Celtic’s Champions League hopes ended amid some controversy as a 2-0 defeat by Malmo at the Swedbank Stadion put the Swedish side through to the group stages on a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Spain became the first nation to have five teams in the Champions League group stage in a single season after Valencia squeezed past Monaco 4-3 on aggregate in the playoff round despite a 2-1 defeat at the French side yesterday.

Valencia joined holders Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who gained an automatic berth as last season’s winners of the second-tier Europa League.

On a night of pulsating action, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Shakhtar Donetsk also booked money-spinning group stage spots in Europe’s premier club competition.

Leading 3-2 from the first leg of their play-off clash in Glasgow, the visitors fell behind to a goal from skipper Markus Rosenberg who was banned for the first leg.

However, just before the interval Parkhead midfielder Nir Bitton had the ball in the net from a corner only for Serbian referee Milorad Mazic to award a foul to the home side.

It appeared a harsh decision and there was more woe in the 54th minute when Malmo grabbed their second goal with a header from substitute Felipe Carvalho which Hoops defender Dedryck Boyata could only divert over the line.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila had passed up on two chances to qualify for European football’s elite club competition last season and yet another failure is set to cost the club upwards of £15m.

Croatians Dinamo qualified for the third time in the past five seasons, beating Skenderbeu 4-1 at home to complete a 6-2 overall win.

A nervy 2-2 home draw with Rapid Vienna saw Shakhtar through after a 1-0 win in the first leg while Maccabi edged out Basel on away goals.

Champions League – play-offs