Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus began their attempts to reach the second-tier Europa League with 2-0 victories.
Roy Hodgson guided Liverpool over Rabotnicki in his first competitive game since becoming manager four weeks ago. David Ngog scored twice as Liverpool won despite the absence of star players including Fernando Torres and Joe Cole.
Brazilian striker Amauri scored both goals for Juventus to give the Italian team a victory over Ireland's Shamrock Rovers in the first leg of its third qualifying round match.
The winners of the home-and-home, total-goals series advance to playoffs for places in the tournament.
Former European champion Red Star Belgrade faces a struggle after losing 2-1 to visiting Slovan Bratislava.
Playing without 10 World Cup players, Liverpool started a lineup that included Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Alberto Aquilani, Lucas Leiva and Ngog. New signings Milan Jovanovic and David Amoo made their first appearances.
Ngog raced through to reach Lucas' free kick and flicked the ball past goalkeeper Martin Bogatinov in the 17th minute, then made it 2-0 in the 59th with a volley.
Juventus, a two-time European champion, took the lead in the third minute when Amauri exchanged passes with Diego and shot past the goalkeeper. Diego then shot wide before Amauri scored in the 75th with a powerful header.
Former Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan scored in the sixth minute and added a tying goal in the 81st as Denmark's Randers lost 3-2 to visiting Lausanne-Sport of Switzerland. The 23-year-old is eligible to play for Armenia or Azerbaijan, and would be eligible for the U.S. national team if he becomes an American citizen.
Also Thursday, AZ Alkmaar beat Gothenburg 2-0, Galatasaray tied 2-2 with visiting OFK Belgrade, Sporting Lisbon won 1-0 at Nordsjaelland, Olympiakos beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-1 and Stuttgart won 3-2 at Norway's Molde.
