After Glasgow Rangers’ elimination from the Champions League on Tuesday, it was RSC Anderlecht’s turn to make an unexpected exit a day later.
The Belgians visited Belarus to make up for a 2-1 defeat by BATE Borisov last week. But the hosts soon took the lead, with Bliznyuk opening the score after 18 minutes.
Biglia levelled from the penalty spot four minutes later, but this still wasn’t enough for the guests to make their way through to the third preliminary round. Their situation wasn’t made any easier either by Rnic’s red card in the 71st minute.
Rodionov decided the clash for BATE in the 83rd minute, although Polak temporarily brought back the tension with his equaliser in the 85th minute. No more goals were scored though and the Belarusians surprisingly go through to the next round.
Other clubs to make it to the next round:
Partizan Beograd
Dynamo Kyiv
Brann Bergen
Artmedia
Sparta Prague
Aalborg
Wisla Krakow
Fenerbahce
FC Basel
Anorthosis
Dinamo Zagreb
Panathinaikos
