Epress.am News from Armenia
Sevilla, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League last season, were handed a shock playoff defeat by unfashionable Braga on Tuesday while Werder Bremen pulled off a spectacular escape act to oust Sampdoria, Reuters reports.
Substitute Lima, 27, a Brazilian journeyman forward, came on to score a second-half hat-trick to give Braga a 4-3 win in Spain and send the Portuguese outfit into the group stage for the first time 5-3 on aggregate.
Werder, leading 3-1 from the first leg, went 3-0 down at Sampdoria before substitute Markus Rosenberg scored in the third minute of stoppage time to set up extra-time.
Claudio Pizarro then netted as the Bundesliga team lost 3-2 on the night but qualified 5-4 on aggregate to leave Spain and Italy with only three teams in Europe’s top club competition.
There was further drama as Partizan Belgrade knocked out Anderlecht 3-2 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in Belgium where the visitors let slip a two-goal lead in the last half hour.
It is the second time Partizan have qualified for the group stage. The first was in 2003 when they defeated Newcastle United.
Swiss league champions Basel won 3-0 at Sheriff Tiraspol to complete a 4-0 aggregate win over the Moldovans while Hapoel Tel Aviv qualified for the first time with a 1-1 home draw against Salzburg clinching a 4-3 triumph overall.
It is the 10th season in a row Sheriff have failed to get through the qualifying stages while Salzburg, Austria’s biggest-spending team, have fallen at the final hurdle four times in five seasons. Salzburg’s Uruguayan forward of Armenian origin Joaquin Boghossian entered the pitch in the second half but failed to produce something extraordinary.