Hanging in Scotland in the first leg (2-2), Rangers, finalists of the last Europa League, won at PSV Eindhoven 1-0 and returned to C1 twelve years after their last participation, a rebirth after experiencing a judicial liquidation and a demotion to the fourth division in 2012.
Monaco fellers in the third preliminary round, the Dutch PSV gave in on a goal from Croatian striker Antonio Colak (60th), already a scorer in the first confrontation.
The duel between the Turkish champion, Trabzonspor, and that of Denmark, Copenhagen, turned to the advantage of the Scandinavian club.
Winners 2-1 at home in the first leg, the Danes went 0-0 in eastern Turkey. More accustomed to the Europa League or even the Europa League Conference last season, Copenhagen has moved up to C1 this time.
Dinamo Zagreb meanwhile put an end to the dreams of the Norwegians Bodo/Glimt’s first Champions League appearance. Victorious in the first leg 1-0, the club from northern Norway lost in the Croatian capital after extra time (4-1 a.p.)
Mislav Orsic opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a left shot under the bar. Bruno Petkovic doubled the lead with a superb acrobatic control-return sequence in the 35th minute. Albert Gronbaek, scorer in the 70th minute, sent his team into overtime, but the Norwegians cracked, conceding goals from Josip Drmic (117th) and Petar Bockaj (120th).
Rangers, Copenhagen and Dinamo accompany Benfica Lisbon, Maccabi Haifa and Viktoria Plzen who won their ticket to the queen competition of European football on Tuesday.
The losers of the play-offs will be donated to the Europa League.
The draw for the Champions League group stage takes place on Thursday in Istanbul (6:00 p.m.).
Champions League play-off second leg results:
Wednesday
( ) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 4-1 a.p (all: 0-1)
Trabzonspor (TUR) – ( ) Copenhagen (DEN) 0-0 (allergy: 1-2)
PSV Eindhoven (NED) – ( ) Glasgow Rangers 0-1 (SCO) (all: 2-2)
( ) Benfica Lisbonne (POR) – Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 3-0 (allergy: 2-0)
Red Star Belgrade (SRB) – ( ) Maccabi Haifa (ISR) 2-2 (first leg: 2-3)
() Viktoria Plzen (CZE) – Qarabag (AZE) 2-1 (aller: 0-0)
Note: ( ) indicates team qualified for the C1 group stage
