LONDON, 27 August 2005 — Former European champions Red Star Belgrade powered past Croatia’s Inter Zapresic 4-0 in their UEFA Cup second qualifying round second leg on Thursday.

Marko Pantelic scored twice as the Serbian side cruised into the first round proper 7-1 on aggregate.

Red Star, who beat Olympique Marseille on penalties in the final of the 1991 European Cup, had Nikola Zigic sent off.

Inter were also reduced to 10 men when Srdjan Pecelj was dismissed with eight minutes to go.

Dundee United, UEFA Cup runners-up in 1987, conceded two goals in the last 16 minutes to go out on the away goals rule to Finnish side MyPa as the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.

Mark Kerr and Colin Samuel appeared to put the Scottish team in command but Brazilian Adriano struck two late goals to level the scores. A hat-trick from Omer Golan and two goals by Robil Sarsor helped Maccabi Petah Tikva of Israel hammer Macedonia’s Bashkimi Kumanova 6-0 to register an 11-0 aggregate triumph.

Swiss club Grasshoppers squeezed through on away goals thanks to an 83rd-minute goal by Eduardo against Wisla Plock of Poland.

The tie finished 3-3 on aggregate after Plock won the second leg 3-2.

Ahmed Hassan grabbed two goals as Turkey’s Besiktas romped to a 5-1 (aggregate 6-1) win over Vaduz of Liechtenstein.

UEFA Cup Draw Overshadowed

by Bulgarian Killing

Meantime, yesterday’s draw for the first round of the UEFA Cup was overshadowed by the killing of Georgi Iliev, the president of Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria who were paired with England’s Bolton Wanderers.

“We are totally shocked. We know nothing about the club but even so this is terrible news in these circumstances,” said Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, moments after the draw. Plovdiv, who finished third in Bulgaria last season, qualified for the first round after beating OFK Belgrade 1-0 on Thursday night in the second qualifying round to go through on the away goals rule.

Iliev, 39, was killed by a single shot while talking on the phone, 40 minutes after congratulating his players on their victory. Police said a sniper was probably involved.

The televised draw, officiated by UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson, went ahead without any reference to the shooting.

UEFA Cup holders CSKA Moscow will begin the defense of their trophy against FC Midtylland of Denmark.

CSKA, in Monaco for yesterday’s Super Cup match against European champions Liverpool, became the first Russian side to lift a European trophy when they defeated Sporting 3-1 in the final in Lisbon last May.

Sporting, back in the UEFA Cup after being knocked out in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, were also drawn against Scandinavian opponents. They will meet Halmstad, currently involved in a battle against relegation in Sweden.

Bayer Leverkusen, who won the UEFA Cup in 1988 and were runners-up in the Champions League final in 2002, face a tough task against CSKA Sofia who were eliminated from the Champions League third qualifying round by Liverpool on Tuesday.

The 40 teams who survive the first round will advance to a group stage comprising eight groups of five clubs before the competition reverts to a knockout phase next spring. The final is in Eindhoven on May 10.

Juve Have Proud Record

to Defend Against Chievo

In Rome, champions Juventus have a proud record to defend when they begin their Serie A title defense at home to Chievo Verona (kickoff 1830 GMT) tomorrow. AC Milan begin the season with a visit to promoted Ascoli (1300) while Inter Milan play hosts to Treviso (1300), another club new to the top flight.

The game with Chievo looks like providing Juve coach Fabio Capello with an ideal opener. Juve have beaten Sunday’s opponents in every Serie A match since Chievo arrived in the division in 2001.

Chievo finished last season one point above the relegation zone and there is little to suggest they will not struggle again this time round. Juve are boosted by the arrival of former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, who will form a central midfield partnership with Brazilian international Emerson.

First-choice keeper Gianluigi Buffon is out after injuring his shoulder in last Saturday’s Supercup defeat by Inter but his replacement, Christian Abbiati, is also an Italian international. While Chievo’s fans are probably fed up with losing to Juve, Ascoli’s loyal supporters have been eagerly snapping up tickets for their first top-flight match in 13 years, so much so that there have been reports of fights breaking out in queues.