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Wolfsburg held on to their first-leg lead to reach the UEFA Cup group stage after a 1-1 draw with Rapid Bucharest in Romania to clinch a 2-1 result overall.

Brazilian forward Grafite scored the German side's vital away goal after just 17 minutes to put the visitors in control. Vasile Maftei levelled the scoreline on the day with an equaliser 20 minutes from time.

Sampdoria came from a goal down to win their second-leg tie with Kaunas 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Bruno Fornaroli and Emiliano Bonazzoli.

With a 5-0 defeat in Italy from the first leg to overcome, the home side took the game to the visitors and went ahead after 17 minutes through Irmantas Zelmikas. But Samp struck back in the 47th and 60th minutes to ensure a heavy aggregate win.

Michael Laudrup's Spartak Moscow side defended their 1-0 win from the first leg against Banik Ostrava with a 1-1 draw in the Russian capital.

Nikita Bazhenov got the hosts off to a perfect start with a goal after three minutes. Rudolf Otepka pulled Banik level just after the half-hour mark but the Czechs were unable to find the definitive second away goal.

A good night for German sides continued as Hamburg, Schalke and Stuttgart all followed Wolfsburg into the UEFA Cup group stage.

Thomas Hitzlsperger and Mario Gomez scored two late goals to send Stuttgart through 4-3 on aggregate after a 2-2 draw with Chornomorets.

With the Germans leading 2-1 from the first leg, Chernomorets levelled the tie through Yordan Yurukov three minutes into the second half.

Stuttgart remained on course to progress on the away goals rule, but the Bulgarians looked to have booked their place in the next round when Georgi Rusev put them 2-0 ahead in the 81st minute.

But the hosts responded through Hitzlsperger two minutes later, before Gomez denied the visitors a chance of extra time with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Hamburg's passage was somewhat smoother as a goal in each half from Mladen Petric earned them a 2-0 win over Unirea Urziceni after a goalless first leg.

Schalke followed their 4-1 first-leg advantage with a 1-1 draw against Apoel Nicosia.

Christian Pander levelled for the hosts in the second half after Helio Pinto had put Apoel ahead.

Dutch side Feyenoord overcame a 1-0 reverse from the first leg in Holland to beat Kalmar 2-1 and progress to the group stage on away goals.

Georginio Wijnaldum levelled the tie overall with the opening goal on the night after 18 minutes, but Feyenoord were pegged back two minutes into the second half by Lasse Johansson.

However, the hosts' hearts were broken when Ermin Nouri's own goal after 52 minutes put the visitors ahead.

Spaniards Racing Santander also progressed with another 1-0 win over Honka Espoo.

Already a goal up from the first leg in Spain, Eduardo Bedia scored after just four minutes to put Racing in command.

Lech Poznan overturned their 2-1 first-leg defeat to Austria Vienna with a 4-2 win after extra time in Poland.

After the game ended 2-1 to the hosts, Robert Lewandowski and Rafal Murawski struck the decisive goals after Vienna were reduced to 10 men when Franz Schiemer was given a second yellow card.

Elsewhere, Slovakian side Zilina shocked Levski Sofia with a 1-0 win in Bulgaria, in the process confirming their place in the group stage with a 2-1 victory on aggregate.

Rosenborg beat Brondby 3-2 to win 5-3 overall, while Partizan Belgrade beat Timisoara 1-0 to go through 3-1.

There were mixed fortunes for the Turkish clubs. Galatasaray enjoyed a 2-1 second-leg victory over Bellinzona to wrap up a 6-4 aggregate win.

Goals from Milan Baros (penalty) and Yaser Yildiz did the damage for the home side.

Besiktas failed to join them in the group stage though as they were unable to build on their 1-0 first-leg lead, instead crashing to a heavy 4-1 loss at Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv .

St Etienne qualified for the next round with 2-1 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv to add to their first-leg victory by the same scoreline.

Bafetimbi Gomis scored in either half for the French club before Samuel Yeboah grabbed a late consolation for the Israeli visitors.

A goalless draw was enough for NEC Nijmegen to scrape past Dinamo Bucharest following a 1-0 victory two weeks ago.

Slavia Prague also sneaked through on away goals at the expense of Romanian side FC Vaslui. Having played out a goalless draw in the first leg, Erich Brabec scored the decisive goal for Slavia as they secured a 1-1 result on Thursday.

Two goals apiece for Tarik Elyounossi and Gerald Sibon helped Heerenveen claim an emphatic 5-2 win over Vitoria Setubal to progress 6-3 on aggregate.

Paulo Henrique was also on target for the Eredivisie side.

Blaise N'Kufo scored the only goal as FC Twente battled to a 1-0 second-leg win over Rennes, turning around their 2-1 loss from two weeks to qualify on the away goals rule.

Braga added to their 4-0 victory a fortnight ago with a 2-0 success to get past Artmedia Petrzalka with room to spare.

Pedro Morales, Dejan Lovren and Milan Badelj were all on target as Dinamo Zagreb fought out a 3-3 draw with Sparta Prague to advance on away goals following a goalless stalemate in their opening clash.

A 70th-minute effort from Andriy Shevchenko was enough to secure a second-leg success for Milan as the Italians wrapped up a 4-1 aggregate victory over FC Zurich.

Second-half strikes from Jeffrey Sarpong and Luis Suarez earned Ajax a 2-0 win over Borac and a 6-1 victory overall.

And Sevilla also eased into the group stage with a 2-0 second-leg success over Salzburg. Frederic Kanoute scored both goals for the Spanish side, including one from the penalty spot, as they sealed a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Paris St Germain held on to their 2-1 first-leg advantage over Kayserispor with a 0-0 draw at the Parc des Princes.

Olympiacos emphatically finished off their qualification, adding to their 2-0 win in the first leg with a 5-0 thumping of FC Nordsjaelland.

FC Copenhagen drew 1-1 with FC Moscow to complete a 3-2 aggregate win, while Club Brugge saw off Young Boys Berne in Belgium 2-0 to advance to the group stage 4-2 overall.

Sporting Life / Eurosport