26 Aug 2009

Lisandro hits hat-trick as Lyon qualify for group phase

12:11 pm on 26 August 2009

French football club Olympique Lyon and Atletico Madrid of Spain have booked their places for the Champions League group stages draw with convincing play-off wins.

Lyon beat Anderlecht 3-1 in Belgium, Argentine Lisandro scoring a first-half hat-trick to complete an 8-2 aggregate romp to put them in the group phase for the 10th consecutive season.

Atletico saw off Greek side Panathinaikos, winning 2-0 at home for a 5-2 aggregate victory. Panathinaikos, who reached the round of 16 last season, had Djibril Cisse sent off.

Hungarian club Debrecen will play in the prestigious group stages for the first time after defeating Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia 2-0 to add to their win 2-1 first leg victory.

Maccabi Haifa from Israel beat FC Salzburg of Austria 3-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory while FC Zurich can look forward to a first group campaign after the Swiss side completed a 5-1 aggregate victory over FK Ventspils.

Five more playoff ties will be decided tomorrow with Arsenal, semi-finalists last season, protecting a 2-0 lead at home against Scotland's Celtic.