English Premier League side Arsenal on Tuesday had to work hard for their 1-0 victory in their Champions League play-off match against Serie A side Udinese, dpa reported.
There was a better result for Czech club Viktoria Plzen, who last season won their first League title in 100 years as they won 3-1 at FC Copenhagen to take a giant step towards the lucrative group stages of the competition.
In London Theo Walcott scored in the fourth minute for the Gunners, who then however struggled to find a second goal that would have given them the advantage ahead of next weeks' return leg.
Twente Enschede and BATE Borisov both game back from being down to snatch a draw at home against former champions Benfica Lisbon and Sturm Graz respectively.
The Dutch club drew 2-2 against Benfica, while Borisov and Sturm Graz drew 1-1.
Olympique Lyon secured a 3-1 win against Rubin Kazan and will fancy their chances of advancing to the next round.
Five further matches will be played in the play-off stage on Wednesday and the ten winners from the two-legged ties will go through to the group stage.
...