Goals flow as Liverpool, Sporting reach group stage

Liverpool scored three goals in 12 dramatic first-half minutes, two of them from Emre Can, on their way to a hugely entertaining 4-2 win over Hoffenheim which took them back to the Champions League group stage after a two-season absence on Wednesday. Portugal's Sporting also went on the rampage, scoring four times in the last half hour to beat former European champions Steaua Bucharest, now known as FCSB, 5-1 away after they had been held 0-0 at home in the first leg. Qarabag became the first team from Azerbaijan to reach the group stage when they qualified on away goals after losing 2-1 away to FC Copenhagen, while APOEL Nicosia and CSKA Moscow also went through.

FULL-TIME!! #QarabağFK are in the Group Stages of the @ChampionsLeague

Congratulations, boys! We made history tonight!#makehiStoryQarabağ pic.twitter.com/ksUmt8EDUx— Qarabağ FK (@FK_Qarabagh) August 23, 2017

Liverpool, 6-3 winners on aggregate, last played in the group stage in 2014-15 and their presence means the English Premier League will have five of the 32 teams after Manchester United qualified as Europa League winners. Liverpool, already leading 2-1 from the first leg, looked like scoring every time they attacked against Hoffenheim and could easily have hit double figures although their defence looked vulnerable. Can broke through in the 10th minute when his shot was deflected off Kevin Vogt and beat Oliver Baumann inside his near post, the start of a long night for the Hoffenheim goalkeeper. Mohamed Salah stroked in the second in the 18th minute when Georginio Wijnaldum's shot hit the post and rebounded to the Egyptian in an unmarked position, then Can, also left alone, turned in Robert Firmino's pass three minutes later.

FT Liverpool 4-2 Hoffenheim (6-3) Liverpool are the fifth Premier League into the #UCL group stages.https://t.co/CME9jMlKTR #LIVHOF pic.twitter.com/IRHcXPBnlh— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 23, 2017

Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann quickly made a tactical substitution, replacing Havard Nordtveit with Mark Uth, who almost immediately pulled one back with an angled shot. The Germans began to look threatening as Serge Gnabry twice went close and Uth forced Simon Mignolet to prevent a second goal which could have changed the complexion of the game. Firmino ended Hoffenheim's hopes in the 64th minute with an easy finish after Vogt was dispossessed by Jordan Henderson, before Sandro Wagner headed one more for Hoffenheim. Seydou Doumbia gave Sporting an early lead in Bucharest but Brazilian Junior Morais quickly replied for Steaua, who then put the visitors under pressure. The turning point came on the hour when Marcos Acuna latched onto a Bruno Fernandes through ball, goalkeeper Florin Nita was caught in no man's land and the Argentine scored coolly. FCSB lost their composure as Gelson Martins, Bas Dost and Rodrigo Battaglia added further goals.

Bas Dost has now scored 29 goals in his last 25 games across all competitions for Sporting. Goalscoring machine. pic.twitter.com/ABxGSthRW3— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2017

South African Dino Ndlovu was Qarabag's hero as he scored in the 63rd minute, his fourth goal of the competition, to cancel out Federico Santander's scrambled opener for FC Copenhagen on the stroke of halftime.

History! Dino Ndlovu's goal v Copenhagen that saw Qarabag become the first ever team from Azerbaijan to reach the #UCL group stages. ??⚽️ pic.twitter.com/ys6OZzVzzC— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) August 23, 2017

Andrija Pavlovic rekindled Copenhagen's hopes by scoring in the 66th minute but Qarabag held out for a 2-2 aggregate draw to qualify on away goals thanks to Ndlovu's effort. Georgi Shchennikov and Alan Dzagoev gave CSKA Moscow a 2-0 win over Young Boys (3-0 on aggregate) and APOEL Nicosia's 0-0 draw at Slavia Prague was enough for them to qualify for the third time (2-0) and complete the line-up for Thursday's draw in Monaco.

RESULTS Bravo to @LFC, @FKQarabagh, @Sporting_CP, @pfc_cska & @apoelfcofficial - you're in tomorrow's #UCLdraw! ??? pic.twitter.com/X6OoTLTKLS— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 23, 2017

RESULTSSlavia Prague 0 APOEL 0APOEL win 2-0 on aggregateFC Copenhagen 2 (Santander 45, Pavlovic 66) Qarabag 1 (Ndlovu 63)2-2 on aggregate; Qarabag win on away goalsFCSB 1 (Junior Morais 20) Sporting Lisbon 5 (Doumbia 13, Acuna 60, Gelson Martins 64, Dost 75, Battaglia 88)Sporting Lisbon win 5-1 on aggregateLiverpool 4 (Can 10, 21, Salah 18, Firmino 63) Hoffenheim 2 (Uth 28, Wagner 79)Liverpool win 6-3 on aggregateCSKA Moscow 2 (Schennikov 45, Dzagoev 65) Young Boys 0CSKA Moscow win 3-0 on aggregate