL USA as well as Co-editor of the soccer section.