Gorica time it right to progress

Municipium pipped
A 4-4 draw between Gorica and the Montenegrin mini-tournament hosts on Friday had left Municipium three points clear but with the tougher Matchday 3 task against leaders SL Benfica, whose progress was already assured. Gorica gave themselves a chance with a 3-0 win against Athina '90 Athens and they were confirmed as the only team from the initial Preliminary round into Friday's Elite round draw as Municipium lost 6-1 to Benfica. Arnaldo put Benfica ahead after 15 seconds and by the six-minute mark Ricardinho had struck twice. João Marçal added another and although Milan Živić pulled one back, Zé Maria scored and Vladimir Lazić put through an own goal before the break. There were no second-half goals but first place was secure for Benfica.

Qualifiers
That put Gorica through to join Benfica and their fellow Main round qualifiers FK Era-Pack Chrudim, Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, Luparense Calcio A5, KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, Action 21 Charleroi, ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, MNK Nacional Zagreb, Araz Naxçivan and Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava as well as top seeds MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, MFK Dinamo Moskva, Interviú FS and Kairat Almaty in November's Elite round, in which the competitors for April's final four event will be decided. However, in the two other Main round groups first place was still to be competed for between already-qualified teams.

Charleroi on top
Former winners Action 21 Charleroi finished top of Group 3 on goal difference following a 2-2 draw with Romanian hosts Odorheiu Secuiesc. Twice André Vanderlei gave Charleroi the lead but Zoltán Mihály and Szabolcs Tóth produced equalisers. Viten Orsha of Belarus pipped French champions Roubaix Futsal to third place with a 2-1 win. In Group 5 hosts Araz came out on top in Baku with a 4-2 victory against Bratislava. FC Nadin Sofia defeated Sweden's Skövde AIK to finish third.