Champions League Playoffs: Reviewing Each of Tuesday's Games

Frenzied action and opportunistic exploits from a couple away sides marked Tuesday's Champions League playoffs.

Five matches were on the books, and by the time the dust had settled, Glasgow Celtic and Dynamo Kiev had emerged as the day's biggest winners, with Romanian league title holders CFR Cluj-Napoca close behind.

Following Wednesday's second batch of first-legs, the return fixtures will continue next week. Sides that played on Tuesday will thus play eight days later, on Wednesday.

Here's a look at how the results fell.

Helsingborg 0-2 Celtic

Striker Giorgios Samaras provided an assist in the first half and a goal in the second as Celtic withstood an attacking onslaught from the Swedish hosts to emerge with a priceless two-goal advantage ahead of next week's return leg in Glasgow.

It was the latest batch of exploits in the competition from the No. 9, who had finished off HJK Helsinki, Celtic's opponents in the last round of qualifying, with a goal to put the aggregate well and truly out of reach at 4-1.

Samaras's bending left-footed cross picked out Kris Commons in just the second minute, with Commons employing an acrobatic volley back across Par Hansson's goal to put the Bhoys up 1-0.

Both men were joined on the list of stalwarts for the men in white and green (no sponsor on the night, however) by keeper Fraser Forster, whose brilliant saves during the first half helped Celtic maintain their lead, if somewhat precariously.

The Greek added a header in the 75th minute to double the lead and sink Helsingborg's hopes, which had been building along with the side's momentum in a second half they had thoroughly dominated.

A lack of quality in the final third cost the hosts dearly, however, seen most glaringly in the first half when Loret Sadiku had a wide-open breakaway on goal following a terrible scuffed clearance from Adam Matthews.

Fortune favors those who convert, as Celtic will be happy to attest. Qualification in the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2008 now seems all but assured.

Borussia Monchengladbach 1-3 Dynamo Kiev

And it had all started off so well for the German hosts.

Alexander Ring netted in just the 13th minute, and according to the ever-astute Rafael Honigstein, Monchengladbach had their tactics in order. They looked poised to punch the first hole in their ticket toward the group stages.

But goals from Taras Mikhalik (28') and Andriy Yarmilenko (36'), the results of some poor individual defending from the hosts, pushed Dynamo Kiev into the driver's seat, a position they further solidified after Luuk de Jong's own goal in the 81st minute put Monchengladbach down 3-1.

Signed this July from FC Twente, where the de Jong had amassed 39 goals in 75 appearances over the past two seasons, the Dutch striker had a dastardly European debut at his new place of employ.

He will recover, of course—his immense quality and nose for goal almost guarantee that—but that third conceded goal could prove crippling next week as Monchengladbach search for a big win in Kiev.

Spartak Moscow 2-1 Fenerbahce

Dirk Kuyt's 65th-minute goal had brought the visitors from Istanbul back to 1-1, but Dimitry Kombarov's strike four minutes later would prove the match-winner for Spartak.

The Dutch striker, signed this summer from Liverpool, has flourished in his brief time at Fenerbache, notching a brace in the last round of Champions League qualifying and finding his footing at the forward position.

The loss on the road is not altogether crippling, and Kuyt's away goal tonight could prove decisive should Fenerbache respond with a win next week at their cauldron of a stadium on the eastern banks of the Bosphorus.

FC Basel 1-2 CFR Cluj-Napoca

Winners of the Swiss Super League—the country's top tier—for the third consecutive season in 2012, the club that had proved so tricky for Manchester United in last season's Champions League group stages before sending shockwaves throughout Munich when they defeated Bayern 1-0 in the Round of 16 first leg (they did lose 7-0 in the return), were undone Tuesday by Moudou Sougou's brace for the Romanian visitors.

Marco Streller, one of the heroes on the European stage last season for Basel, netted in the 44th minute, but the advantage dissolved thanks to Sougou's rapid-fire goals in the 65th and 70th minutes.

Basel can no longer call upon the left-footed ingenuity of Xherdan Shaqiri, one of the biggest thorns in opposing sides last season. The Swiss midfielder was sold to Bayern, who had seen his ability first-hand last season, for £10 million this summer.

Incidentally, that transfer's February completion came just weeks before Basel faced the German giants in the knockout stages.

FC Copenhagen 1-0 Lille

Lille's best spell came in the first 15 minutes of the second half, when they had the Danish hosts on their heels—a span exemplified by three consecutive corners conceded by Copenhagen—but the French side were unable to capitalize upon the advantage and slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the Parken Stadium.

Cesar Santin's header in the 38th minute had put his side ahead, taking full advantage of Dimitri Payet's penalty miss for Lille in the 14th minute.

Lille will welcome Copenhagen back next week to their gleaming new stadium, which has just opened for this season.