Ajax misery, Gladbach storm into Champions League group stage

BERNE (Reuters) - Four-times European champions Ajax missed out on the Champions League group stage after losing 4-1 to Rostov as Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach eased through on Wednesday.

Russia's Rostov, who qualified for the first time, completed a 5-2 aggregate win in the playoff tie against Dutch side Ajax who fell in the qualifying rounds for the second season running after a shock defeat by Rapid Vienna one year ago.

Raffael and Thorgan Hazard both scored hat-tricks as Gladbach mauled Swiss opponents Young Boys 6-1 to complete a 9-2 aggregate win.

Manchester City, 5-0 up from the first leg against Steaua Bucharest, completed the job when Fabian Delph's header gave them a 1-0 win in the return.

FC Copenhagen also qualified with a 1-1 draw at APOEL Nicosia to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)