Owen sets record

England striker Michael Owen became Liverpool's leading goal scorer of all time in Europe after netting in a 1-1 draw against Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana in the UEFA Cup on Wednesday.

Owen's 78th minute goal in the first round, first leg tie was his 21st in 45 European games for the four-times European champions, overtaking Ian Rush who scored 20 in 38 matches.

Barcelona, who like Liverpool found themselves in unfamiliar surroundings in Eastern Europe, were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovakia's Puchov.

But injury-hit Borussia Dortmund, dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers by Club Bruges after a penalty shoot-out, got a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Austria Vienna.

Liverpool, the 2001 UEFA Cup winners, dominated for long periods in Ljubljana but the home side offered stubborn resistance.

Owen thought he had broken Rush's record earlier in the match but his 25th minute effort from close range was offside and it was Olimpija's Anton Zlogar who broke the deadlock when he fired home a rebound off the post on 65 minutes.

But the lead lasted just 13 minutes, Owen meeting a cross from John Arne Riise to head the equaliser.

BEAUTIFUL FEELING

Barcelona would have expected to take a healthy lead to the Nou Camp for the second leg against Puchov, but an injury-time strike from Milan Jambor earned the home side a 1-1 draw.

Puchov, struggling in their own league, created several chances in a goalless first half but fell behind to a Patrick Kluivert goal on 49 minutes.

The match was played in Trnava, 130 km from Puchov, in a more suitable stadium for European competition.

"It's a beautiful feeling. I'm very proud of the performance of my players," said Puchov coach Stefan Zatko.

"We played very intensely. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep up the tempo for the whole match, but it's a good starting point for the second leg."

Valencia and Real Mallorca both showed Spanish rivals Barcelona how to win away. A 65th minute goal from Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira earned Valencia a 1-0 victory over AIK Stockholm, while Mallorca overcame APOEL Nicosia 2-1.

Former European champions Borussia Dortmund were missing a host of key players, including Jan Koller, Tomas Rosicky, Flavio Conceicao, Christoph Metzelder and Marcio Amoroso, against Austria Vienna but take a 2-1 lead back to Germany for the second leg thanks to a 67th-minute winner from Lars Ricken.

Otto Addo's opening goal late in the first half for Dortmund was cancelled out immediately by Vladimir Janocko.

The 1999 UEFA Cup winners Parma, who have made a fine start to the Serie A season and are one of five clubs who share the early lead in Italy, needed a 67th-minute equaliser from Adriano to earn a 1-1 draw and a precious away goal at Metalurg Donetsk.

Serhiy Shishchenko had given the Ukraine side a 44th minute lead.

ROMA ROMP

A good night for Italian sides was completed with AS Roma, who rested their usual strike partnership of Francesco Totti and Antonio Cassano, crushing Vardar Skopje 4-0 at home, Perugia winning 2-1 in Scotland against Dundee, and a 36th-minute goal from Dino Fava handing Udinese a 1-0 victory at SV Salzburg.

Norway's Rosenborg Trondheim, who failed to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time in eight seasons, romped to a 4-1 win away to Ventspils in Latvia.

Two goals from Genclerbirligi striker Souleymane Youla helped the Turkish side to a convincing 3-1 win over England's Blackburn Rovers.

Security was high at the Ankara stadium but there were no signs of trouble among the capacity crowd in a match seen as a test ahead of next month's potentially volatile Euro 2004 qualifying decider between England and Turkey.

Newcastle United, surprisingly sitting second from bottom of the English premier league, finally kick-started their season with a 5-0 victory at home to Dutch side NAC Breda.

Manchester City also won, but had to come from behind for a 3-2 success over Lokeren, who prop up the Belgian first division.

Southampton, back in Europe for the first time in 19 years, were held to a 1-1 draw by Romania's Steaua Bucharest, European champions in 1986.