Benfica Crush St. Gallen, Hajduk Split Suffer Disappointment in Europa League Qualifiers

The second leg of the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round took place on Thursday. Benfica of Lisbon, who lost the first leg in Switzerland 1-2 to St. Gallen, responded with a dominant 5-0 home victory, advancing 6-2 on aggregate. Hajduk Split, after a 2-0 home win over Pafos (Cyprus), suffered a shocking 4-0 extra-time defeat away, bowing out 4-2 on aggregate. In other matches: Anderlecht (Belgium) beat Hammarby (Sweden) 3-1 (4-2 agg) after a 1-1 first leg; CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) defeated Qarabag (Azerbaijan) 5-4 on penalties after two 0-0 draws; Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) beat Tromsø (Norway) 3-1 (4-1 agg); Ferencváros (Hungary) drew 2-2 with Twente Enshede (Netherlands) to win 4-3 on aggregate; Beşiktaş (Turkey) beat Midtjylland Herning (Denmark) 2-0 (3-0 agg); Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) thrashed Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) 6-0 (6-0 agg); PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) beat Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) 2-0 (5-2 agg). The draw for the third round has been made. Notable pairings include Benfica facing Heart of Midlothian (Scotland), Pafos meeting Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), and PAOK taking on Anderlecht.