Fenerbahçe to continue their campaign in Europa League

Fenerbahçe were eliminated Wednesday from the UEFA Champions League after being beaten by French team AS Monaco 3-1 in the second-leg match in France in the third qualifying round. As a result Fenerbahçe have not been able to clear the third-round hurdle to qualify for playoffs five consecutive times. The Istanbul side will continue their campaign in the UEFA Europa League.

Monaco played host to the Turkish giants at the Stade Louis II looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg and they wasted little time in opening the scoring before going on to win 3-1 on the night and progress to the play-offs. Falcao, wearing the captain's armband, played in strike partner Valere Germain and his shot beat goalkeeper Ertuğrul Taşkıran low at his near post to give Monaco a third-minute lead. The hosts then won a penalty when Nabil Dirar was brought down by Hasan Ali Kaldırım and Falcao - who had scored in the first leg - sent the 'keeper the wrong way from the spot to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute. However, the Colombian then came off with a hamstring injury just before the interval and Fenerbahçe fought back after the break.

Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike, scorer of a brace in the first leg, hit the bar before squaring the tie on aggregate in the 53rd minute when he turned in Martin Skrtel's low cross from six yards with the home defense appealing for offside. Nevertheless Monaco were not to be denied and Dirar set up Germain to lash in and take Leonardo Jardim's men through 4-3 on aggregate. Elsewhere, Moussa Dembele's late penalty gave Celtic a last-gasp 2-1 win against Astana and booked them a place in the Champions League play-off round. Celtic will now be seeded for the play-off round and could come up against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria, FC Copenhagen, Hapoel Beer-Sheva of Israel or Irish surprise package Dundalk. Possible opponents for Monaco in the play-offs are Manchester City, Porto, Villarreal, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Ajax.