SPARTA PRAGUE survived a scare against Danish side Sonderjyske, coming from behind in the Czech capital to prevail 3-2 on the night and on aggregate to secure their spot in the Europa League group stages.
After a goalless first leg, Mikael Uhre and Troels Klove put the Danes ahead, but Sparta responded through David Lafata and Josef Sural before Jakub Brabec netted the winner five minutes from time.
BATE Borisov were unable to turn around their tie against Astana, being held 2-2 in Belarus to go out 4-2. Mikhail Gordeichuk gave Borisov early hope of turning around the tie but Nemanja Maksimovic and Patrick Twumasi made sure for the Kazakhstani side before Igor Stasevich scored a late penalty consolation for the hosts, who also had Aleksei Rios sent off.
Azerbaijani side Qarabag overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to progress at the expense of Gothenburg. Goals from Rashad Sadygov, Muarem Muarem and Dani Quintana gave them a 3-0 win in Baku. Fenerbahce completed a straightforward victory over Grasshoppers, winning 2-0 in Zurich for a 5-0 aggregate success with late goals from Fernandao and Miroslav Stoch.
