NEC Nijmegen continues its magical journey, Anan Khalaili's team eliminated

Parallel to Hapoel Be'er Sheva's convincing victory in Belgrade, several other interesting results were recorded this Tuesday in the Champions League qualifiers. The surprise came from the Netherlands, where NEC Nijmegen beat Olympiacos 2:1 after extra time (0:0 in the first leg) to advance to the playoff round in their debut season. Captain Tjaronn Chery played the full 120 minutes of the dramatic match. Moroccan Ayoub El Kaabi gave Olympiacos the lead in the 46th minute, but Dusan Tadic assisted Brian Linssen for the equalizer in the 70th minute. Following the dismissal of Greek Kostas Fortounis in the 80th minute, Turkish substitute Emre Mor decided the match in the 95th minute.

NEC Nijmegen plays in the league path, and their next opponent will be Bodo/Glimt. The Norwegian vice-champion, which salvaged a 3:3 draw in stoppage time in Belgium last week, eliminated Union Saint-Gilloise with a 2:3 victory in the second leg. The team of Anan Khalaili, who was absent from the squad due to his expected move to Crystal Palace, managed to equalize to 2:2 with a goal by Mohammed Fuseini in the 88th minute, forcing extra time. However, substitute Andreas Helmersen secured the coveted spot for Bodo/Glimt with a winning goal in the 117th minute.

On the same path, Fenerbahce won 0:1 in Austria against Sturm Graz with a penalty by Talisca (66), completing a comfortable 0:3 aggregate score. They will meet Lyon in the playoff round, which defeated Sparta Prague 3:0 after a 2:1 loss in the Czech Republic. Ernest Nuamah (20), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (66), and Tyler Morton (73) scored for Lyon, while visiting player Adam Sevcinsky was sent off (34).

Other results:

Kairat Almaty - Levski Sofia 0:1 (0:2 on aggregate)

Zalgiris - Dinamo Zagreb 1:2 (1:7 on aggregate)

Slovan Bratislava - Mjallby 0:2 (1:4 on aggregate)

Celje - Ararat-Armenia 0:2 (2:3 on aggregate)