There are three known participants in the Champions League who won that right through the qualifications. The football elite included Benfica, Young Boys and Malmo, in whose jersey the newly crowned member of the Serbian national team, Veljko Birmancevic, shone again.
The former football player of Cukaricki first scored a goal against Helsinki, which practically blew all the weapons out of the Finns. Then, against the Rangers in the first match, when the 2: 1 victory was achieved, he scored a goal and recorded an assist. And he left the best for the playoffs.
In the first match in Sweden against Ludogorets, he scored a goal in the 2-0 victory. And in the rematch in Razgrad, he enrolled in the shooters again. With the result 1: 0 for the Bulgarian team, after Nedjalkov’s goal in the 10th minute, Birmancevic sent a bomb from a free kick in the 42nd minute, which ended up in the net for 1: 1. By the end, Ludogorets scored a goal from the penalty spot in the 60th minute through Sotiriu, but that was not enough for the Swedish champion, led by the great Birmancevic, to reach the elite.
And in the remaining two rematch of the playoffs, it was exciting until the last moments. A great battle was fought in Budapest between Ferencvaros and the Young Boys. The Swiss came with a minimal advantage from the first match, which they increased with a goal by Zaisiger in the fifth minute. However, the host turned it around with goals from Wing in the 18th minute and Mea in the 27th minute leading 2: 1. However, Fasnacht in the 56th minute brought an equalizer in this match, and in the overall result, a golden goal advantage, which they kept skillfully until the very end. They were not even disturbed by a missed penalty in the 70th minute, as in the third minute of overtime Mambimbi scored a goal for a new victory for the team from Bern, with the same result as in the first match – 3: 2.
A lot of fire was expected in Eindhoven, where Benfica came with a 2: 1 advantage. Even the Filipinos had more players for a full hour because of Lukas Verisim’s red card, but Benfica resisted, which means that Nemanja Radonjić will play in the Champions League.
