Lille beat Copenhagen, Champions group phase

Lille overcame FC Copenhagen in extra time to qualify for the group phase of the Champions League on Wednesday, but while Celtic swept past Helsingborg, there was disappointment for Borussia Moenchengladbach. Lille had been left shell-shocked by their 1-0 loss in Copenhagen last week but they took a 43rd-minute lead at their new Grand Stade home when Lucas Digne tucked away his first goal from the club from Salomon Kalou’s low cross. Tulio de Melo almost doubled the hosts’ lead in the 84th minute, only for his header to hit the crossbar, but the Brazilian atoned in extra time by converting Nolan Roux’s cross to give the 2011 French champions a 2-1 aggregate win. Rudi Garcia’s side can now look forward to Champions League football in their purpose-built 50,000-seater stadium, and they will learn the identities of their future opponents in group-stage draw in Monaco. “I’m happy for (club president) Michel Seydoux, not because of the financial implications but for the collective emotions,” said Lille coach Garcia. “The fans were magnificent and they really pushed us. We’ll be in the draw. We have to savour it and congratulate the players, because they were really great.” Moenchengladbach, beaten finalists in 1977, had been bidding to reach the group phase for the first time in the Champions League era but they narrowly missed out on qualification after losing 2-1 at Dynamo Kiev. Having gone down 3-1 at home in the first leg, they managed to level the tie thanks to a 70th-minute own goal from Yevhen Khacheridi and a Juan Arango header eight minutes later. It took Lucien Favre’s team to within a goal of a place in the group stage, but the next goal came for the home side, Nigerian striker Ideye Brown running clear and coolly chipping Marc-Andre ter Stegen to secure Dynamo’s passage.