Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb took big steps toward returning to the Champions League group stage with convincing wins in the first leg of their playoff-round games on Wednesday.
Olympiakos scored three late goals to beat Russian debutant Krasnodar 4-0, and Dinamo struck twice in the first half hour in a 2-0 win over Rosenborg.
Young Boys was the only home team not to win, needing a 76th-minute penalty awarded by video review — and scored by French veteran Guillaume Hoarau — to secure a 2-2 draw with Red Star Belgrade.
Olympiakos' Lazar Randelovic, right, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League qualifying playoff first leg soccer match between Olympiakos and Krasnodar at Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. Olympiakos won 4-0. (AP PhotoThanassis Stavrakis)
Red Star, playing its seventh qualifying game in seven weeks, is trying to advance from the first qualifying round to the group stage in back-to-back seasons.
Olympiakos played the first of its 18 Champions League campaigns more than a decade before Krasnodar was founded in 2008.
The Greek runner-up took the lead in the 30th through Spanish forward Miguel Ángel Guerrero. A flurry of goals from the 78th minute by Lazar Randelovic, twice, and Daniel Podence gave Krasnodar a daunting task in the second leg next Tuesday.
Rosenborg's Samuel Adegbenro, top, is tackled by Dinamo Zagreb's Emir Dilaver during the Champions League qualifying first leg play-off soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Rosenborg, in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. (AP PhotoDarko Bandic)
Once a Champions League regular, Rosenborg trailed to an early penalty by Dinamo's Bruno Petkovic, and Mislav Orsic doubled the lead in the 28th.
Red Star, the 1991 European champion, trailed to a seventh-minute goal by Young Boys forward Roger Assalé that was leveled in the 18th by Australia defender Milos Degenek's looping header.
Mateo Garcia put the Serbian champion ahead a minute into the second half, before Hourau came off the bench to level from the spot. The 35-year-old former France international went close to winning the game for the Swiss champion with a glancing header in the 89th.
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