Sevilla, Napoli qualify for Champions League

Sevilla, Napoli, Celtic, Maribor and Olympiakos emerged triumphant from the second-leg UEFA Champions League qualifiers. Though all of the favourites advanced, football fans of Sevilla and Celtic endured some nervous moments.

Sevilla, who prevailed 2-1 in the first leg in Turkey, conceded a goal to Istanbul Basaksehir's Eljero Elia in the 17th minute of Tuesday's contest at the Sanchez Pizjuan, reports Efe.

Sergio Escudero equalised for the hosts in the second half and Wissam Ben Yedder made it 2-1 on the night for the Spanish club with about 15 minutes left in regulation.

Seven minutes later, however, Basaksehir pulled level with a goal by Edin Visca and the Turkish side would have claimed the Champions League berth if Emre Belozoglu's free kick in the 90th minute hadn't hit the post, allowing Sevilla to advance 4-3 on aggregate.

In Nice, the home side fell 0-2 to Napoli, who cruised 4-0 on aggregate, with goals coming from Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne.

Olympiakos held Croatia's Rijeka 1-0 for a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Maribor blanked Hapoel Beer Sheva 1-0 for an aggregate score of 2-2, advancing by virtue of their away goal in the first leg in Israel.

The day's most exciting contest unfolded in the capital of Kazakhstan, where Astana fans were able -- if only briefly -- to dream of one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the competition.

After suffering a 5-0 rout in the first leg in Glasgow, the Kazakh side built up a 4-1 lead before giving up two goals in the final 20 minutes to end up at 4-3, giving Celtic an 8-4 victory on aggregate.

--IANS

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