Inter, Liverpool, Marseille all advance
Former European champions Inter Milan, Liverpool and Marseille all sealed their places in the Europa League playoffs on Thursday.
Inter produced the least convincing performance of the night, losing 2-0 to Hajduk Split of Croatia at San Siro in its second leg match of the third qualifying round. However, it went through with a 3-2 victory on aggregate.
Liverpool won 3-0 over Gomel of Belarus, following a 1-0 away win, while Marseille also won 3-0 against Eskisehirspor, qualifying 4-1 on aggregate after being held to a 1-1 draw in Turkey.
Last season's finalist Athletic Bilbao lost 2-1 to Slaven Koprivnica but reached Friday's playoff round draw with a 4-3 aggregate win.
Winners of the playoff round, to be played Aug. 23 and 30, will qualify for the group stage.