Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Salzburg and Sheriff Tiraspol edged closer to the lucrative Champions League group stage after beating their respective opponents in the first legs of their playoff-round ties on Tuesday.
A Pedrinho goal gave Shakhtar a 1-0 win at Monaco while Salzburg fought back from a goal down to beat Brondby 2-1 at home as Karim Adeyemi and Brenden Aaronson cancelled out Mikael Uhre's opener for the visitors.
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Sheriff staged the shock of the night with a 3-0 home rout of Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in a bid to become the first Moldovan team to reach the group stage of Europe's premier club competition.
Adama Traore fired Sheriff ahead on the stroke of halftime and made it 3-0 in the 80th minute after Dimitris Kolovos scored the second with a sumptuous volley.
In Wednesday's standout fixture, former European Cup winners Benfica and PSV Eindhoven clash in Lisbon while Malmo entertain Ludogorets Razgrad and Young Boys are at home to Ferencvaros.
