UEFA Champions League Play-Off Recap and Video Highlights: Tuesday August 25, 2009 – Lyon, Atletico, Debrecen, Maccabi, and Zurich advance
The UEFA Champions League finished half its play-off round on Tuesday August 25, 2009. The fixtures on Tuesday were Atletico Madrid v Panthinaikos, Levski Sofia v Debrecen, Anderlecht v Lyon, Ventspils v Zurich, and Maccabi Haifa v Salzburg. Here’s a recap of all the matches along with video highlights.
Lyon easily defeats Anderlecht 3-1 (8-2 on aggregate) – Video Highlights
French side Lyon easily advanced past Anderlecht with a 3-1 win on Tuesday and 8-2 victory on aggregate. A 5-1 lead after the first leg all but sealed Lyon would make the group stage. Lyon sealed the win on Tuesday with a hat trick from Lisandro Lopez while Anderlecht was only able to get one goal back, a penalty by Matias Suarez. Heading into the play-off round, Lyon were one of the favorites to reach the group stage as they have been one of the top teams and routinely have made the knockout stage.
| Anderlecht | 1 - 3 | Lyon |
| 26′ | 0 – 1 |  |
Lisandro Lopez | ||
| 32′ | 0 – 2 | |
Lisandro Lopez | ||
| 41′ | 0 – 3 | |
Lisandro Lopez | ||
| 51′ | Matias Suarez (pen) | |
1 – 3 | ||
| Agg: 2 - 8 | |||||
Atletico Madrid tops Panathiankos 2-0 (5-2 on aggregate) – Video Highlights
Atletico scored 3 away goals at Panathinaikos and had a solid 2-0 win to advance to the group stage. Panathinaikos had a few chances but appeared overmatched in both matches, especially at Madrid. Atletico had goals from Loukas Vyntra (own goal) and Sergio Aguero. Panathinaikos’ chances seemed even lower as Cisse earned a red card for a late tackle.
| Atlético Madrid | 2 - 0 | Panathinaikos |
| 3′ | Loukas Vyntra (og) | |
1 – 0 | ||
| 70′ |  |
Djibril Cisse | |||
| 82′ | Sergio Aguero | |
2 – 0 | ||
| Agg: 5 - 2 | |||||
Maccabi Haifa beats SV Salzburg 3-0 (5-1 on aggregate) – Video Highlights
Maccabi Haifa easily beat Salzburg 3-0 at home in the second leg and advanced 5-1 on aggregate. The goals came from Dvalishvili (32nd minute), Golsa (57th minute), and Gadir (90th minute).
| Maccabi Haifa | 3 - 0 | SV Salzburg |
| 32′ | Vladimer Dvalishvili | |
1 – 0 | ||
| 57′ | Eyal Golsa | |
2 – 0 | ||
| 90′ | Mohammed Gadir | |
3 – 0 | ||
| Agg: 5 - 1 | |||||
Debrecen defeats Levski Sofia 2-0 (4-1 on aggregate) – Video Highlights
Josef Varga (13th minute) and Gergely Rudolf (35th minute) led Debrecen to a 2-0 victory at home and 4-1 win on aggregate. Levski Sofia had a few chances in the match but with 2 away goals and already down 0-2 at halftime, it was too much for them to overcome.
| Debrecen | 2 - 0 | Levski Sofia |
| 13′ | Jozsef Varga | |
1 – 0 | ||
| 35′ | Gergely Rudolf | |
2 – 0 | ||
| Agg: 4 - 1 | |||||
FC Zurich tops FK Venspils 2-1 (5-1 on aggregate) – Video Highlights
Zurich edges Ventspils 2-1 at home and 5-1 on aggregate thanks to 3 away goals in the first leg. The home team took an early lead with a 6th minute goal from Johan Vonlanthen only to have Ventspils tie it in the 8th minute as Igor Tigirlas tied the match. The match remained tied until the final minutes as Zurich would score the final goal in the 9oth minute by Almen Abdi.
| FC Zürich | 2 - 1 | FK Ventspils |
| 6′ | Johan Vonlanthen | |
1 – 0 | ||
| 8′ | 1 – 1 | |
Igor Tigirlas | ||
| 90′ | Almen Abdi | |
2 – 1 | ||
| Agg: 5 - 1 | |||||
