Liverpool put in another lacklustre performance, and were lucky to come away with a 1-0 first-leg win against Scottish club Hearts as Newcastle battled back to secure a 1-1 draw with Greek side Atromitos in the Europa League playoffs.
An own goal from Andy Webster was enough for the English Premier League team, who saw Andy Carroll miss the game through injury, to take home a 1-0 advantage, after the home side had the better of the exchanges in Edinburgh against their more illustrious opponents.
Liverpool, starting without much of their regular starters, were still considered strong enough to walk away with a comfortable win. That never materialized, however, as Hearts took control, missing a hatful of chances in the first half.
Liverpool gradually got into the game and started bossing possession, but the troubling fact remained that, whenever the Reds had possession they seemed to make nothing out of it. The passing was good, but there was absolutely no end product, the Reds coming closest late in the first half when Fabio Borini saw his shot crash off the post.
The goal came through an excellent Martin Kelly cross. New signing Borini missed the ball completely, but the ball came of the shin of Webster to nestle into the back of the net in the 78th minute.
Newcastle were also made to work hard, with Ryan Taylor scoring the equaliser in first half stoppage time, after Denis Epstein had opened the scoring for the home side in the 24th minute.
Marseille survived a scare to eke out a 2-1 advantage thanks to a brace from Jordan Ayew, while last year's Europa League runners-up Athletic Bilbao thrashed Finnish side HJK 6-0.
Inter Milan beat Vaslui 2-0 in Romania, with goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Rodrigo Palacio keeping the Italians comfortably placed going into the second leg at the San Siro. Fellow Italians Lazio also won 2-0 at Slovenian side Mura 05.
Dutch sides AZ Alkmaar, FC Twente and Heerenveen all crashed to defeats, with Feyenoord needing a late equaliser to draw 2-2 against Sparta Prague. PSV Eindhoven had no problems, however, dispatching Montenegrin side Zeta 5-0.