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Motherwell were dealt a shattering blow to their hopes of reaching the Europa League main draw as they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat to Steaua Bucharest in Romania.

An own goal from Stephen Craigan was followed by further goals from Banel Nicolita and Bogdan Stancu, and Jim Gannon's visitors could not respond.

On-loan Everton goalkeeper John Ruddy and former Northampton midfielder Giles Coke both made their debuts but Motherwell were slow to start and their evening went from bad to worse.

The opener arrived after 31 minutes when Craigan found the back of his own net following Nicolita's corner - and it should have been 2-0 two minutes later when Steaua were awarded a penalty after Ross Forbes fouled Romeo Surdu, but Ruddy saved Dorin Goian's power penalty.

Just as it looked as though Motherwell would survive at 1-0 down until the break, they conceded in the 45th minute as Nicolita provided the low finish past Ruddy after Rafal Grzelak's pass.

Steaua went 3-0 clear in the 61st minute when Grzelak's cross from the left was headed in by Stancu and there was no way back for the visitors.

New manager Mark McGhee's reign at Aberdeen began with a stunning 5-1 defeat at home against Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League third qualifying round.

The signs looked ominous for the former Motherwell boss and his Dons charges when Michael Hubnik opened the scoring for the Czech side after 18 minutes, but Charlie Mulgrew equalised with a majestic free-kick five minutes later.

Lukas Bajer restored Sigma's lead after 63 minutes with an equally magnificent set-piece and Jakub Petr grabbed a third six minutes later.

Substitute Michal Ordos added a fourth in the final 10 minutes with a rasping drive before Tomas Horova rounded off the scoring in the dying stages.

The result means the Dons will have to score at least five times in the Czech Republic next week if they are to progress to the final qualifying round of the Europa League.

There was better news for Irish outfit St Patrick's Athletic, however, as they earned a 1-0 victory at home over Russian side Krylya Sovetov .

Compatriots Derry City weren't so lucky as they fell to a 1-0 loss away to Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, though with just a single goal deficit they still have a fighting chance of qualifying.

Hamburg look certain to progress after running out 4-0 winners away from home against Danish side Randers.

French side Lille also produced the goods away from home with a 2-0 victory at Serbian team FK Sevojno.

Roma also enjoyed victory, beating Belgian side AA Gent 3-1 at home.

But Spain's Atletico Madrid did not fare so well, slumping to a shock 1-0 home defeat against Swiss minnows Young Boys Bern .

Two ties, meanwhile, were overshadowed by violence.

In Denmark, 111 fans were arrested in the Danish town of Brondby before the home team's clash with Legia Warsaw.

Police used teargas to break up fighting between the two sets of fans before kick-off in the match which ended 1-1.

Dozens of Croatian fans and eight Slovak policemen were injured in the northern Slovakian town of Zilina where the home team were facing Hajduk Split.

Around 500 Croatian fans threw stones at police and broke shopwindows in the town as they tried to sneak into the stadium.

The police detained 120 Croatians, police spokeswoman Jana Balogova said.

Eurosport / PA Sport