Four-time European champions Ajax on Thursday cruised to a 4-1 victory in Bulgaria in UEFA Europa League qualifying, while Aberdeen returned to the scene of their European triumph and fought back for a draw.
For their Europa League playoff round first leg, Aberdeen went to Gothenburg, where they beat Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final in 1983, and salvaged a 2-2 draw as Swedish champions Hacken imploded in the final 15 minutes.
A penalty from Ibrahim Sadiq put the hosts two goals up after 69 minutes. Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski turned his defender and fired home after 75 minutes. The North Macedonian then set up Nicky Devlin, bursting into the penalty area for the rightback’s first Aberdeen goal four minutes later.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hacken’s Johan Hammar earned a second yellow card for blocking Miovski in the 90th minute. Aberdeen then went close twice and a had a strike ruled out for offside in stoppage-time.
Ghana international Mohammed Kudus scored a hat-trick as Ajax won 4-1 away at Ludogorets in Bulgaria. Brian Brobbey hit the other Ajax goal and defender Olivier Verdon scored a late reply for the hosts.
KI Klaksvik, already sure to become the first Faroese club to secure a place in the group stage of a European competition, drew 1-1 with Moldovan side Sheriff in Torshavn.
Danish defender Patrick da Silva gave the hosts a 52nd-minute lead. Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, who plays as a defender for Cameroon, but as a striker for Sheriff, replied in the 73rd minute.
Last season’s surprise quarter-finalists Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium beat Lugano 2-0.
In the Europa Conference League, Manfred Ugalde gave Twente a 20th-minute lead in Istanbul, but Fenerbahce hit back with a 30th-minute goal by former Twente defender Jayden Oosterwolde. The hosts scored four times in the final 30 minutes to win 5-1.
On a good night for Turkish clubs, Kazakhstan international Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov scored five minutes into stoppage-time to give Besiktas a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Bucharest.
Kolo Muani put Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2021-2022 Europa League winners, ahead away to Levski Sofia, but Hassimi Fadiaga leveled in the dying seconds of five minutes of stoppage-time.
In Lille, France, 17-year-old defender Leny Yoro scored in the 89th minute as Lille OSC fought back for a 2-1 victory over HNK Rijeka of Croatia.
CA Osasuna’s European reprieve might prove short-lived as they lost 2-1 at home to Club Brugge.
The team from Pamplona qualified for Europe for the first time since 2006 only to be banned by UEFA for match-fixing allegations dating back to 2013. Their place was restored by the Court for Arbitration in Sport.
Andreas Skov Olsen gave the Belgian side a 50th-minute lead. Ezeqiuel Avila hit a 78th-minute equalizer, only for Maxim de Cuyper to restore Brugge’s lead two minutes later.
AZ, leading the Dutch league, were held 1-1 at home by Norwegian Cup holders SK Brann.
Chile international Niklas Castro gave the visitors a 59th-minute lead. Centerback Pantelis Chatzidiakos replied 12 minutes later.
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
RECORD WINNERS: The Catalan club, who are still in contention for a historic quadruple this season, are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final Barcelona are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final after Ferran Torres secured them a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, progressing 5-4 on aggregate from the semi-final tie. Record 31-time winners Barca had the better of the clash at the Metropolitano after the wild 4-4 first-leg draw. The defeat leaves Diego Simeone’s Atletico with little to play for in the rest of the season. By contrast, the Catalans are on the hunt for a potential quadruple and are unbeaten this year, stretching their run to 21 games without defeat. Atletico were the last team to triumph
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