The first matches of the second preliminary round of the Europa League were played last night, sportal.bg reported. Five of the eight matches ended in draws.
One of them was fixed in Sofia, where Levski and Braga made 0:0. Thus, the "blues" kept good chances for the rematch in Portugal.
Ivan Dyulgerov and his Sheriff (Tiraspol) were unable to resist Utrecht and lost 1:3. The team of the former CSKA goalkeeper took the lead in the score, but the guests from the Netherlands made a turnaround, which gives them serious peace of mind before the return match next week.
One of the most interesting clashes was the one between Besiktas and Shakhtar (Donetsk). The Turkish giants were unprepared for the speedy attacks of the visitors, whose team featured Brazilians Alisson Santana and Kevin. The two scored two goals each for the "miners", while one of the goals for Besiktas was scored by new signing Tammy Abraham.
Anderlecht narrowly defeated Swedish side Hecken 1-0. Kasper Dolberg scored the goal for the most successful Belgian club before the break. Midtjylland surprisingly only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Hibernian, despite having 23 shots on goal against the Scots.
The remaining three matches ended in draws. Banik (Ostrava) and Legia (Warsaw) drew 2-2, Celje and AEK Larnaca exchanged one penalty goal each for a final 1-1 draw, and Lugano and CFR Cluj ended 0-0 after former CSKA midfielder Carlo Muhar missed a penalty kick for the Romanians.