Champions League round-up: Dirk Kuyt was Liverpool's Champions League hero again on a night of high tension as Liverpool edged past Standard Liege at Anfield. Last season he scored seven goals in the competition and with two minutes left of extra time in their qualifier, he bagged the winner that sends the Reds into the lucrative group stages.
Kuyt has now scored nine goals in his last 15 European appearances, and how Liverpool needed his goal touch here against a brave Liege side who pushed them to the limits.
Arsenal, meanwhile, brushed aside the challenge of Steve McClaren's FC Twente to secure a place in the next round with a 4-0 victory at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners — who were already leading 2-0 from the first leg in Holland — impressed from kick-off and it was no surprise when they went ahead through French midfielder Samir Nasri after 27 minutes.
Captain William Gallas added another at the start of the second half, before England hopeful Theo Walcott got the goal his all-action display merited and Nicklas Bendtner tapped in late on to make it a miserable return home for former England head coach McClaren, who must now make do with the Uefa Cup.
For Arsenal, though, an estimated €30 million jackpot awaits following qualification to Europe's elite club competition for an 11th straight campaign.
More sterner tests will, you suspect, lie ahead between now and the chance of a glory night in Rome come May — but at least Arsene Wenger can sleep a little easier with mission accomplished and the campaign back on course.
Elsewhere in Europe, Atletico Madrid crushed German side Schalke 4-1 on aggregate after beating them 4-0.
They were joined by former winners Olympique Marseille and three teams who qualified for the lucrative group stage of the competition for the first time.
Argentine striker Sergio Aguero cancelled out Schalke's 1-0 lead from the first leg before second-half goals by Diego Forlan, Luis Garcia and Maxi Rodriguez sealed Atletico's passage at their Vicente Calderon stadium.
Danish champions Aalborg, Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta and Belarus surprise package BATE Borisov enjoyed the unprecedented success of advancing past the preliminary rounds.
Anorthosis went down 1-0 away to Olympiakos Piraeus but upset the Greek side 3-1 on aggregate after a stunning 3-0 win in the first leg.
Aalborg beat Kaunas 4-0 on aggregate after a Kasper Risgard double gave them a 2-0 away win over their nine-man Lithuanian rivals, while BATE held on for a 1-1 home draw against Levski Sofia after upsetting the Bulgarians 1-0 a fortnight ago.
There was mixed success for Turkish teams as Fenerbahce squeezed past Partizan Belgrade 4-3 on aggregate while bitter Istanbul rivals Galatasaray bowed out with a 3-2 overall defeat by 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest.
Headers by Semih Senturk and Brazilian forward Alex gave Fenerbahce a 2-0 lead in front of their vociferous fans before Zoran Tosic set up a nervy finish with a superb free kick.
Banel Nicolita struck in the 57th minute to send Steaua through and give Romanian fans plenty to cheer about after the country's champions CFR Cluj qualified automatically.
