St-Etienne and PSG lead French charge

AS Saint-Etienne, the 1975/76 European Champion Clubs' Cup finalists, were joined in the group stage draw on 7 October by Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint-Germain FC and AS Nancy-Lorraine, though there was no room for Stade Rennais FC.

AS Saint-Etienne 2-1 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (agg: 4-2)
St-Etienne fans had waited 26 years for a night of major European competition and they were not disappointed as Les Verts secured a 2-1 victory and a 4-2 aggregate win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The hosts pushed forward right from the start and broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a bicycle kick from French international striker Bafetimbi Gomis. Hapoel nearly levelled with a Samuel Yeboah effort from close range which goalkeeper Jody Viviani was able to block. Gomis put the result beyond doubt, though, with his second in the 76th minute after latching on to a Blaise Metuidi pass, before Yeboah scored Hapoel's consolation goal in added time.

FC Twente 1-0 Stade Rennais FC (agg: 2-2, Twente win on away goals)
Twente needed the away goals rule and a strike by Swiss international forward Blaise Nkufo to beat Rennes 1-0 at the Enschede Grolsch Veste Stadium and reach the group stage. His effort made amends on his return from a three-match ban after being sent off in last year's first round defeat by Getafe CF – a game in which he also missed a penalty. Though Rennes' Jimmy Briand thought he had opened the scoring with a first-half strike that was ruled offside, Nkufo made no mistake in the 68th minute with a drive into the left-hand corner from a quickly taken free-kick.

Motherwell FC 0-2 AS Nancy-Lorraine (agg: 0-3)
First-half strikes by Marc-Antoine Fortune and Benjamin Gavanon helped Nancy secure a place in the group stage with a 2-0 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park. Fortune got Pablo Correa's side off to a perfect start after 18 minutes when he steered home a loose ball after Graeme Smith could only parry Gavanon's free-kick. Five minutes later Gavanon doubled the advantage when the midfielder's set-piece from the left flank eluded everyone in the box including Smith before drifting in at the back post to give Nancy a 3-0 aggregate win.

Paris Saint-Germain FC 0-0 Kayserispor (agg: 2-1)
France's League Cup holders made it through the first round with a goalless draw in a game of few scoring chances at the Parc des Princes. The hosts, who were missing Claude Makelele and Ludovic Giuly through injury, seemed happy to soak up the first-half pressure and nearly paid the price when Kayerispor's Tugay Bahadir sent a header just over the crossbar. PSG were more enterprising in the second half, with Youssuf Mulumbu coming closest in the 68th minute when his shot was turned on to the post by Kayserispor goalkeeper Souleymanou Hamidou.