Benfica took a big stride towards qualifying for the Champions League group stage Wednesday by defeating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Poland in the first leg of their play-off tie. Gilberto and Goncalo Ramos scored first-half goals for twice former European champions Benfica in the Polish city of Lodz, where Dynamo are in exile following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Red Star Belgrade, the 1991 European Cup winners, lost 3-2 away to Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa, who are hoping to reach the group stage for the third time after 2002-03 and 2009-10. Haitian forward Frantzdy Pierrot struck twice for Maccabi as the hosts opened the scoring but then fell behind as Red Star replied with goals from Aleksandar Pesic and Guelor Kanga. Pierrot equalised shortly after half-time and Tjaronn Chery grabbed the winner on the hour to give Maccabi a narrow advantage heading into next week’s return leg in Serbia. Qarabag drew 0-0 with Czech champions Viktoria Plzen in Baku.PSV nearly escaped defeat in Scotland after a huge goalie blunderOn Tuesday, Glasgow Rangers and PSV Eindhoven, the most famous of all the clubs in the last round of the Champions League played a 2-2 draw. FC Copenhagen held off a fightback from visiting Trabzonspor to win their first leg 2-1. Viktor Claesson gave the home team a first half lead. Lukas Lerager added a second three minutes after half time, smashing the ball in from close range after a corner. The Turkish champions responded by penning the Danes back, but struggled to break through. Their only goal was a 25-yard shot from Tasos Bakasetas that took a deflection off centre back David Khocholava with 11 minutes left. In Norway, hosts Bodo/Glimt edged Dinamo Zagreb 1-0. Norwegian veteran Amahl Pellegrino headed in the only goal in the 37th minute© Agence France-Presse