Fenerbahce stun Lyon to reach Champions League league phase

The Turkish football club Fenerbahce secured their place in the Champions League league phase after a thrilling 2-1 victory over Lyon in the second leg play-off match on Wednesday. The match was level at 1-1 from the first leg held in Istanbul a week prior. Vedat Muriqi, the Fenerbahce striker, opened the scoring in the first half at the Stade Velodrome in southeastern France.

The lead was doubled by English defender Archie Brown in the same half. Lyon's excitement was short-lived as Belgian winger Malick Fofana's goal was disallowed due to offside. Despite an equalizer from Hungarian Barnabas Varga and a penalty miss by former Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic, Fenerbahce held on to clinch the decisive win.

Meanwhile, AEK Athens dominated AEK Athens with a 4-0 victory over Levski Sofia in Bulgaria, ensuring their progression to the league phase. Razvan Marin added a penalty in the match, which followed a 0-0 draw in the first leg. Viking Stavanger staged an impressive comeback to beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 in Norway, securing a 5-3 aggregate win.

The Norwegian side will make their Champions League debut in the group phase. Albanian Arber Hoxha put Dinamo ahead in the opening minutes of their match against Dinamo Zagreb. However, Zlatko Tripic equalized with a penalty just eight minutes later. Early goals in the second half by Edvin Austbo and Tobias Moi sealed Viking's progression to the group stage of the competition.