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CL qualifying round-up

Shakhtar Donetsk and Slavia Prague both bowed out of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Shakhtar and Slavia bow out

There were a couple of big shocks on Wednesday as Shakhtar Donetsk and Slavia Prague both bowed out of the UEFA Champions League. Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk went out on away goals to Romanian side FC Timisoara. The first-leg in Ukraine ended 2-2 and Timisoara's away goals proved crucial as Shakhtar's expensively assembled side could not find a way through. Slavia Prague followed Shakhtar into the Europa League as the Czech champions were defeated by Sheriff Tiraspol. The first-leg in Moldova finished goalless but Slavia looked on course for the next round after Adam Hlousek had put them ahead on 15 minutes. But heart-break was to follow for the Czechs as four minutes into injury-time Jose Nadson pounced for Sheriff. Greek giants Olympiakos eased into the next round after a 2-0 win over Slovan Bratislava in Athens which gave them a 4-0 aggregate victory. The Greeks had already won 2-0 in Slovakia in the first-leg, but they made sure of their passage with a goal in each half from Enzo Maresca and Carlos Diogo. Partizan Belgrade have gone out after they were unable to overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeat against APOEL Nicosia. The Serbian giants looked in good shape as Almami Moreira pounced after just three minutes, but the Cypriot outfit held firm to seal their passage into the next phase. Latvian champions FK Ventspils are through to the final phase of Champions League qualifying after beating BATE Borisov on away goals. Ventspils travelled to Belarus with a 1-0 goal advantage, and they doubled that just 14 minutes in when Igor Tigirlas pounced. BATE levelled on the night through Sergei Krivets and he added a second just before the hour, but BATE could not find another goal as they bowed out. Levski Sofia eased into the next round after a 2-0 win over FK Baku which gave them a 2-0 aggregate win. After a goalless first-half, Levski took control in the second half as Hristo Yovo scored just after the hour. The win was sealed 10 minutes from time through Georgi Hristov. Hungarian champions Debrecen moved into the final qualifying round thanks to a 1-0 win over Estonia's Levadia Tallinn. Debrecen took a 1-0 lead into the second leg after victory in Estonia and they booked their passage through with another 1-0 success. The winner came from French striker Adamo Coulibaly who pounced 20 minutes from the end. Swiss champions FC Zurich produced an excellent performance as they won 3-0 at NK Maribor - to give them a 5-3 aggregate win. Maribor had won the first-leg in Switzerland and looked favourites to make it through, but Zurich turned the tie on its head. Dusan Duric opened the scoring after 20 minutes before Xavier Margairaz doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time. The final strike to seal the win came 14 minutes from time as Adrian Nikci pounced. FC Copenhagen progressed 3-1 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in Norway against Stabaek.