Ajax booked their place in the Champions League group stage with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Apoel Nicosia in Amsterdam. After a goalless draw in Cyprus last week, last season’s semi-finalists calmed their nerves with a goal from Edson Álvarez two minutes before the break and then, with Apoel still knowing that an away goal could send them through, Dusan Tadic made it safe with a superb individual strike 10 minutes from the end.

Second-leg home advantage also proved important for Club Brugge and Slavia Prague as they followed Ajax through.

Brugge, 1-0 up from the first leg, beat Lask Linz 2-1 although they were made to fight for it. Hans Vanaken put them ahead with a 70th minute header but Klauss’s quick response from the penalty spot put the tie on a knife edge. The away side’s captain, Gernot Trauner, was then sent off for a second yellow card and Emmanuel Bonaventure converted a late goal on the break to make absolutely sure of Brugge’s progress.

Quick Guide Champions League group stage draw Show The Champions League draw takes place at 5pm on Thursday, with 32 teams placed into eight groups of four



Pot 1 Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, B Munich, Juventus, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St Petersburg Pot 2 Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica



Pot 3 Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Internazionale, Dinamo Zagreb



Pot 4 Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille



Slavia accounted for CFR Cluj, conquerors of Celtic in the previous qualifying round, thanks to Jan Boril’s 66th-minute winner – slotted in from an angle – as they repeated a 1-0 first-leg success.

The group-stage draw takes place in Monaco on Thursday evening, when Premier League clubs Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool will also learn who their continental opponents are.