Ferencváros now Hungary’s sole European contestant

Already 3-1 up after the first leg, Ferencváros came close to making the tie safe in the opening moments of their second leg tie against Valletta at the Centenary Stadium, Michal Škvarka hitting the post after goalkeeper Henry Bonello had failed to hold an Oleksandr Zubkov effort. Valletta took the lead in the 27th minute despite only having threatened sporadically, Mario Fontanella scoring with a penalty after Gergő Lovrencsics had upended Kevin Tulimieri in the box.

Knowing that another Valletta goal would put them in danger of going out on away goals, Ferencváros seemed content to play on the counter and it was from one such move that they levelled the scores on the night – scoring a crucial away goal in the process – as Tokmac Nguen carried the ball forward and curled the ball into the right-corner of the net from outside the box in the 60th minute. A visibly more relaxed Ferencváros played out the final thirty minutes, only heroics from Bonello and bad luck preventing the Budapest side from scoring again as they eased through 4-2 on aggregate.

Ferencváros now face Croatians Dinamo Zagreb in the third round with the first leg at the Stadion Maksimir on Tuesday 6 August and the return leg a week later at the Groupama Aréna. Should Ferencváros make it past Dinamo, they will participate in the Champions League play-off round, whereas if they fail to progress, they will drop into the Europa League play-off round. The draw for the play-off rounds will be made by UEFA on Monday 5 August.

Hungarian teams had less luck in the Europa League, all three being knocked out of the competition. Fehérvár missed out on a potential tie with Eintracht Frankfurt in round three as they crashed out at the hands of Vaduz of Liechtenstein who play in the Swiss second division. 1-0 down from the first leg in Felcsút, Vaduz drew level after an hour, Serbian midfielder Milan Gajić scoring with a penalty after he’d been fouled in the box by Loïc Nego.

Ákos Elek and Marko Šćepović came close to scoring for Fehérvár late on, but with no further goals the match went to extra time. Vaduz went two up on the night in the 100th minute, Senegalese forward Mohamed Coulibaly firing past Ádám Kovácsik from just inside the box after sprinting half the length of the pitch. Fehérvár played the last fourteen minutes of the match a man-up – Gianni Antoniazzi picking up a second yellow card – but were unable to breach the Vaduz rearguard as they crashed out 2-1 on aggregate.

Debrecen, 3-0 down from the away leg in Alessandria, had any faint hopes of progression snuffed out as Simone Zaza fired Toro ahead in the 25th minute in front of a crowd of over 15,000 at the Nagyerdei Stadion.

Armando Izzo scored from close-range seven minutes later to leave Loki requiring an unlikely six second-half goals if they were to make a comeback. They did restore some pride as Haruna Garba headed home a Kevin Varga cross not long after the break, but that was as close as they got, Andrea Belotti slotting home Torino’s third in the 69th minute and Vincenzo Millico completed the scoring in injury time as Torino won 4-1 on the night and 7-1 on aggregate.

Honvéd, meanwhile, will be awaiting a reply from UEFA to an appeal the club lodged on Friday against the result of their match against Universitatea Craiova. Goalless after the first leg played at ETO Park in Győr, the second leg at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco also finished 0-0, Craiova triumphing 3-1 on penalties. One minute before the end of extra time however, referee Arnold Hunter was hurt as objects, including a firecracker, were thrown from behind the goal by Craiova supporters. A delay of thirty minutes ensued during which Hunter received medical treatment and, unable to continue, the fourth official took over for the final minute of play and the penalty shootout. As things stand, Universitatea Craiova are due to play AEK Athens in round three.

Champions League round two, second leg

Valletta 1-1 Ferencváros (2-4 on aggregate)

Goalscorers: VAL: Fontanella (27’ pen); FER: Nguen (60’)

Europa League round two, second leg

Vaduz 2-0 Fehérvár (aet, 2-1 on aggregate)

Goalscorers: Gajić (60’), Coulibaly (100’)

Debrecen 1-4 Torino (1-7 on aggregate)

Goalscorers: DEB: Garba (52’); TOR: Zaza (25’), Izzo (32’), Belotti (69’), Millico (92’)

Universitatea Craiova 0-0 Honvéd (aet, 0-0 on aggregate, Craiova win 3-1 on penalties)