These play-offs, scheduled for August 16 and 23, will be the final stage before the C1 group stage which begins on September 6.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men, who went for a draw in Monaco (1-1), ont made the most of the support of their public to win in extra time (3-2) thanks to a header from Luuk de Jong, who returned this summer from his failed loan to FC Barcelona.
PSV will play its future in C1 against Rangers. The Scots, finalists of the last Europa League, turned the tide against the Belgians of Union Saint-Gilloise, who had won 2-0 in the first leg, at home, but sank in Glasgow (3-0 ).
Benfica Lisbon had already taken a big option by largely beating (4-1) the Danes of Midtjylland in the first leg. They did it again, 3-1 in Denmarkand will play a place in C1 against Dynamo kyiv who eliminated the Austrians of Sturm Graz (1-0 in the first leg, 2-1 in the return after extra time).
The losers of the “league path” (ranked in places of honor in their championship), including AS Monaco, are directly transferred to the group stage of the Europa League.
As for the losers of the “way of champions” (titled in their country), such as Apollon Limassol or Pyunik Yerevan, they will compete in another play-off to try to access C3 (August 16/17 and 23/24) .
Results of the return matches of the 3rd preliminary round of C1 played on Tuesday:
(+) PSV Eindhoven (NED) – Monaco (FRA) 3-2 (1-1 on aggregate)
Sturm Graz (AUT) – (+) Dynamo kyiv (UKR) 1-2 (0-1 first leg)
(+) Glasgow Rangers (SCO) – Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) 3-0 (0-2 first leg)
Mitdjylland (DEN) – (+) Benfica (POR) 1-3 (1-4 first leg)
Ferencvaros (HUN) – (+) Qarabag (AZE) 1-3 (1-1 à l’aller)
(+) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – Ludogorets (BUL) 4-2 (1-2 first leg)
Zalgiris (LTU) – (+) Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 1-1 (0-5 à l’aller)
Apollon Limassol (CYP) – (+) Maccabi Haifa (ISR) 2-0 (0-4 first leg)
Pyunik Yerevan (ARM) – (+) Etoile rouge Belgrade (SRB) 0-2 (0-5 à l’aller)
(+) Plzen (CZE) – Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) 2-1 (2-1 first leg)
Note: (+) indicates team qualified for C1 play-offs.
