AC Milan Captures UEFA Super Cup In Emotional Contest

At Louis II Stadium, Monaco:

AC Milan, with goals from Filippo Inzaghi (55', pictured here), Marek Jankulovski (62'), and Kaka (87'), defeated defending cupholders Sevilla 3-1 to win the UEFA Super Cup on Friday. Renato put the Spanish club ahead 1-0 with his 14th-minute tally. The match was dedicated to Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta, who passed away on Tuesday, three days after collapsing on the field in a La Liga home match against Getafe. For the Rossoneri, it was their fifth Super Cup triumph. Photo © Getty Images

UEFA Cup Draw Results

For you UEFA Cup fans out there, here are the matchups for the first round of the 2007-08 tournament as determined from Friday's draw in Monaco:

2007/08 UEFA Cup first round Team named first at home first (reversals tbc) 1st leg: 20 September 2nd leg: 4 October

FC Midtjylland (DEN) v FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS)

FC Groningen (NED) v ACF Fiorentina (ITA)

FK Rabotnicki (MKD) v Bolton Wanderers FC (ENG)

Sevilla FC (ESP, holders) / AEK Athens FC (GRE)** v FC Salzburg (AUT)

1. FC Nürnberg (GER) v AFC Rapid Bucureşti (ROU)

Everton FC (ENG) v FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)

FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) v R. Standard de Liège (BEL)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) v UD Leiria (POR)

Villarreal CF (ESP) v FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

FC Sion (SUI) v Galatasaray SK (TUR)

Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) v Kayseri Erciyesspor (TUR)

FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) v Tampere United (FIN)

Panathinaikos FC (GRE) v FC Artmedia Petržalka (SVK)

AC Sparta Praha (CZE) v Odense BK (DEN)

FC Zürich (SUI) v Empoli FC (ITA)

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (FRA) v Panionios GSS (GRE)

SK Rapid Wien (AUT) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)

FC Paços de Ferreira (POR) v AZ Alkmaar (NED)

UC Sampdoria (ITA) v Aalborg BK (DEN)

FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) v BK Häcken (SWE)

Hammarby (SWE) v SC Braga (POR)

Larissa FC (GRE) v Blackburn Rovers FC (ENG)

FK Mladá Boleslav (CZE) v US Città di Palermo (ITA)

NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v AFC Ajax (NED)

Stade Rennais FC (FRA) v PFC Lokomotiv Sofia (BUL)

SK Brann (NOR) v Club Brugge KV (BEL)

FC Bayern München (GER) v CF Os Belenenses (POR)

Aberdeen FC (SCO) v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)

SC Heerenveen (NED) v Helsingborgs IF (SWE)

Toulouse FC (FRA) v PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL)

Hamburger SV (GER) v PFC Litex Lovech (BUL)

FK Sarajevo (BIH) v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)

FK Austria Wien (AUT) v Vålerenga IF (NOR)

AIK Solna (SWE) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)

Aris Thessaloniki FC (GRE) v Real Zaragoza (ESP)

FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti (ROU) v IF Elfsborg (SWE)

Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) v Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)

RC Lens (FRA) v FC København (DEN)

Getafe CF (ESP) v FC Twente (NED)

Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski (POL) v FK Crvena Zvezda* (SRB) *AKA Red Star Belgrade **Sevilla and AEK Athens will play the second leg of their two-game UEFA Champions League qualifying series at Athens on Monday, September 3, with the winner moving to the UCL Group Stage and the loser to play FC Red Bull Salzburg in the first proper round of the UEFA Cup. Sevilla currently holds a 2-0 advantage on aggregate. This game was to have been played on Tuesday but was postponed due to the passing of Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta.

UEFA Cup Qualifying Concludes

Thursday marked the conclusion of the second round of qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup. The winners of these 32 two-game series advanced to the first round proper of the competition, to be joined by the 16 clubs who lost their UEFA Champions League third-qualifying-round series.

We have a roundup of three games:

At Genoa, Italy:

Sampdoria wrapped up a spot in the first round proper of the UEFA cup, thanks to their 1-1 home draw with Hajduk Split, which combined with their earlier road win two weeks ago, gave the hosts the series 2-1 on aggregate.

At Hamburg, Germany:

Two weeks following their scoreless draw at Budapest, Hamburg erupted for four goals on Thursday to hammer Honved 4-0 for the game and two-set series.

At Lens, France:

In Jean-Pierre Papin's debut as their new manager, RC Lens hammered visiting BSC Young B0ys 5-1 in game two to win their two-game series 6-2 on aggregate.

Results From UCL Group Stage Draw

Okay, friends and neighbors, here are the results from Thursday draw for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League Group Stage which took place in Monaco (the action starts on September 18 and 19):

Group A
Team
Liverpool - Eng
Porto - Por
Marseille - Fra
Besiktas - Tur

Group B
Team
Chelsea - Eng
Valencia - Spa
Schalke - Ger
Rosenborg - Nor

Group C
Team
Real Madrid - Spa
Werder Bremen - Ger
Lazio - Ita
Olympiakos - Gre

Group D
Team
AC Milan - Ita
Benfica - Por
Celtic - Sco
Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukr

Group E
Team
Barcelona - Spa
Lyon - Fra
Stuttgart - Ger
Rangers - Sco

Group F
Team
Manchester United - Eng
Roma - Ita
Sporting Lisbon - Por
Dynamo Kiev - Ukr

Group G
Team
Inter Milan - Ita
PSV Eindhoven - Hol
CSKA Moscow - Rus
Fenerbahce - Tur

Group H
Team
Arsenal - Eng
Sevilla or AEK Athens* - Spa/Gre
Steaua Bucharest - Rom
Slavia Prague - Cze *Sevilla's second third-qualiying-round match with AEK Athens, originally scheduled for this past Tuesday, has been re-scheduled for this coming Monday, in Athens, Greece.

Pachuca Captures SuperLiga Crown In Shootout Thriller

At Carson, California:

After a 1-1 draw at the final of the inaugural North American SuperLiga, Mexican club Pachuca defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy by winning the penalty-kick shootout 4-3. The Galaxy's David Beckham suffered a knee injury and could be out of action for six weeks.

12 UEFA Champions League Qualifying Series Conclude

Twelve third-qualifying-round two-game series concluded Wednesday with the winners heading into the group stage of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League, and the losers heading for UEFA Cup competition.

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Ismael Bangoura scored twice (12', 76') to help Dynamo Kiev finish off FK Sarajevo by beating the visitors 3-0 in game two of their series and claim the two-game set on aggregate 4-0.

At Brussels, Belgium:

Following their 1-0 home win two weeks ago, Fenerbahce locked up a UCL Group Stage berth, defeating RSC Anderlecht 2-0 on the road to wrap up their series 3-0 on aggregate. Mateja Kezman (2') and Alex De Souza (77') provided the goals.

At London:

Tomas Rosicky (7'), Cesc Fabergas (82'), and Eduardo Da Silva (89') each scored a goal to propel Arsenal into the UCL Group Stage as the Gunners dispatched Sparta Prague both in game two of their series, 3-0 at home, and 5-0 on aggregate for the series.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Matias Delgado provided both goals (57', 66') as Besiktas rang up a 2-0 home win over FC Zurich and win their two-game set 3-1 on aggregate.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Thanks to goals from Dorel Zaharia (12') and Adrian Neaga (63'), Steaua Bucharest rang up a 2-0 home win to win their two-game set with BATE Borisov 4-2 on aggregate.

At Donetsk, Ukraine:

With goals from Christiano Lucarelli (9'), Nery Castillo (PK-78'), and Brandau (86'), FC Shaktar Donetsk bounced back from losing their series opener to defeat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-1 and take their two-game set 3-2 on aggregate to reach the UCL Group Stage again.

At Boras, Sweden:

Valencia, powered by tallies courtesy of Ivan Helguera (5') and David Villa (90'), finished off IF Elfsborg by beating the Swedish club 2-1 on the road and taking their two-game set on aggregate 5-1.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Kostas Katsouranis scored the only goal (18') of SL Benfica's 1-0 road win over FC Copenhagen, enabling the Portuguese club to take their two-game series 3-1 on aggregate and return to the UCL Group Stage.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

As was the case two weeks ago in Moscow, Spartak Moscow and Celtic battled to a 1-1 draw in game two with Scott McDonald putting the Bhoys ahead with his 27th-minute goal. Roman Pavluchenko equalized at 45 minutes for the Red-Whites. After thirty scoreless overtime minutes, the series was decided in the penalty-kick shootout, which Celtic won 4-3, enabling the Hoops to reach the UCL Group Stage.

At Zagreb, Croatia:

In game two of their two-game set, Werder Bremen defeated hosts Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 to take the series on aggregate 5-3. Boubacar Sanogo's score (40') was sandwiched between two successful Diego penalty kicks (13', 68').

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Thanks to two goals from Stanislav Vlcek (22', 86'), Slavia Prague reached the UCL Group Stage for the first time, knocking off visiting Ajax Amsterdam 2-1 in game two, and taking the series on aggregate 3-1.

At Trondheim, Norway:

Rosenborg finished off Tampere United 2-0 at home in game two, thus winning their two-game set 5-0 on aggregate. Marek Sapara (45') and Didier Konan (49') scored for the hosts.

Liverpool, Rangers, and Lazio Reach Champions League Group Stage

Three games were played on Tuesday as the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League was in its' final week.

At Liverpool, England:

Thanks to an offensive barrage consisting of goals from Peter Crouch (19'), Sami Hyypia (49') and Dirk Kuyt (87', 90'), Liverpool qualified for the Group Stage of the UCL as they belted visiting Toulouse 4-0 in the second game of their third qualifying round series and took the series 5-0 on aggregate.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Visiting Rangers locked up a UCL Group Stage berth with their second-game 0-0 draw with Red Star Belgrade, enabling the Scottish club to take the two-game set 1-0 on aggregate.

At Bucharest, Romania:

After settling for a 1-1 home draw in their previous encounter with Dinamo Bucharest, and trailing 1-0 on the road in game two, Lazio bounced back with three second-half goals to take the game 3-1, and the series on aggregate 4-2. Tommaso Rocchi scored twice (47', 67') and Goran Pandev added one (55') for the Group Stage-bound Young Eagles.

Sevilla Midfielder Passes Away Three Days After Saturday Collapse

At Seville, Spain:

Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta passed away on Tuesday, three days after collapsing on the field during his team's Spanish League season-opening home match against Getafe. Mr. Puerta was 22 years old.

Sevilla's scheduled Tuesday second match of their UEFA Champions League qualifying series against AEK Athens, to be played at Athens, was postponed until next Monday.

UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round Series-Openers

Thursday marked the opening day of second-round qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup tournament.

Here's a rundown of five of the thirty-two contests:

At Split, Croatia:

Hugo Campagnaro scored the lone goal (42') of Sampdoria's 1-0 series-opening road win over Hajduk Split.

At Anjalankoski, Finland:

Roque Santa Cruz celebrated his birthday by scoring the only goal (6') in Blackburn's 1-0 road win over MyPa in game one.

At Budapest, Hungary:

Visiting Hamburg and Budapest Honved FC battled to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Berne, Switzerland:

BSC Young Boys settled for a 1-1 home deadlock with Lens. Tiago Calvano gave BSC a 1-0 lead with his goal 20 minutes from full time, but the French club's Olivier Monterrubio equalized within five mintes.

At Madrid:

Atletico Madrid, in their series opener, manhandled visiting FK Vojvodina 3-0. Maxi Rodriguez, Maniche, and Diego Forlan provided the scoring punch for Atletico.

Becks Helps Galaxy Beat DC

At Carson, California:

David Beckham paid big dividends in his first start for the Los Angeles Galaxy, scoring a goal (27') and assisting on Landon Donovan's tally (47') as the Galaxy defeated DC United 2-0 to reach the August 29th final of the North American SuperLiga. The Galaxy will face Mexican club, and current CONCAF Champions Cup holders Pachuca.

First Half of Third Qualifying Round Concludes

Twelve games were played on Wednesday as the third round of qualifying for the 2007 UEFA Champions League:

All were opening games to two-game total-goals series, all of which will conclude in two weeks.

At Seville, Spain:

Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute delivered the second-half goals that lifted Sevilla (winners of the last two UEFA Cups) to a 2-0 home win over AEK Athens.

At Toulouse, France:

Andriy Voronin's goal at 43 minutes lifted Liverpool to a 1-0 road win over Toulouse.

At Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Maksim Shatskikh sent Dynamo Kiev back home to Ukraine with a one-goal advantage after his goal lifted the visitors to a 1-0 road win over FK Sarajevo.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Alex scored the lone goal just after the first half-hour expired, lifting Fenerbahce SK to a 1-0 home win over RSC Anderlecht.

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Second-half goals courtesy of Cesc Fabregas and Aleksander Hleb powered Arsenal to a 2-0 road shutout of Sparta Prague.

At Zurich, Switzerland:

FC Zurich salvaged a 1-1 home draw with Besiktas JK, thanks to a late second-half goal from Alexandre Alphonse. Matias Delgado scored the lone Besiktas goal.

At Borisov, Belarus:

FC BATE Borisov came from behind to gain a 2-2 home deadlock with Steaua Bucharest. Gennadi Biznyuk scored the equalizer three minutes into second-half stoppage time.

At Tampere, Finland:

Rosenborg appears ready to punch their ticket to the group stage as they head back to Norway following their 3-0 road fistbeating of Tampere United. Mikka Koppinen (once) and Yssouf Kone (twice) put the visitors in the driver's seat.

At Moscow:

Celtic FC and hosts Spartak Moscow battled to a 1-1 stalemate. Paul Hartley put the Bhoys in front, only to see Spartak's Roman Pavlyuchenko square things for the hosts.

At Bremen, Germany:

Werder Bremen defeated visiting Dinamo Zagreb 2-1. Bosko Balaban scored in the first half to give the visitors a 1-0 halftime lead, before Hugo Almeida and sub Daniel Jensen pulled it out in the second half for the hosts.

At Salzburg, Austria:

A successful tenth-minute penalty kick from Alexander Zickler propelled FC Red Bull Salzburg to a 1-0 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

At Amsterdam:

David Kalidova's 74th-minute penalty kick was the lone score of Slavia Prague's 1-0 road win over Ajax Amsterdam.

Third Qualifying Round Starts

Tuesday marked the opening day of matches in the third qualifying round for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League:

At Rome:

Dinamo Bucharest will be heading back to Romania after their 1-1 road draw in their series opener with Lazio. Ionel Danciulescu scored the visitors, while Massimo Mutarelli equalized for the Roman club.

At Glasgow:

A bowl of nachos for Nacho, as Nacho Novo scored the lone goal (90') of the match that saw Rangers take the opening match of their two-game set at home 1-0 against Red Star Belgrade (aka FK Crvena Zvezda)

At Lisbon:

Rui Costa scored twice to lead SL Benfica (in Freddy Adu's first competitive match) to a series-opening 2-1 home win over fellow 2006-07 group stagers FC Copenhagen.

At Valencia, Spain:

Goals from Vincente Rodriguez, David Silva, and Fernando Morientes powered Valencia to a series-opening 3-0 home pasting of IF Elfsborg.

Ouch!

It's another painful moment for Wayne Rooney as the Manchester United star and England international this past Sunday suffered a hairline fracture of his left foot in the Red Devils' season-opening home scoreless draw with Reading.

Hey Bosko, YOU'RE FIRED!

Apparently, advancing to within one round of the UEFA Champions League's group stage wasn't good enough for some higher ups at Red Star Belgrade.

Royal Blues and Stuttgart Get Bundesliga Season Off To Rousing Start

At Stuttgart:

After blowing a halftime lead, Schalke 04 came back to gain a 2-2 road deadlock with defending champs VfB Stuttgart Friday in the opening match of the 2007-08 Bundesliga season. Sub Ivan Rakitic equalized for the Royal Blues at 76 minutes.

DC United Spoils Becks' MLS Debut

At Washington:

In the lone Thursday Major League Soccer match, David Beckham made his belated MLS debut, playing the final 21 minutes. But it was DC United, spoiling David's debut, by defeating the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0, thanks to Luciano Emilio's goal at 27 minutes.

Third Qualifying Round Matchups

That's right, boys and girls, here are the matchups for the third qualifying round for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League:

Revised draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League:
BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Tampere United (Finland) v Rosenborg (Norway)
Spartak Moscow (Russia) v Celtic (Scotland)
Werder Bremen (Germany) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Salzburg (Austria) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Ajax (Netherlands) v Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Valencia (Spain) v IF Elfsborg (Sweden)
Sarejevo (Bosnia) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
Rangers (Scotland) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
Toulouse (France) v Liverpool (England)
Benfica (Portugal) v FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Lazio (Italy) v Dinamo Bucharest (Romania)
Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) v Arsenal (England)
FC Zurich (Switzerland) v Besiktas (Turkey)
Sevilla (Spain) v AEK Athens (Greece)
First leg ties to be played August 14/15, second legs played August 28/29.

The losers of these series will qualify for the UEFA Cup tournament.

They Had One For UEFA Cup Qualifying Round Two Too

At Nyon, Switzerland:

Here are the results from Friday's draw for the second qualifying round for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup:

2007/08 UEFA Cup second qualifying round draw First leg: 16 August Second leg: 30 August
FC Otelul Galati (ROU)	v	PFC Lokomotiv Sofia (BUL)
CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)	v	Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)
FK Rabotnicki (MKD)	v	NK Zrinjski (BIH) / FK Partizan (SRB)*
NK Slaven Koprivnica (CRO)	v	Galatasaray SK (TUR)
UD Leiria (POR)	v	Maccabi Netanya FC (ISR)
HNK Hajduk Split (CRO)	v	UC Sampdoria (ITA)
KS Besa (ALB)	v	PFC Litex Lovech (BUL)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)	v	Kayseri Erciyesspor (TUR)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)	v	FK Vojvodina (SRB)
NK Široki Brijeg (BIH)	v	Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)
AC Omonia (CYP)	v	PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)	v	SV Mattersburg (AUT)
SV Ried (AUT)	v	FC Sion (SUI)
FC MIKA (ARM)	v	FC Artmedia Petržalka (SVK)
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)	v	GKS Bełchatów (POL)
Budapest Honvéd FC (HUN)	v	Hamburger SV (GER)
BSC Young Boys (SUI)	v	RC Lens (FRA)
FC Tobol Kostanay (KAZ)	v	Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski (POL)
FK Austria Wien (AUT)	v	FK Jablonec 97 (CZE)
FC Vion Zlaté Moravce (SVK)	v	FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
SK Rapid Wien (AUT)	v	FC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
Myllykosken Pallo-47 (FIN)	v	Blackburn Rovers FC (ENG)
Drogheda United FC (IRL)	v	Helsingborgs IF (SWE)
SK Liepájas Metalurgs (LVA)	v	AIK Solna (SWE)
HJK Helsinki (FIN)	v	Aalborg BK (DEN)
FK Ekranas (LTU)	v	Vålerenga IF (NOR)
Dunfermline Athletic FC (SCO)	v	BK Häcken (SWE)
SK Brann (NOR)	v	FK Suduva (LTU)
FC Haka (FIN)	v	FC Midtjylland (DEN)
FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR)	v	Odense BK (DEN)
UN Käerjéng 97 (LUX)	v	R. Standard de Liège (BEL)
Fredrikstad FK (NOR)	v	Hammarby (SWE)

*The result of this draw is subject to the outcome of the appeal filed by Partizan against the sanctions imposed by the Disciplinary Body following the first qualifying round first-leg match played in Mostar on 19 July 2007. Partizan and the team they defeated 11-1 on aggregate, Zrinjski, therefore both appeared in the draw and the team proceeding to the next round will be established by the appeal decision. For seeding purposes, the pair were considered as having the same coefficient as the higher of the two teams, ie Partizan.

Draw For UCL Third Qualifying Round

Here are the results from Friday's draw at Nyon, Switzerland for the third qualifying round for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League:

Ties to be played August 14/15 & August 28/29

FH Hafnarfjordur / FC BATE Borisov v Zaglebie Lubin / FC Steaua Bucuresti

Tampere United / PFC Levski Sofia v FC Astana / Rosenborg BK

FC Spartak Moskva v Celtic

Werder Bremen v NK Domzale / NK Dinamo Zagreb

FK Ventspils / FC Salzburg v FC Pyunik / FC Shakhtar Donetsk

AFC Ajax v MSK Zilina / SK Slavia Praha

Valencia CF v Debreceni VSC / IF Elfsborg

KRC Genk / FK Sarajevo v Dinamo Kiev

Fenerbahçe SK v RSC Anderlecht

Rangers FC / FK Zeta v FK Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)/ FC Levadia Tallinn

Toulouse FC v Liverpool

Benfica v FC Kobenhavn / Beitar Jerusalem

S.S. Lazio v FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti

AC Sparta Praha v Arsenal

FC Zurich v FC Sheriff / Besiktas JK

Sevilla FC v AEK Athens FC

Revs Blank Wizards 2-0

At Foxboro, Massachusetts:

Birthday boy Pat Noonan (55') and Adam Cristman (90+') provided the scoring to give the Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution a 2-0 home win over the Kansas City Wizards in the lone Thursday Major League Soccer match.

First UEFA Cup Qualifying Round Concludes

Matches on Tuesday and Thursday wrapped up the opening round of qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup. The opening round was split into Southern, Central-Eastern, and Northern regions.

Dynamo Clinch SuperLiga Semifinal Berth By Beating DCU (Who Also Claim Semi Berth)

Group stage play in the North American SuperLiga concluded Wednesday:

Group B:

At Houston:

Brian Ching scored the game's lone goal (50') as the Houston Dynamo clinched first place in Group B and a semifinal berth with a 1-0 home win over DC United, who also clinched a semifinal berth despite losing.

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Goals from Jose Mosqueda (18'), Salvador Cabanas (PK-56'), and Federico Insua (85') enabled Club America to eliminate fellow Mexican club Morelia from the SuperLiga with a 3-2 victory.

More Second Qualifying Round Openers

Seven games were played Wednesday as the remaining 2007 UEFA Champions League second-qualifying-round series began:

At Domzale, Slovenia:

Luka Modric's successful penalty kick was the difference as Dinamo Zagreb held off homestanding NK Domzale 2-1 in the series opener.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Ibrahim Toraman scored the only goal of the series-opening match that saw Besiktas JK blank visiting FC Sheriff from Moldova.

At Riga, Latvia:

Rene Aufhauser's hat trick provided all the scoring as FC Red Bull Salzburg registered a big 3-0 series-opening road whitewashing of Latvian club FK Ventspils.

At Kostanay, Kazakhstan:

Goals from Yssouf Kone (6') and Steffen Iversen (11', PK-63') lifted Norwegian club Rosenborg to a 3-1 road win over FC Astana in the opening match of the clubs' two-game total-goals, home-and-away series.

At Hafnarfjordur, Iceland:

FC BATE Borisov will be heading back to Belarus after their 3-1 series-opening road win over FH Hafnarjordur.Dmitri Likhtarovich, Vitali Radzionov, and Gennadi Bliznyuk provided BATE with the scoring.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Ognjen Koroman the only goal of Red Star Belgrade's 1-0 series-opening home win over FC Levadia Tallinn.

At Zilina, Slovakia:

In the opening match of a two-game set between teams from what was once Czechoslovakia, Czech visitors Slavia Prague and Slovak club MSK Zilina battled to a 0-0 stalemate.