Chelsea, Ajax advance Europe Continental Games

Ajax, Chelsea, and FCSB survived qualifying rounds in lesser European competitions on Thursday, but each faced varying degrees of challenge.

While Ajax cruised through the Europa League with a commanding 7-1 aggregate win over Jagiellonia, Chelsea found themselves sweating out a 3-2 aggregate victory against Servette in the Conference League.

Four-time champions Ajax dominated their second-tier Europa League tie, with Kian Fitz-Jim, Kenneth Taylor, and Brian Brobbey scoring in their 3-0 home win over Jagiellonia. The comfortable victory followed a dominant first-leg performance in Bialystok, securing a 7-1 aggregate win.

Romanian club FCSB, who won the 1986 European Cup as Steaua Bucharest, narrowly escaped elimination in the Europa League. Darius Olaru's late goal in added time secured a 1-0 home victory over LASK from Austria, giving FCSB a 2-1 aggregate win.

In Istanbul, Ciro Immobile continued his impressive form since joining Besiktas, scoring twice as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side thrashed Lugano from Switzerland 5-1 in the Europa League. The 8-4 aggregate win solidified Besiktas' place in the group stage.

Chelsea, competing in the third-tier Conference League, made eight changes to their starting lineup from the team that defeated Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday. Despite a 2-1 loss to Servette in Geneva, Chelsea advanced to the group stage on aggregate thanks to their 3-2 first-leg victory.