Lyon, France (My Sportsbook) - Lyon all but booked its spot in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday as the club hammered Anderlecht, 5-1 at the Stade Gerland in the first leg of a two-legged playoff.

The hosts put the game away early as they scored four times in the first half, getting goals from Miralem Pjanic, Lisandro Lopez, Michel Bastos and Bafetimbi Gomis.

Matias Suarez pulled one back for the Belgian side in the 58th minute, but Gomis added another goal five minutes later for Lyon to complete the rout.

Pjanic got things started nine minutes into the game with a well-struck free kick from the top of the box that skimmed off the bottom of the crossbar and settled into the back of the net.

It took only six minutes for the lead to double as Lopez got into the box and was brought down by goalkeeper Silvio Proto, earning himself a penalty kick that he would convert.

Bastos then scored a nice goal in the 39th minute when he took a pass on the right and fired a left-footed shot off the far post and in before Gomis was set up near the penalty spot by Lopez for a first-time finish.

The Suarez goal gave the visitors a slight glimpse of hope, but Gomis found the net for a second time to hand the French side a four-goal lead heading into the second leg in Belgium next Tuesday.

Atletico Madrid earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Panathinaikos in Greece with goals from Maxi Rodriguez, Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero, while Shlomi Arbaitman's goal in the 84th minute helped Maccabi Haifa beat Red Bull Salzburg, 2-1.

FC Zurich is in a comfortable spot after beating Ventspils, 3-0, while Debrecen slipped past Levski Sofia, 2-1 with a goal from Peter Czvitkovics in the final 15 minutes.