year wait for an away victory in Europe on Wednesday, the former European champion winning 2-0 at Dinamo Moscow to seal a place in the playoff round for the Champions League group stages. Moldovan champion FC Sheriff Tiraspol joined it in dramatic fashion after a last-gasp goal from Nadson earned it a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague and an away goals win but there was no such joy for Shakhtar Donetsk. The UEFA Cup holder made a surprise exit, going out on away goals after a 0-0 draw in Romania against FC Timisoara meant its third qualifying round tie ended 2-2 on aggregate. Belarus side BATE Borisov, which played in the group stages last season, endured a similar fate as it also went out on away goals against Latvians FK Ventspils. Sergei Krivets scored twice for BATE as it won 2-1 at home on the night but Igor Tigirlas's early strike proved crucial for Ventspils who won the first leg 1-0. Champions League regulars Olympiakos Piraeus beat Slovan Bratislava 2-0 to complete a 4-0 aggregate victory. It was joined in the playoff round by Bulgarians Levski Sofia, Hungarian champions Debrecen, FC Copenhagen, Cypriots Apoel Nicosia and FC Zurich which won 3-0 against NK Maribor in Slovenia after losing the home leg 3-2. Celtic manager Tony Mowbray snapped an embarrassing away record for the Glasgow side at the first time of asking. Scott McDonald's header on the stroke of halftime and a stoppage time goal from Greek striker Georgios Samaras gave Celtic a 2-1 aggregate victory after Mowbray's first competitive game in charge last week ended in a 1-0 defeat against the Russians. Shabab routs Abha 4-0 Al-Shabab routed Abha 4-0 in a 6-team Elite Tournament match in Abha, Wednesday. In the other match of the evening Al-Wehda thrashed Al-Hilal 3-0. The next matches are scheduled for Friday when Al-Wehda will take on Al-Hazm and Abha willface Al-Ittifaq. Alonso signing ends Real spending spree Real Madrid says it has finally wrapped up its mega pre-season spending spree with the transfer of Xavi Alonso from Liverpool. “With this signing, the chapter is now closed on transfers,” the club's technical director Jorge Valdano said late on Tuesday after Liverpool announced it had agreed an undisclosed transfer fee with Real for the 27-year-old midfielder. “Before the start of the pre-season, the coach (Manuel Pellegrini) told us it was necessary to strengthen two positions: the defense and the midfield, and that is what we have done,” he said. Alonso completed his transfer to Real Wednesday. He passed his routine medical to become Madrid's eighth signing. Liverpool will receive a reported fee of $43 million for the Spain international. Real's total recruitment outlay this summer totals almost 266 million euros.
