EUROPA LEAGUE: Good start for Italian teams

Genoa, Lazio and Roma will all be confident in progressing to the group stages of the Europa League. All three teams will fancy their chances in going deep in this competition. But there are quality sides in it. Hamburg, Villareal, Aston Villa, Everton, Werder Bremen, Valencia and champions Shakhtar Donetsk will be difficult opposition, not to mention the Champions League drop outs from the qualifying rounds and group stages of that Competition. This could include at the moment Panathanikos, Celtic, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlect amongst others, though this will be subject to chance depending upon next weeks Champions League return qualifiers.

Koscise 3 - 3 AS Roma
Roma, playing away from home, blew a 3-1 lead to eventually be pegged back to 3-3 against minnows Koscise earlier on today. They fell behind after just five minutes but talisman Francesco Totti drew them level from the spot later in the first half. Early in the second Jeremy Menez pulled il Lupi ahead and then on 67 minutes Francesco Totti gave them a two goal lead that looked to have won the tie already for Roma. However, Jan Novaks two goals leveled the tie and left Roma with a little work to do in Rome next week. Still, at home and with three away goals you would expect them to progress.

Genoa 3 - 1 Odense
Genoa made a great return to European action tonight beating Danish side Odense 3-1 at home. There last appearance in European competition was in 1991. They made light work of Odense though. Sculli's shot was parried only for Emilano Moretti to put off Sorenson and for him to turn the ball into his own net. However the Danish side did not give up and tested Genoa for the rest of the first half, coming close after hitting the woodwork. Still after the break Genoa doubled their lead. Argentine Luis Figueroa headed in to make the scoreline more comfortable and then he doubled his talley after Sculli was again involved by hiting the bar. Figueroa made it 3-0 on a follow up. Odense pulled one back later on to give them a chance in this tie, but Genoa take a two goal advantage to Denmark for next weeks second leg.

Lazio 3 - 0 Elfsborg
Lazio dominated the Swedish opposition after the first goal. Before that moment Elfsborg had a chance to take the lead thanks to sloppy Lazio defending but they failed to capitalise on their moment in the Italian Capital. Alex Kolarov though did not fail, and after bombing down the left wing and fired in a left foot missile from a tight angle leaving the keeper with no chance whatsoever. Argentine wonder kid Zarate doubled the lead moments later as he continues to make his case for the Argentine squad. After waltzing round the Elfsborg defence Zarate launched a right foot drive from 25 yards out that found its way into the bottom corner, again leaving the keeper with no chance. In the second half Lazio kept possession well and Zarate kept on waltzing round the Elfsborg defence. He did it again on 69 minutes and supplied a magnificent ball to Stefano Mauri who applied a consummate finish. 3-0. That was how it ended and you would think Lazio are all but through before their season opener with Atalanta on Sunday night.

Elsewhere in the Europa League: Best of the rest
Valencia, Hamburg, Werder Bremen, Villareal, Shaktar Donetsk, FC Twente and Everton all began their campaigns with Commanding wins tonight. PSV scraped a 1-0 away win while Ajax were dominant at home winning 5-0. The surprise of the night was Rapid Vienna downing Aston Villa by 1-0. Can Vienna hold on and pull off a shock? Time will tell. A lot of big names in this competition this year and it will be interesting to see who is drawn against who in the group stages.