Brazilian Ronaldinho scored a hat-trick as slumping Barcelona routed Slovak side Puchov 8-0 in the UEFA Cup on Wednesday to join former European champions Liverpool and Parma in the second round.
Two German teams weren't as good, losing to small clubs.
Puchov -- last in the Slovak standings -- held the Catalan giant to a 1-1 draw in the first leg last month. But Ronaldinho scored in the seventh, 19th and 57th minutes to end any hopes of a memorable upset at the Camp Nou.
PHOTO: AFP
Luis Enrique Martinez and Javier Saviola added two goals apiece, while Thiago Motta had the other.
Barcelona entered the game without a home win and had only scored five goals in six league games.
Liverpool beat Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana 3-0 at Anfield after a 1-1 tie in the first leg. Anthony Le Tallec's left-footed shot gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, and Emile Heskey made it 2-0 seven minutes later. Australian star Harry Kewell put away a Heskey cross early in the second half to complete the scoring.
"We started well," said Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier. "We didn't score early in the game, but then once we scored we looked extremely comfortable with our passing and movement. In the second half we played some good football."
Liverpool, which won the UEFA Cup as part of a Cup treble in 2001, played without injured striker Michael Owen.
Parma, twice a UEFA Cup champion in the 90s, also struggled to a 1-1 first-leg tie. But in the return leg, Italian under-21 star Alberto Gilardino scored in the 43rd and 47th minutes in a 3-0 win. Parma advanced 4-1 on aggregate.
"I have to compliment my players," Parma coach Cesare Prandelli said. "They played well for 90 minutes."
Parma was without midfielder Manuele Blasi, who learned Wednesday he failed a routine doping test.
"When we got the news in the middle of the afternoon it all became much more complicated," Prandelli said. "We did well [Wednesday night], though."
A total of 41 matches were played Wednesday, and seven more are scheduled for Thursday.
Roma, missing several key players, played to a 1-1 second-leg draw against Macedonia's Vardar. Roma won the first leg 4-0 to advance 5-1 on aggregate.
Perugia beat Hearts 1-0 and went through 3-1.
A fourth Italian team, Udinese, lost 2-1 at home to Salzburg and was eliminated on away goals.
German soccer was on a high last weekend after the men's national team qualified for the European Championships and the women's team won the World Cup. Hertha Berlin and Hamburg couldn't keep it going.
Polish minnow Groclin Grodzisk beat Hertha 1-0 at home thanks to an 84th minute goal by Grzegorz Rasiak and advanced by the same score. Hertha Berlin finished fifth in the Bundesliga last year but hasn't won a league game this season. Hamburg, fourth last season, lost 3-1 away to Ukraine's Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and went down 4-2 on aggregate. Borussia Dortmund, which won the Champions League in 1997, restored some pride with a 1-0 win over Austria Vienna. Dortmund advanced 3-1 on aggregate. Besides Liverpool, English clubs Newcastle and Manchester City also easily advanced. Blackburn and Southampton were eliminated.
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