Inter, Liverpool, Marseille all advance

Inter, Liverpool, Marseille all advance

Published Aug. 9, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

Winners of the playoff round, to be played Aug. 23 and 30, will qualify for the group stage.

share