Stuttgart point the way for Germany

It was a mixed night for German sides in the opening leg of their UEFA Cup first round ties as VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg both opened with victories, while Hamburger SV could only draw at home to AFC Unirea Urziceni and BV Borussia Dortmund lost against Udinese Calcio at the Westfalenstadion.

PFC Cherno More Varna 1-2 VfB Stuttgart
Mario Gómez struck twice in the second half as Stuttgart came from behind to defeat Cherno More at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. The Bulgarian side opened the scoring three minutes before the break when Tanko Dyakov was given too much space in the area and he picked his spot beyond Jens Lehmann. Stuttgart hit back on 66 minutes as Gómez pounced on a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble, before the 23-year-old sealed victory for his side by turning in Martin Lanig's cross with nine minutes to play.

VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 FC Rapid Bucureşti
Wolfsburg will take a slender lead with them to Romania after Grafite's penalty two minutes into added time at the end of the first half earned them victory at home to Rapid. Wolfsburg, playing their first UEFA Cup match in nine years, had the better of the first half and made their superiority tell moments before the break when Césinha upended Makoto Hasebe in the area to allow Grafite to score from the spot. Wolfsburg continued to press after the restart, but were thwarted time and again by goalkeeper Urko Rafael Pardo whose saves kept Rapid in the tie.

Hamburger SV 0-0 AFC Unirea Urziceni
Hamburg also played host to Romanian opposition, but the former European champions fared less well against European debutants Unirea. The home side struggled to make an impression on Dan Petrescu's team and did not create a real chance until the 30th minute when David Jarolím's shot bounced back off the post. Rather than spark HSV to life, that chance proved a catalyst for some enterprising play from the Romanian liga 1 leaders and it was not until well into the second half that the home side imposed themselves again. Piotr Trochowski hit the crossbar in the 80th minute and José Paolo Guerrero came close three minutes from time, but Unirea held on for a creditable draw in their first match at this level.

BV Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Udinese Calcio
First-half goals from Antonio Floro Flores and Gökhan Inler put Udinese in the driving seat as the Italian side made the most of some sloppy Dortmund defending. Floro Flores struck on the break eight minutes in before Swiss international Inler doubled the advantage when he turned in Simone Pepe's cross with 34 minutes played. A young Dortmund side regrouped after the interval but were fortunate not to fall further behind as they pressed for a way back into the tie.