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Milan moved towards the group stage of the UEFA Cup and took some heat off coach Carlo Ancelotti with a 3-1 win over FC Zurich in the home leg of their first round tie.

Czech defender Marek Jankulovski gave the seven-times European champions the lead on the stroke of half-time with a deflected shot after Andriy Shevchenko had blasted into the legs of Zurich keeper Johnny Leoni from close range.

Brazilian teenager Alexandre Pato doubled the advantage with a rocket free kick in the 57th and his substitute Marco Borriello made it 3-0 with a strike from outside the area in the 74th.

Midfielder Dusan Djuric pulled one back for the Swiss visitors with a splendid right-footed shot from a distance four minutes later.

Zurich also had a headed goal by Florian Stahel disallowed in the first half.

The win gives some respite to Ancelotti, who is under fire after Milan lost their first two games in Serie A and missed out on the Champions League with a disappointing fifth-place finish last season.

Elsewhere Sampdoria thrashed Kaunas 5-0 to all but seal their place in the group stage while fellow heavyweights Sevilla, who have won this competition twice in the past three years, also look likely to go through after they secured a 2-0 win against Salzburg.

Germany international striker Mario Gomez struck twice to give Stuttgart a 2-1 away win over Bulgarian side Cherno More while fellow Bundesliga side Hamburg were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Romanian side Unirea Urziceni.

Wolfsburg fared slightly better against Romanian opposition as they recorded a 1-0 win over Rapid Bucharest.

Feyenoord were embarrassed after they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Swedish side Kalmar at De Kuip while Norwegian side SK Brann produced a shock with a 2-0 home win over Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna.

St Etienne came through a tough test to take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their tie with Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Milan Baros struck twice as Galatasaray edged a see-sawing encounter with 10-man Bellinzona 4-3.

Paris St Germain kicked off their campaign with a last-gasp 2-1 win at Kayserispor.

Mateja Kezman gave the Parisians a fifth minute lead and they looked on course for victory until Delio Toledo scored three minutes from full-time.

Peguy Luyindula came to PSG's aid though two minutes later with a winner.

Seydou Doumbia scored an equaliser three minutes from time as Young Boys drew 2-2 at home to Club Brugge, while Austria Vienna defender Franz Schiemer bagged a brace either side of Hernan Rengifo's equaliser to give his side a 2-1 win over Lech Poznan.

NEC Nijmegen, Racing Santander and Besiktas each secured 1-0 wins, against Dinamo Bucharest, Honka Espoo and Metalist Kharkiv respectively.

Udinese hold the upper hand in their difficult looking tie with Borussia Dortmund after securing a 2-0 away win with first-half goals from Antonio Floro Flores and Gokhan Inler.

Rennes came from a goal behind to secure a 2-1 home win over FC Twente, who were knocked out of the Champions League qualification stage by Arsenal while Rosenborg edged their Scandinavian rivals Brondby 2-1.

Ajax are on course for the group stages after cruising to a 4-1 win at Serbian side Borac while Benfica will still fancy their chances of progressing to the group stage despite losing 3-2 away to Napoli.

Fernando Morientes scored the only goal as Valencia enjoyed a 1-0 victory at Maritimo.

Former Rangers winger Libor Sionko scored a 95th-minute winner as FC Copenhagen claimed a 2-1 win over FC Moscow.

Morten Nordstrand won and converted a penalty in first-half injury time before the home side looked to have salvaged a draw when Alexander Samedov struck in the 92nd minute.

Wagner Love struck twice to give CSKA Moscow victory by the same margin away to Croatian side NK Slaven Koprivnica while city rivals Spartak Moscow won 1-0 against Banik Ostrava .

Dinamo Zagreb and Sparta Prague drew 0-0 in the Croatian capital.

Portuguese side Braga took control of their tie with Artmedia Petrzalka as they enjoyed a 4-0 home win, but countrymen Vitoria Setubal were held 1-1 by Dutch side Heerenveen.

Sporting Life / Reuters