Bayern advance, Arsenal's place on the line

Bayern Munich advanced to the Champions League group stage yesterday, winning 1-0 at FC Zurich to complete a 3-0 aggregate victory in the play-off round.

Bayern, a four-time European champion, had a comfortable evening in Switzerland after Mario Gomez finished a simple breakaway move in the seventh minute.

In other play-offs, Giuseppe Rossi's two second-half goals helped lift Villarreal to a 3-1 aggregate win over Odense; and Dinamo Zagreb and APOEL also advanced to the group stage.

Five more play-offs will conclude today to complete the 32-team Champions League line-up.

Arsenal take a 1-0 lead to Udinese, Lyon have a 3-1 advantage in Russia against Rubin Kazan and Czech champion Viktoria Plzen defend a 3-1 lead at home to Copenhagen.

Benfica host FC Twente after a 2-2 draw in the Netherlands and Sturm Graz resume in Austria at 1-1 against BATE Borisov of Belarus.

UEFA conducts the draw in Monaco tomorrow.

Extra incentive

Bayern have an extra incentive to succeed this season as their home stadium will host the final next May.

Bayern's plans were disrupted when coach Jupp Heynckes left Arjen Robben on the bench, after the Netherlands winger felt a recurrence of back pains.

Zurich are off to a slow start in the Swiss league but threatened in the fifth minute when Amine Chermiti fired a left-foot shot just wide from 20 yards.

Two minutes later, the Swiss defence was exposed by a simple ball to Bayern forward Thomas Mueller on the right touchline. Mueller sent Gomez clear in the middle and the big forward slotted the ball low inside goalkeeper Johnny Leoni's right hand post.

Villarreal's 3-0 win over Odense overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit, but only after failing to convert early dominance into goals.

Rossi levelled the tie in the 50th minute, forcing home Nilmar's cross from the right; and 16 minutes later the Italy forward connected on Cani's cross with a left-foot volley.

Both teams were then reduced to 10 men. Odense's Bashkim Kadrii collected a second yellow card, and Villarreal's Borja Valero got a straight red for butting Andrea Johansson in the chest.

Substitute Carlos Marchena 82nd-minute shot crept into the net due to a mistake by the otherwise excellent Odense goalkeeper Stefan Wessels.

APOEL of Cyprus needed an 87th-minute goal from Brazilian forward Ailton, his second, to secure a 3-1 win on the night, 3-2 on aggregate, against Poland's Wisla Krakow.

Croatian champion Zagreb advanced 4-3 on aggregate despite a bold comeback by Sweden's Malmo, who were 2-0 winners yesterday with goals from Wilton Figueiredo in the 69th and Pontus Jansson in the 86th.