FC Lausanne qualify for Europa League
Swiss second division side FC Lausanne Sport have produced a shock by beating Russia's Lokomotiv Moscow on penalties to qualify for the Europa League group stage.
Lausanne, who are currently top of the Swiss Challenge League after finishing tenth last season, went through 4-3 on penalties in the second leg in Moscow on Thursday night.
Held 1-1 in last week’s first leg in Switzerland, Lausanne took the lead with a header by Brazilian Silvio in the 17th minute and held their lead until Alexander Aliyev levelled five minutes from time with a deflected free kick to level the aggregate score at 2-2.
No goals followed in added time and it was Lausanne who won 4-3 on penalties.
“We’re a small team from the Swiss second division so getting into the Europa League is a big achievement for us,” Lausanne coach Martin Rueda said. Lausanne has a reported annual budget of around SFr4 million ($3.9 million).
In the group stage Lausanne will now play against CSKA Moscow, the Italian side of Palermo and Sparta Prague.
The only other Swiss club in competition, Young Boys of Bern are pitted against Stuttgart, the Spanish team of Getafe and Odense of Denmark.
Young Boys had failed to qualifiy for the Champions League after losing 6-3 to Tottenham Hotspur on aggregate.
swissinfo.ch with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.