site.btaLudogorets Advances to Champions League Third Qualifying Round

Bulgarian champions Ludogorets advanced to the third qualifying round of the Champions League after eliminating Croatian champions Rijeka, 3-1, after extra time. The first leg last week ended 0-0, and Wednesday’s regular time finished 1-1. This forced the match into extra time, during which the visiting team played with two men down due to red cards shown to Gabriel Rukavina and Toni Fruk in the second half.

Ludogorets will play Ferencvarosi, who eliminated Noah Yerevan at the same time. Reaching the third round of Europe’s most prestigious tournament will secure Ludogorets at least a spot in the group stage of the Conference League. Meanwhile, Rijeka dropped into the Europa League and will face Shelbourne in the third round there.