Milan march on as Benfica beat Napoli

Three of Italy's four UEFA Cup contenders are through to the group stage as AC Milan, UC Sampdoria and Udinese Calcio all won their first-round ties. Udinese needed a penalty shoot-out to thwart an impressive BV Borussia Dortmund comeback but SSC Napoli are out after they were unable to prevent SL Benfica overturning a first-leg deficit.

FC Zürich 0-1 AC Milan (agg: 1-4)
Milan’s bid to win the one major UEFA trophy that has eluded them will continue into the group stage after adding to their 3-1 home win in Switzerland. Ronaldinho, fresh from his winner in Sunday's Milan derby, set up Andriy Shevchenko with a looping cross and the Ukrainian striker claimed his 61st UEFA competition goal.

SL Benfica 2-0 SSC Napoli (agg: 4-3)
Benfica overturned a 3-2 first-leg deficit to knock out UEFA Intertoto Cup winners Napoli. Ezequiel Lavezzi had the chance to grab an away goal after just four minutes but could not beat Quim in the Benfica goal and the home side began to have the better of the play, though Napoli threatened on the counterattack. Just before the break Walter Gargano's corner was struck on to the post by Paolo Cannavaro. Benfica made the most of that let-off and on 57 minutes José Antonio Reyes volleyed them into the lead on away goals after an incisive long pass by Kostas Katsouranis. Now Napoli, away from the UEFA Cup for 14 years before this season, had to press forward and with six minutes left Nuno Gomes exploited space at the back to head in a cross from substitute Carlos Martins.

Udinese Calcio 0-2 BV Borussia Dortmund (agg: 2-2, Udinese win 4-3 on pens)
Tamás Hajnal struck in added time of both halves to earn Dortmund a second chance in the competition only for Udinese to delight the home fans in the penalty shoot-out. Dortmund seemed out of the tie after their 2-0 home loss a fortnight ago but having already gone close through Florian Kringe they pulled one back on aggregate through Hajnal after good work by Lee Young-Pyo on the right. The visitors now put Udinese under real pressure and Samir Handanovič did well to deny Sebastian Kehl, but he was beaten two minutes into injury time when substitute Nelson Valdez connected with a long throw and although his effort was blocked, Hajnal converted the rebound. Fabio Quagliarella and Simone Pepe came close for Udinese in extra time but after both sides missed their first penalties through Hajnal and Maurizio Domizzi, Jakub Błaszczykowski was also unsuccessful for Dortmund and substitute Aleksandar Luković struck the decisive spot-kick.

FBK Kaunas 1-2 UC Sampdoria (agg: 1-7)
Sampdoria's 5-0 win a fortnight ago had made their trip to Lithuania a formality but they still completed a second victory. Gennaro Delvecchio headed wide early on and Kaunas took a 17th-minute lead when Irmantas Zelmikas got his foot to Rafael Ledesma's corner. But although Kaunas had the better of the first half Sampdoria rallied after the break and within five minutes Bruno Fornaroli equalised with a diving header. Luca Castellazzi then stopped Ledesma's powerful shot from the edge of the box before Emiliano Bonazzoli made it 2-1 from the edge of the box on the hour.