LONDON: Shakhtar Donetsk clinched a berth in the lucrative Champions League group stage with a dramatic 3-2 aggregate win over Monaco after fighting back from two goals down in their playoff round return leg on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian side joined RB Salzburg as the Austrian champions beat Danes Brondby 4-2 on aggregate, and unheralded Sheriff Tiraspol, who became the first Moldovan side to reach the group stage with a 3-0 overall victory against Dinamo Zagreb as the play-offs wrapped up.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg at home, Monaco were left to regret what might have been after two predatory strikes from Wissam Ben Yedder in the first half gave them a 2-0 lead on the night in Kharkiv.

However, a 74th-minute goal from Marlos levelled the game and sent it into extra-time.

With the away goals rule no longer in effect in European club competition as of this season, Shakhtar forced the final twist thanks to a 114th-minute own goal from Monaco captain Ruben Aguilar after the French side missed a string of chances.

Ben Yedder fired a dominant Monaco into an 18th-minute lead on the night and put the visitors in the driving seat in the 39th when he steered home a superb low cross from the left by Caio Henrique.

Ben Yedder then missed a pair of sitters either side of half-time and Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov denied Kevin Volland with a superb stoppage-time save after Marlos had given Shakhtar a lifeline with a neat finish inside the near post.

Shakhtar were on the back foot in extra time too but Monaco were ultimately punished for their misses when Aguilar stuck his foot out to block a pass and the looping clearance sailed over goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel into the back of the net.

MOLDOVA’S LOWLY SHERIFF ADVANCE

Having stunned Dinamo 3-0 at home in the first leg, Sheriff eased to a goalless draw in Croatia’s capital to defy the odds again after they knocked out 1991 European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade in the previous qualifying round.

The low-ranked club from Tiraspol in the breakaway region of Transnistria had to get through all four qualifying rounds to reach the group-stage draw.

Sheriff have won the Moldovan title in 19 of the past 21 seasons and will finally take their place alongside Europe’s most storied teams.

Moldova is typically described as the poorest country in Europe and Sheriff will now earn about 16 million euros ($18.84 million) in guaranteed prize money from UEFA.

Wealthy Salzburg returned to the group stage, scoring two goals in the first ten minutes of their game at Brondby to win 2-1 on the night.

Salzburg raced into a 2-0 lead as Benjamin Sesko struck with a clinical finish and Brenden Aaronson added the second when he slid the ball under goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, following his 90th-minute winner in the first leg.

Brondby defender Andreas Maxsoe pulled one back for the home side from close range in the 62nd minute but it was scant consolation for the Danish side as Salzburg held out comfortably.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2021