A rejuvenated AC Milan began their new era on the European stage, as they demolished Macedonian outfit Shkendija 6-0 at Stadio San Siro.
An impressive Rossoneri line-up including newcomers Leonardo Bonucci, Franck Kessie, Andrea Conti, Fabio Borini, Hakan Calhanoglu and Andre Silva helped virtually seal their progression to the Europa League group stage, thanks to doubles from Silva and Riccardo Montolivo, whilst Borini and Luca Antonelli added a goal each.
Elsewhere, Wayne Rooney's Everton enjoyed success as they steered past Croatian side Hajduk Split in a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
Their path looks set thanks to goals from Michael Keane and Idrissa Gueye, after the game was delayed for five minutes due to crowd trouble in the away end of the ground.
Violence in the Split end
Other notable results include Marseille's 1-1 draw at home to Slovenian side Domzale with Morgan Sanson getting a second-half equaliser for the French side.
In Holland, Ajax were stunned as Norwegian club Rosenborg stole a 1-0 away win in a bid to keep the Dutch giants out of Europe this season.
In one of the other surprises of the night, Turkish giants Fenerbahce fell in Macedonia against Vardar Skopje 2-0, with Roberto Soldado appearing in the last 30 minutes of the fixture.
Club Brugge and AEK Athens played out to a goalless draw in Belgium while Viktoria Plzen defeated Imanol Idiakez's Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in convincing fashion thanks to a 3-1 win in Czechia.
Europa League group stage qualifiers first leg results
Utrecht 1-0 Zenit St. Petersburg
BATE 1-1 Oleksandria
Krasnodar 3-2 Crvena Zvezda
Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 Skënderbeu Körçe
Apollon 3-2 Midtjylland
FH 1-2 Sporting Braga
PAOK 3-1 Östersunds FK
Vardar 2-0 Fenerbahçe
Viktoria Plzen 3-1 AEK Larnaca
Rheindorf Altach 0-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Ludogorets 2-0 Süduva
Panathinaikos 2-3 Athletic
Milan 6-0 Shkendija
Osijek 1-2 Austria Vienna
Bruges 0-0 AEK Athens
Viitorul 1-3 Salzburg
Domzale 1-1 Olympique Marseille
Ajax 0-1 Rosenborg
Legia Warsaw 1-1 Sheriff
Partizan 0-0 Videoton
Everton 2-0 Hajduk Split