Leading 1-0 from the first leg of their second qualifying round clash, Omonia knew they would advance if they avoided defeat and duly did so with a Klodian Duro brace helping earn a 2-2 draw.

AEK, who this week parted company with former Brazil star Rivaldo, were not helped by the second-half dismissals of Ignacio Scocco and Juanfran.

APOEL Nicosia completed a glorious night for Cyprus with a 3-3 draw at Red Star Belgrade securing victory on away goals following a 2-2 tie in the first leg.

Nenad Mirosavljevic struck the decisive third away goal for the visitors three minutes before the end of extra time, making light of their man disadvantage following a red card to goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis.

French team Rennes overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit to claim their place in the UEFA Cup proper at the expense of Norwegian league leaders Stabaek.

A goal in each half from Jerome Leroy did the trick for the Ligue 1 outfit in the second leg.

Croatian outfit Slaven also overturned a first-leg defeat, beating Greek team Aris Salonika 2-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Mario Gomez scored twice as Stuttgart thumped Hungarian side Gyor 4-1 to progress 6-2 on aggregate, while Hertha Berlin beat Interblock Ljubljana 1-0 to go through 3-0 overall.

Austria Vienna beat Georgia's WIT 2-0 at home to go through after UEFA decided the tie would be played over only one leg due to the political situation in Georgia.

Both English sides in action - Manchester City and Aston Villa - progressed but Mark Hughes' side did it the hard way.

City had goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank as they progressed with a penalty shoot-out victory over FC Midtjylland.

Having lost 1-0 in the first leg at Eastlands earlier this month, City knew the size of the task ahead in their second qualifying round return leg at the SAS Arena in Herning.

But after an abject display in normal time it was only an own goal by defender Danny Califf in the 89th minute which forced extra time and extended their interest in the competition.

And when Hart saved two penalties, it was left to Vedran Corluka to stroke home the kick to spare City's blushes.

Villa advanced to the first round proper for the first time in seven years despite being held by the Icelandic part-timers in a low-key second leg at Villa Park.

Craig Gardner put Martin O'Neill's side ahead after 27 minutes but their battling opponents levelled three minutes later through Atli Bjornsson.

The expected goal rush for the 25,415 crowd did not materialise after a bright start from Villa, who had effectively wrapped up the tie by winning the first 4-1 a fortnight ago.

Serbian side Borac came from a goal down in the Bulgarian capital to draw 1-1 with Lokomotiv Sofia and advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Martin Bernburg netted twice as Danish team Nordsjaelland repeated their 2-1 triumph over Scotland's Queen of the South to progress by a 4-2 margin overall.

Vaslui added a 3-1 second-leg win to their 2-1 first-leg cushion to comfortably see off Liepajas Metalurgs.

After goalless first legs, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Vojvodina 3-0 at home, Honka overcame Viking 2-1 in Stavanger and Deportivo prevailed 2-0 at Hajduk Split.

Brondby and Lech Poznan all but booked their berths in the group phase with 4-0 and 6-0 first-leg wins over Haka Valkeakoski and Grasshoppers respectively, and there were no shock turnarounds in Thursday's second encounters - Brondby winning 2-0 and Poznan drawing 0-0.

Rosenborg lost 2-1 to Djurgarden but had done all the hard work in the first leg and go through 6-2 overall.

Two goals in the last four minutes ensured Irish side St Patrick's advanced to the knockout stage after a 2-1 win completed a 4-3 aggregate victory over Elfsborg.