Group stage regulars CSKA Moskva and Olympiacos have one foot in the play-offs after away victories, while Vardar upset København in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie.
League route
AEK Athens 0-2 CSKA Moskva
FCSB 2-2 Viktoria Plzeň
Champions route
Qarabağ 0-0 Sheriff
Slavia Praha 1-0 BATE Borisov
Vardar 1-0 København
Partizan 1-3 Olympiacos
Vanquishers of Malmö in the previous round, Vardar are on the verge of another Nordic scalp after a 1-0 home win against København. Jonathan Balotelli’s volley earned the Macedonian side victory over FCK, group stage contenders last season.
Meanwhile both CSKA Moskva goals, headers by Alan Dzagoev and Pontus Wernbloom, in their 2-0 triumph at AEK Athens came from corners delivered by Vitinho. Another Greek team Olympiacos prevailed in Belgrade against Partizan, thanks largely to El Fardou Ben Nabouhane’s double.
Elsewhere FCSB rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 down to draw with visitors Viktoria Plzeň, and BATE Borisov limited Slavia Praha to only one goal despite playing for 70 minutes with ten men after the dismissal of centre-back Evgeni Yablonski for bringing down Michal Frydrych in the area.
Wednesday’s games
League route
Dynamo Kyiv v Young Boys
Nice v Ajax
Club Brugge v İstanbul Başakşehir
Champions route
Astana v Legia Warszawa
Salzburg v Rijeka
Hapoel Beer-Sheva v Ludogorets
Viitorul v APOEL
Maribor v FH Hafnarfjördur
Celtic v Rosenborg
Second legs: 1 and 2 August
Play-off draw: 4 August
Source: uefa.com