Red Star Belgrade edges through in Champions League prelims

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Former European champion Red Star Belgrade reached the Champions League’s second qualifying round by beating Suduva of Lithuania 2-1 on Tuesday.

Red Star, the 1991 European Cup winner, also won 2-1 on aggregate by defending a two-goal lead with 10 men after defender Marko Gobeljic was sent off in the 60th minute.

The Serbian champion needs to beat three more opponents to return to the group stage, where it played last season with Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

Feronikeli failed to become the first Kosovan team to advance past the first qualifying round, losing 1-0 at home to The New Saints of Wales to go out 3-2 on aggregate.

In its European debut, Saburtalo Tbilisi advanced despite losing the second leg 3-1 at home against Sheriff Tiraspol.

Other teams advancing were HJK Helsinki — which next plays Red Star — Nomme Kalju of Estonia and Malta’s Valletta.

Celtic is among teams in action in 10 more second-leg games played Wednesday.