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PAOK’s sights have shifted to the Conference League after suffering a dramatic defeat to RSC Anderlecht in the Europa League’s third qualifying round in a contest that had a fierce end and saw them receive two late red cards. The Thessaloniki giants fell 3-2 in Belgium on Friday morning (AEST) to lose the tie 4-2 on aggregate, eliminating them from Europa League contention in the process. The Belgian outfit opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Leo Petrot pounced on the rebound after keeper Jiri Pavlenka saved a corner header. PAOK levelled the contest soon after in the 34th minute, thanks to a header from captain Andrija Zivkovic after he met Taison’s superb cross from the left and squeezed it into the right side of the net. Anderlecht came out hot in the second half with two goals to put themselves well in front in the tie, the first goal coming in the 47th minute via Lukas Ambros’ strike into the bottom right. The second came in the 55th minute when Danylo Sikan released a stellar curling strike that rattled into the top right corner, making it 4-1 on aggregate. PAOK thought they had got themselves back into the contest in the 73rd minute when Made Camara’s shot edged just past the goal line, though VAR ruled it out for an offside in the buildup. The “black-whites” eventually scored their second in the 88th minute via Alexander Jeremejeff’s penalty when chaos ensued. PAOK’s attempt to reclaim the ball quickly clashed with Anderlecht’s effort to hold the ball, leading to a full scuffle between both sides. Zivkovic received a straight red in the aftermath (89′). The tension continued and eventually saw Jeremejeff get sent off in the 90+3rd minute, this time for protesting with the linesman over a foul decision. Both players will now miss the opening leg of their Conference League play-offs tie with SK Brann, a tie PAOK needs to win in order to have European football this season. Omonia came out on top in their Europa League tie with Lincoln Red Imps, winning 1-0 at home via Lois Diony (21′) to secure a 2-0 success on aggregate and guarantee themselves of European football this term. Pafos suffered a disappointing elimination at the hands of Red Bull Salzburg after drawing 3-3 in Cyprus, losing the tie 4-3 on aggregate. The Cypriot side put themselves ahead in the tie with two goals in the first half from Lele (15′) and Biel (37′) before Salzburg countered with three goals in response that were all scored by Haris Tabakovic (54′, 58′ pen, 70′). Earlier in the week, Olympiacos saw their Champions League dream go up in smoke after they suffered a cruel extra time defeat to NEC. The Piraeus side has qualified directly for the Europa League and so will not have to compete in the play-offs. Panathinaikos engaged in a similar situation as their Conference League tie also went into extra time, though their fortunes were much different as they held their nerve to keep their European hopes alive. The Greens will now face Hradec Kralove (who lost to Besiktas in Europa League qualifying) in the play-offs with victory a must if they wish to secure European football. Apollon Limassol became the first Greek or Cypriot side to be eliminated altogether from European qualifying after they lost their Conference League tie to Brann in extra time.