Ngog stars for Liverpool

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The Frenchman found the net in each half as an under-strength Liverpool side overcame Rabotnicki with little alarm in the first leg of the third-qualifying round tie.

With 17 days still to go before its Premier League opener, Liverpool was without 10 of its FIFA World Cup players but its blend of youth and experience coped well in a game of little drama. Hodgson's decision to leave behind the likes of Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole was fully vindicated.

Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Alberto Aquilani, Lucas and Ngog were the established players to start, while new signing Milan Jovanovic was handed his debut alongside David Amoo, making his first senior appearance.

Diego Cavalieri, Martin Kelly and Jay Spearing made up the team but it was a sign of the times that the side on show at the Philip II Stadium - an old arena halfway through an impressive rebuild - was still worth £41 million ($71 million).

Shamrock Rovers' hopes of causing a huge upset are all but over after a double from Amauri gave Juventus a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

Shamrock fell behind in just the third minute as the Brazilian striker slotted home after good build up by the Italian giant.

But the host put in a gutsy effort to stay in the game and occasionally threaten an equaliser, before Amauri's 75th-minute header rounded off an ultimately comfortable success for the visitor.

Bundesliga side Stuttgart emerged from its game at Norwegians Molde with a 3-2 victory, but only after the host had twice fought back from a goal down.

Sebastian Rudy's opener was cancelled out in the 65th minute by a fortunate goal from Mattias Mostrom, who charged down an attempted clearance and sent the ball bouncing past goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic restored the visitor's lead with a free-kick in the 74th minute, only for Magne Hoseth to reply two minutes later, before substitute Martin Harnik's back-post header settled the game in the 82nd minute.

Elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon won 1-0 at Norway's Nordsjaelland and French side Montpellier prevailed 1-0 at Gyor of Hungary.

A goal from new signing Dennis Rommedahl gave Greek giant Olympiacos a 2-1 win at home to Israelis Maccabi Tel-Aviv but Galatasaray let slip a 2-0 lead in the last 10 minutes to draw 2-2 against Serbia's OFK Beograd in Istanbul.

Maritimo of Portugal enjoyed the night's biggest victory, winning 8-2 at home to hapless Welsh outfit Bangor City.