SPORTS

Lisandro hits hat-trick as Lyon qualify

August 26, 2009 09:56 IST

French club Olympique Lyon and Atletico Madrid of Spain booked their places in Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stages with convincing playoff wins on Tuesday.

Lyon beat Anderlecht 3-1 in Belgium, Argentine Lisandro scoring a first-half hat-trick to complete an 8-2 aggregate romp to put them in the group phase for the 10th consecutive season.

Atletico saw off Greek side Panathinaikos, winning 2-0 at home for a 5-2 aggregate victory.

Panathinaikos, who reached the round of 16 last season, had Djibril Cisse sent off.

Hungarian club Debrecen will play in the prestigious group stages for the first time after defeating Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia 2-0 to add to their win 2-1 first leg victory.

The last Hungarian club to reach the Champions League group stage was Ferencvrosi in 1995/96.

Maccabi Haifa from Israel beat FC Salzburg of Austria 3-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory while FC Zurich can look forward to a first group campaign after the Swiss side completed a 5-1 aggregate victory over FK Ventspils.

Five more playoff ties will be decided on Wednesday with Arsenal, semi-finalists last season, protecting a 2-0 lead at home against Scotland's Celtic.

Source: REUTERS
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