GENEVA (AP) — Former European Cup winners Porto and Celtic took big steps toward the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, as home teams struggled in their playoff round, first-leg matches.
Two-time champion Porto won 1-0 in Lille, and Celtic took advantage of a reprieve from UEFA to play in the competition by drawing 1-1 at Maribor.
Russian league leader Zenit St. Petersburg’s 1-0 victory at Standard Liege helped ensure all five home teams failed to win.
APOEL is favored to advance next week in Cyprus after drawing 1-1 against Aalborg in Denmark.
BATE Borisov took a 1-1 draw back to Belarus after Slovan Bratislava got an 80th-minute equalizer from veteran Slovakia forward Robert Vittek.
Second-leg matches are played next Tuesday. The groups are drawn two days later in Monaco.
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