FLORENCE, Italy (AP) -Fiorentina opened European Champions League qualifying with a win, beating Slavia Prague 2-0 Tuesday night on goals by Adrian Mutu and Alberto Gilardino.
Mutu scored on a free kick in the third minute. Gilardino, playing his first competitive match for Fiorentina following his transfer from AC Milan, doubled the lead in the 57th minute.
The second leg of the total-goals, third-round series will be played in the Czech Republic on Aug. 27.
Fifteen more first-leg matches are scheduled for Wednesday, when Arsenal plays at FC Twente, Liverpool travels to Standard Liege, Barcelona hosts Wisla Krakow, Atletico Madrid is at Schalke, and Juventus hosts Artmedia.
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LONDON (AP) - Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton were eliminated from England's League Cup in the first round of the competition.
Sheffield Wednesday, the 1991 champion, lost 5-3 to visiting Rotherham on penalty kicks following a 2-2 tie. Charlton, a League Championship team lost to League One Yeovil 1-0 on a 28th-minute goal by Paul Warne.
Five other clubs from the second-tier League Championship were eliminated: Barnsley, Blackpool, Doncaster, Norwich and Plymouth. Premier League clubs join in later rounds.
Reading, starting American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and midfielder Bobby Convey, won 2-1 at Dagenham.
Derby won 3-1 against visiting Lincoln on three goals by Nathan Ellington, its first victory since being bought by an American group headed by Andy Appleby last January. The takeover came shortly after its last triumph, over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.
Derby was relegated from the Premier League in May following a 1-29-8 season.
