Chelsea were emphatic 3-0 winners over Zilina of Slovakia, securing a 5-0 aggregate victory, and Anderlecht were equally comfortable with a 1-0 win at Wisla Krakow in Poland that made them 4-1 winners over the two legs.
But Deportivo needed home advantage for a 1-0 victory over Rosenborg Trondheim, after the away leg in Norway had finished goalless, while a 2-2 draw on the night for Sparta Prague was good enough for a 5-4 win over Vardar Skopje.
Chelsea, who have so often stumbled in the early stages of European competition in recent seasons, made no mistake at Stamford Bridge on a night made even more special by the signing of Argentina striker Hernan Crespo.
The former Inter Milan frontman took the west London club’s spending to nearly 100 million pounds since Russian businessman Roman Abramovich took over last month — and his team look set for a promising European campaign.
Third qualifying round collated results:
Sparta Prague 2 Vardar Skopje 2
First leg: 3-2; Sparta win 5-4 on aggregate
Chelsea 3 Zilina 0
First leg: 2-0; Chelsea win 5-0 on aggregate
Wisla Krakow 0 Anderlecht 1
First leg: 1-3; Anderlecht win 4-1 on aggregate
Deportivo Coruna 1 Rosenborg Trondheim 0
First leg: 0-0; Deportivo Coruna win 1-0 on aggregate.
English Premier League Tuesday results:
Charlton Athletic 2 Everton 2
Leeds United 0 Southampton 0
Leicester City 0 Middlesbrough 0
Portsmouth 4 Bolton Wanderers 0
Intertoto Cup finals played on Tuesday.
Schalke 04 (Ger) 0 SV Pasching (Aus) 0
(First leg: 2-0; Schalke 04 win 2-0 on aggregate) VfL Wolfsburg (Germany) 0 Perugia (Italy) 2
(First leg: 0-1; Perugia win 3-0 on aggregate) Villarreal (Spain) 0 Heerenveen (Netherlands) 0
(First leg: 2-1; Villarreal win 2-1 on aggregate), Schalke 04, Perugia and Villarreal qualify for the first round of the UEFA Cup.—Reuters