Former UEFA Cup football champions Ajax and Feyenoord of the Netherlands, Parma of Italy and Sevilla of Spain have advanced to the group stage of this year's tournament.
Ajax beat IK Start of Norway, 4-0, to advance on a 9-2 aggregate score as the 80-club field was cut in half Thursday after a two-leg first round. Feyenoord, the 2002 UEFA Cup champion, needed away goals to advance after a scoreless draw (0-0) at home and a 2-2 aggregate score with Lokomotiv Sofia of Bulgaria.
Defending champion Sevilla beat the Greek club Atromitos, 4-0, to advance 6-1 on aggregate. Two-time winner Parma beat the Russian side Rubin Kazan, 1-0, to move on with a 2-0 aggregate.
Former champions Tottenham of England (1972 and 1984), Eintracht Frankfurt (1980) and Bayer Leverkusen (1988) of Germany also qualified for Tuesday's draw for the group stage, which begins October 19th.
In other UEFA Cup results Thursday (Home teams listed first):