Europa League qualifying: Dynamo squeeze through on penalties as Sheriff, Hajduk escape

Dynamo Kyiv in particular were pushed to the limits. The Ukrainian side, perennial participants on the continental scene, required a penalty shootout against Universitatea Cluj after the second leg of their tie produced another 0-0 score. Similar to the other opener, the visitors created more scoring chances, but could not find the breakthrough.

Eventually, penalties were required in Cluj-Napioca, where Dorin Codrea and Alexandru Chipciu failed from the spot in consecutive kicks. Dynamo, meanwhile, converted all four of their takes to move on 4-2 in the shootout.

Next for The Blue and Whites will be a clash with Greece's PAOK Thessaloniki in the second qualifying round.

Dynamo were not the only side to have their struggles on Thursday. Moldova's record champions Sheriff Tiraspol scored five minutes in from Loukou Jaures-Ulrich to get past Slovenian Cup winners Aluminij 1-0 on the road.

The home side spent much of the remaining time trying to find an equaliser, amassing 23 shots - more than anyone else on the day. However, their efforts fell short, with Sheriff prevailing 1-0 over the two legs.

Hajduk Split were beaten 2-1 at Zilina, but moved on thanks to a 3-2 aggregate success. It was the first time since 2018/19 in which Hajduk successfully negotiated a two-legged tie in the UEL, falling in their last two.

The Croatian side, who consistently feature in the qualifying rounds in Europe, have not reached a group phase since 2010/11, when they finished bottom of their Europa League section.

Ferencvaros, Qarabag ease through as CSKA Sofia progress despite crowd trouble

While some sides had a tougher task of moving on, others had little issue in their matches. Ferencvaros pounced on an early red card from Vojvodina to beat the Serbian outfit 3-0 at home and win 5-1 across the two legs.

Heading into the match down 2-1 after the first leg, Vojvodina were left chasing from the opening whistle. However, a straight red card to centre-back Komel Szucs nine minutes in made the task that much challenging.

By the break, Ferencvaros had already scored twice, with a third added in the final 20 minutes to progress. Next for the Hungarians will be Eredivisie club Twente.

Elsewhere, CSKA Sofia found their way past Derry City 2-1 at Brandywell Stadium, giving them a 5-3 aggregate victory.

The match was stopped 10 minutes into the second half after fans of the Bulgarian club attempted to fight the home supporters, with several Derry fans ending up on the pitch.

The game did conclude after a 17-minute delay, with an own goal from Barry Cotter two minutes into stoppage time sealing the hosts' fate. 

Derry's four-game winning streak in European home matches came to an end with the defeat.

Qarabag are the other team to move on to the second qualifying round after beating Vestri 3-0 away, matching their result from the first leg. The Azeris scored all three of their goals before the hour mark to coast through against the second tier Icelandic side.

The second qualifying round will take place over the next two Thursdays as 12 more sides enter the competition hoping to progress to the league phase. As for the six defeated teams, they drop down to the Conference League and will continue their European journey there.