Mike Hanke scored three second-half goals and led Schalke 04 into the inaugural group stage of the UEFA Cup Thursday with a 4-0 beating of Latvia's Liepajas Metalurgs.
Hanke scored in the 69th, 75th and 90th minute to help the 1997 champion advance with a 9-1 aggregate. Ebbe Sand, who had three goals in the first leg on Sept. 16, scored the opening goal and was replaced by Hanke in the second half.
PHOTO: AFP
Premier League teams Middlesbrough and Newcastle both went through.
Spanish sides Real Zaragoza, last season's semifinalist Villareal, Athletic de Bilbao and Sevilla went through to Tuesday's draw in Zurich. The group stage will comprise of eight groups of five teams -- with each team playing twice at home and away.
Feyenoord, the 2002 champion, AZ Alkmaar, FC Utrecht and Heerenveen advanced from the Netherlands. Heerenveen beat Maccabi Petah Tivka side 5-0. Their first leg match was cancelled because of an airport strike in Israel and the match couldn't be rescheduled.
Parma, the 1995 and 1999 champion, held on for a 0-0 draw with Slovenian side Maribor to advance with a 3-2 aggregate. Lazio beat Metalurh Donestsk 6-0 overall, but Udinese was eliminated by Panionios of Greece despite a 1-0 win.
Besides Schalke, two other German teams advanced. VfB Stuttgart beat Hungary's Ujpest 4-0 for a 7-1 aggregate with Cacau scoring twice. Alemannia Aachen, a division-two side which qualified by reaching the final of the German Cup, ousted Iceland's Harfnarfjordur. Bochum was eliminated on away goals by Standard Liege of Belgium.
There was violence in Budapest where London club Millwall played Ferencvaros. An English-speaking man was stabbed and seriously injured as a result of clashes between fans ahead of the match. Around 100 fans were involved in scuffles.
Ferencvaros, who won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1965, won 3-1 to advance 4-2 on aggregate. English Football League Championship club Millwall earned its first foray into European competition by finishing runner-up to Manchester United in last season's FA Cup and up to 600 fans reportedly traveled to Hungary without tickets.
Newcastle and Middlesbrough also advanced. Alan Shearer scored three goals as the Magpies beat Israel's Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin 5-1 for a 7-1 aggregate victory, and Boro went through with a 4-1 aggregate win over Czech side Banik Ostrava after 1-1 draw Thursday.
Three French clubs advanced. Lille beat Irish club Shelbourne 2-0 after a 2-2 first leg draw; Sochaux advanced 9-0 over Norway's Stabaek; and Auxerre beat Aalborg of Denmark 3-1 overall.
Dinamo Tiblisi made history, becoming the first Georgian team to progress past the UEFA Cup first round since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It beat Poland's Wisla Krakow 2-1 at home, which led to a 5-5 aggregate, but advanced on away goals.
Belgium side Beveren also made a mark -- using 10 Ivory Coast players in the starting lineup to eliminate Levski Sofia, the international highlight of the club's 70-year history.
Glasgow's Rangers needed penalties to get past provincial Portuguese side Maritimo. After 1-0 away loss, Rangers needed Dado Prso's 71st-minute strike to level the aggregate scores and send the match into extra time. With no deciding goal, it went to penalties, with Gregory Vignal scoring the winning kick for a 4-2 win.
Edinburgh side Hearts also advanced 5-3 after a 2-0 win at Portugal's FC Braga.
Red Star Belgrade, which won the European Champions Cup in 1991, was ousted by Russian side Zenit of St. Petersburg 6-1.
Also advancing were 1986 European champion Steaua Bucharest of Romania, Greece's Egaleo, Poland's Amica Wronki, Turkey's Besiktas, Austria's Grazer AK and Vienna, Ukraine's Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Portugal's Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, Belgium's Club Brugge, Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb, Greece's AEK Athens, Switzerland's FC Basel and Serbia and Montenegro's Partizan Belgrade.
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