Women's Champions League qualifying round-up
Sunday, August 16, 2015
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ZFK Minsk, PAOK, Stjarnan, FC Twente, Olimpia Cluj, Spartak Subotica, Medyk Konin and PK-35 Vantaa have progressed. Our reporters round up the action.
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• Eight teams through to last 32 after topping qualifying round groups with three wins
• Qualifiers join the 24 teams with byes to UEFA Women's Champions League knockouts
• Draw streamed live on UEFA.com from 13.30CET on Thursday: seedings confirmed
• Full season calendar
Qualifying round-up
Reporters: Jasmin Ligata, Ronan Farrelly, Laure James, John Leonidou, Timen Llurba, Grega Sever, Elvir Islamović, Kacper Zieliński, Mikael Erävuori & Jukka Malm
Group 1: won by ZFK Minsk
• Minsk's cosmopolitan side, bolstered by a strong African contingent including outstanding Nigerian international Uchechi Sunday, belied their third-tier seeding as they qualified with a game to go.
• Sunday opened with five goals in a 10-1 win against Konak Belediyespor, who reached the round of 16 two years ago, and two days later a 3-0 defeat of hosts SFK Sarajevo confirmed Mins's progress.
• It was also 3-0 against Albania's Vllaznia today, Sunday scoring her seventh goal of the round, while Sarajevo did finish second, overcoming third-placed Konak 3-1 with a Jasna Djoković hat-trick, her first direct from a corner.
• Sarajevo coach Samira Hurem said: "We were unlucky. Minsk deserved first place, because in all three games they played the best football. I congratulate them and I wish them luck."
Group 2: PAOK
• PAOK ended a five-year wait to return to the round of 32 as they dominated the mini-tournament in Belfast, starting by defeating hosts Glentoran 4-0 with Eleni Markou and winger Dimitra Panteliadou outstanding. Two days later they took 37 minutes to score against Dragon 2014, who had already lost 6-0 to NSA Sofia, but PAOK ended up winning 10-0.
• Glentoran defeated NSA 2-1 and Dragon 2-0 with Rachel Rogan impressing, but PAOK were not to be caught as they saw off Sofia 4-0, Panteliadou once again a constant threat to their opponents.
Group 3: Stjarnan
• Stjarnan ended Apollon Limassol's run of five straight qualifying round group first places after beating the Cypriot hosts 2-0 in their decider in Paphos with two opportunist goals by Brazilian striker Poliana.
• Making her European debut, Poliana had also scored in Stjarnan's wins against Klaksvíkar ĺtrottarfelag and Hibernians, though they trailed Apollon on goal difference ahead of the decider.
• Kĺ, maintaining their record as the only tournament ever-presents in the 15th season, finished third but only on goal difference after Dorianne Theuma's last-gasp equaliser gave Hibernians a 3-3 draw.
Group 4: FC Twente
• Twente ensured their fourth knockout campaign as they struck 19 goals without reply against Ferencvarós, Jeunesse Jonglënster (only Luxembourg’s second entrants after Progrès Niedercorn in 2011/12) and ASA Tel-Aviv.
• Debutants Ferencvarós were Twente's toughest opponents, holding them to 2-0, while in Sunday's decider the outstanding Jill Roord scored five goals in a 7-0 defeat of ASA to take her tournament tally to seven.
• Ferencvarós beat ASA 2-1, Ebere Orji scoring her second in the 89th minute, and then Jonglënster 11-0. Nigerian forward Orji struck seven in that game, only one short of the competition record, but she was top scorer in the qualifying round overall on nine goals.
• ASA goalkeeper Andrea Dänzer also deserves credit for a string of superb saves in the mini-tournament.
Group 5: Olimpia Cluj
• Olimpia Cluj, who reached the round of 16 in 2012/13 but had fallen in qualifying two seasons running, ended that run with three victories including a decisive 2-0 defeat of hosts Pomurje.
• Both teams had beaten Pärnu and Ekonomist, with Olimpia having a goal difference advantage, and despite losing key striker Alexandra Lunca to a knee injury, the Romanian champions showed great quality and intensity in defeating Pomurje, who did have chances of their own.
• Olimpia coach Mirel Albon said: "I am very happy with this achievement. We had a lot of changes in the squad. We have a lot of teenage players but they've presented themselves in a very good light. If we manage to keep this group together for a few season, I think we will be a force to be reckoned with in the Women's Champions League."
Group 6: Spartak Subotica
• Spartak Subotica are back in the round of 32 after missing out last season thanks to three victories in Croatia.
• Tijana Filipović and Tijana Matić ensured a 2-1 opening win against CF Benfica, Jelena Marenić scored all four goals to defeat Noroc Nimoreni and then Allegra Poljak struck twice to beat hosts Osijek 3-0.
• Debutants Benfica (not to be confused with nearby SL Benfica) finished second with 3-0 wins against Osijek and Noroc.
Group 7: Medyk Konin
• Polish hosts Medyk Konin, who won all three qualifying round games on debut last season, showed it was no fluke as they again managed nine points and 15 unanwered goals.
• After beating Cardiff Met 5-0 and Wexford Youths 6-0, Medyk faced a Gintra Universitetas team that had fallen 1-0 to the Irish contenders on the opening day but were still in contention to repeat their surprise run to the 2014/15 round of 16. However, Medyk proved the more clinical, winning 4-0 with Aleksandra Sikora taking her goal tally to six.
• Four Carol Breen goals gave Wexford a 5-1 win against Cardiff Met and a creditable second place.
Medyk coach Roman Jaszczak:
"Before the decisive game we knew that a great challenge awaited us. Gintra needed a win to qualify, so we let them play at the beginning of the game. After the second goal they could not focus on their game. They were chaotic and tried to play individually, which doomed them. Gintra have a few amazing players in the squad, but not a team. We wanted to win very much, although we needed only a draw to qualify, because we want to improve our coefficient ahead of the coming seasons, so we don’t need to play in the qualifying round. I'm extremely proud of my team. We scored 15 and conceded none. That means something.
"I would like to play against Barcelona. Because as a man who has worked in women's football for 30 years, I feel there is something more than just results. If Barcelona came here to Konin, that would be a great opportunity to promote women’s football in Poland. My dream is that the stadium in Konin will be fully packed one day."
Group 8: PK-35 Vantaa
• Victories for hosts PK-35 and Kharkiv against both Rīgas FS and Union Nové Zámky set up a final day decider. And it was PK-35, who had won both previous games 9-0, that prevailed 2-1.
• The Finnish champions were on top from the start and on 24 minutes Sanna Saarinen set Hanne Ojanperä up to open the scoring. Saarinen, PK-35's outstanding player, herself converted a 54th-minute penalty and although Taisiia Nesteranko pulled one back with a free-kick, the win was Vantaa's.
• Kharkiv winger Olha Ovdiychuk also impressed, scoring four goals.
• A delighted Rīgas took third place with a 3-2 defeat of Nové Zámky, the first time any Latvian team had won in this competition in their 15th fixture.