The Serbian football club “Crvena Zvezda” suffered a defeat at home against the French side “Lille” in the second leg of the Europa League knockout round play-offs for a berth in the Round of 16.
In the initial encounter between the two sides in France last week, the visitors emerged victorious with a 1-0 scoreline. Full time in the return fixture in Belgrade concluded with a 1-0 advantage for “Lille”. The goal was netted by Olivier Giroud (4th minute). During extra time, Nathan Ngoy secured the passage to the Round of 16 for the French team with a goal in the 99th minute.
Representing “Crvena Zvezda,” managed by former “Spartak Moscow” coach Dejan Stanković, in the match were Armenian former defender Nair Tiknizyan, who previously played for CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow, as well as Serbian defender Strahinja Eraković, who is currently on loan at the Belgrade club from “Zenit” Saint Petersburg.
“Lille”‘s opponent in the subsequent stage will be either England’s “Aston Villa” or France’s “Lyon”.
In another fixture of the day, the Czech team “Viktoria” was defeated at home by Greece’s “Panathinaikos” in a penalty shootout (3-3 aggregate score over both legs, 3-4 on penalties). The Greek club advanced to the next Europa League play-off round, where they will face either Denmark’s “Midtjylland” or Spain’s “Betis”. The draw for the Round of 16 matches in the tournament is scheduled for February 27th in Nyon, Switzerland.
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