by Rangers head coach Philippe Clement described Jefté’s sending off in his team’s Champions League defeat to Dynamo Kyiv as “the worst decision I have seen in over 30 years”.
The Brazilian winger was shown a yellow card in the first half and sent off in the 51st minute after a tough challenge on Oleksandr Karavaiev. The first leg ended 1-1, but Kyiv took advantage of the opportunity and scored last-minute goals from Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Nazar Voloshyn to advance.
“It’s a very decisive moment and in the end it destroyed the dream of the dressing room and the 50,000 fans,” said Clement. “You expect better decision-making. This is the worst decision I’ve seen in more than 30 years of football. I have a lot of things in my head, but you know if I say too much I can be banned.”
After a cautious first half, Rangers – playing at Hampden Park while renovations are completed at Ibrox – reacted violently to the red card shown by referee Marco Guida. Striker Cyriel Dessers went close when his effort was blocked by a defender before appearing to respond to the crowd’s frustration after a mistake on the ball.
Dynamo Kyiv slowly took control and made the breakthrough in the 82nd minute when Pikhalyonok fired past Jack Butland from the edge of the box. Rangers had little time to react before Voloshyn won the game two minutes later. Kyiv won 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
Red Bull Salzburgwho were runners-up in the Austrian league last season behind Sturm Graz, the game against FC Twente when they scored two goals early in Enschede to take a 4-1 lead on aggregate. The hosts narrowed the deficit to 3-3 and trailed 4-5 on aggregate, but Salzburg were able to prevail and advance.
José Mourinho’s hopes for the lead Fenerbahce to the new, extended league phase of the Champions League are over after Jonathan David’s penalty in extra time Lille a 3-2 aggregate victory against the Turkish giants.
After the 2-1 defeat in the first leg in France, Mourinho called on Fenerbahce fans to be “our driving force” in the return leg in Istanbul – and the hosts started brilliantly, with Edin Dzeko heading wide in the first minute. Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier had to intervene twice before David almost extended the visitors’ lead on a counterattack.
In the second half, Mourinho brought on Bright Osayi-Samuel and the substitute hit the post just before the end to ensure Lille held on to their lead. In stoppage time, Fenerbahce kept the game alive and forced extra time when a long throw-in rebounded off defender Bafodé Diakité and caused an own goal.
Fenerbahce went into extra time with momentum that was boosted when Lille debutant Aïssa Mandi was sent off for a high kick. But as time ran out, Lille were awarded a penalty for handball, which David converted to secure their progress.
“It’s better if I don’t talk about the penalty,” Mourinho told Kontraspor. “Only the referee knows why it was a penalty and the VAR knows. I’m proud of my team. I’m an honest person. I told my players that I’m proud of them, they did everything to win. One team deserved to win, but the other team went through.”
Lille meets Slavia Praguewho defeated Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise 4-1 on aggregate in the final playoff round, while Fenerbahce were relegated to the Europa League. Malmo defeated the Greek champion PAOK in a penalty shootout to decide a play-off with Sparta Praguewhich defeated Romanian FCSB 4:3 on aggregate.
Qarabag scored an extraordinary four-goal run in extra time to eliminate Ludogorets in Bulgaria, turning a 3-2 lead (and a 4-4 aggregate score) into a 7-2 victory and an 8-4 aggregate win. They will face Dinamo Zagreb next, while Bodø/Glimt will play Red Star Belgrade after the victory over Poland’s Jagellonia Bialystok Overall 5:1.
Central Jutland meet Slovan Bratislava after they had eliminated the Hungarian club Ferencvaros and the Cypriot club Apoel respectively. Young boys And Galatasaraywho both received a bye for the final playoff round, will compete against each other for a place in the league phase.
