Lille reach league phase of UEFA Champions League despite losing in Prague

By Can Erozden

French club Lille reached the league phase of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, despite a 2-1 away loss to Slavia Prague in a Wednesday playoff match.

Home team Slavia Prague drew first blood at Eden Arena as Norwegian midfielder Christos Zafeiris scored the opener in the fifth minute.

Lille's Edon Zhegrova from Kosovo scored the equalizer from outside the penalty area in the 77th minute to put the French club 3-1 ahead on aggregate.

Slavia Prague forward Ivan Schranz scored from close range in the 84th minute to reduce the deficit to one. Lille qualified for the Champions League's league phase, winning 3-2 on aggregate.

In addition to Lille, GNK Dinamo, Crvena Zvezda and Slovan Bratislava were the latest clubs to reach the league phase.

The Champions League's league phase draw will take place on Thursday.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City (England), Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Girona and Real Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart (Germany), Atalanta, Bologna, Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan (Italy), Brest, Lille, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain (France), Salzburg, Sturm Graz (Austria), Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Benfica, Sporting (Portugal), Club Brugge (Belgium), GNK Dinamo (Croatia), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Celtic (Scotland), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Young Boys (Switzerland) and Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) will enter Thursday's draw.

- Wednesday's results in Champions League Playoffs 2nd leg

Slavia Prague - Lille: 2-1 (aggregate: 2-3)

Crvena Zvezda - Bodo/Glimt: 2-0 (aggregate: 3-2)

Qarabag - GNK Dinamo: 0-2 (aggregate: 0-5)

Slovan Bratislava - Midtjylland: 3-2 (aggregate: 4-3)