Big names fall in UEFA Cup

The UEFA Cup first round served up some shocks tonight with Hertha Berlin, Marseille, Schalke and Brondby all bowing out before the group stage.

Danish side Odense BK produced the first eye-opener of the evening by eliminating Bundesliga high-flyers Hertha Berlin.

Mads Timm’s deflected free-kick in the second-half was enough to give the home side a 1-0 win on the night, and a 3-2 victory on aggregate.

The result means that Bruce Rioch’s team now take their place in the draw for the group stages of the competition.

French side Nancy inflicted another blow on German opposition by knocking out Schalke 3-2 on aggregate at the Stade Marcel Picot.

Nancy were trailing 1-0 after the first-leg in Germany but goals from Andre Luiz, Gaston Curbelo and Issiar Dia turned the tie around, despite a late consolation from Schalke defender Marcelo Bordon.

The French side had Benjamin Gavanon sent off towards the end.

Eintracht Frankfurt salvaged some German revenge by comfortably brushing aside Danish opponents Brondby 6-2 on aggregate.

Friedhelm Funkel’s side were 4-0 up following the first-leg, and drew the return 2-2 in Brondby.

A brace from defender Aleksandar Vasovski made the tie comfortable, despite goals from Martin Ericsson and Thomas Rasmussen for the hosts.

Mlada Boleslav came back from a first-leg deficit to beat French outfit Marseille 4-3 on aggregate in a thrilling game at the Mestsky stadium.

The Czech side were losing 1-0 after the first game, but recorded a 4-2 victory on the night to take their place in the group stages.

Toifilou Maoulida had given the visitors the lead, but Lubos Pecka equalised for the home side at the start of the second half.

Taiwo reclaimed the lead for the away side before two goals from Radim Holub and a late winner from Jan Rajnonch turned the tie around.

The hosts also had Jaromir Smerda sent off in the final minutes.

Another French team Lens went it through to the group stages with a 3-1 home win over Ethnikos Achnas.

Francis Gillot’s side claimed a goalless draw in the first leg, and Aruna Dindane, Issam Jemaa and Daniel Cousin made sure that they had a comfortable passage through, before a late consolation from Milan Belic for the visitors.

Ibrahima Bakayoko's goal helped Livorno beat Pasching 1-0 to wrap up a 3-0 aggregate win over the Austrians while another Italian side, Parma, also booked a ticket to the group phase with a 1-0 win over Russia's Rubin Kazan earning a 2-0 aggregate triumph. Alessandro Paponi was the goalscorer.

Heerenveen’s 0-0 home draw with Portugal’s Vitoria Setubal wrapped up a 3-0 aggregate win for the Dutch side.

Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv also progressed with a 3-1 win on the night completing a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Chernomorets Odessa.

Salim Toema and Elyanov Barda gave the hosts a 2-0 lead on the night before the Ukrainians were reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of Andrei Ostrovsky.

Gennadi Nizhegorodov pulled one back but Luciano De Bruno sealed the win for Hapoel.

Lokomotiv Moscow threw away a 2-1 first-leg lead to lose 3-2 on aggregate to Belgium’s Zulte-Waregem for whom Tim Matthys and Tony Sergeant netted the goals in the second leg.

Holland’s Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar hung on for a 4-3 aggregate win by drawing 1-1 in their away leg with Turkey’s Kayserispor.

Unal Gokhan gave the hosts the lead but AZ’s passage was secured by a goal scored by Turkish player Tayfun.

Dinamo Bucharest’s 4-1 win over FC Xanthi sealed an 8-4 aggregate triumph for the Romanians.

Claudiu Niculescu and Adrian Cristea put them in charge before Jacques Paviot pulled one back for the Greeks. Late goals from Ionel Danciulescu and Niculescu sealed an easy win for Dinamo.

Grasshoppers Zurich stormed into the group stages after an 8-0 aggregate victory over Swedish side Atvidaberg.

Krassimir Balakov’s team were 3-0 up after the first leg, but scored five goals without reply at the Hardturm to cement their place in the next round.

David Blumer, Scott Sutter, Roland Schwegler, Michel Renggli and Eduardo were all on target for the home team.

Turkish side Besiktas caused an upset in Bulgaria by eliminating CSKA Sofia 4-2 on aggregate after extra time.

The Istanbul-based club were 2-0 up after the first leg, but goals from Valentin Iliev and Aleksandar Tunchev forced the tie past the 90 minutes.

However, the visitors staged a fight-back in extra time, and goals from Marcio Nobre and Bobo gave them a 2-2 draw on the night and a passage into the group stages.

Basle brushed aside Macedonian minnows Rabotnicki 1-0 on the night and 7-2 on aggregate to be in Tuesday’s draw.

Mile Sterjovski got the only goal of the game for Christian Gross’ side 14 minutes from time.

Auxerre also booked their place in next week’s draw with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Dinamo Zagreb.

Jean Fernandez’s side held a 2-1 advantage after the first leg in Croatia, and a comfortable victory in France was enough to see them through.

Ireneusz Jelen scored twice for the hosts, before an Eduardo da Silva penalty midway through the second half gave the visitors hope.

But Lionel Mathis made the game safe with less than 20 minutes left.

Feyenoord also scraped through after a goalless home draw gave them a 2-2 aggregate victory on away goals over Lokomotiv Sofia.