27 Aug 2009

Arsenal outclass Celtic in Champions League qualification

11:11 am on 27 August 2009

As expected, English Premier League football club Arsenal were too much for Scottish Premier League side Celtic as the Londoners eased into the group stages of the Champions League with a 3-1 home win.

Arsenal won 5-1 on aggregate and now enter this week's draw for the lucrative group stages, where they will be joined by Fiorentina, VfB Stuttgart, Olympiakos and APOEL Nicosia.

Italian Serie A side Fiorentina squeezed through on away goals against Portugal's Sporting after a 1-1 home draw left the tie level at 3-3 while German Bundesliga club Stuttgart were held 0-0 at home by Timisoara of Romania but progressed courtesy of their 2-0 away win last week.

APOEL beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 for a 3-2 aggregate win while Greek side Olympiakos ended the dreams of Moldovans Sheriff Tirsaspol, completing a 3-0 aggregate win.