PARIS (AFP) European giants Liverpool and Juventus began life under new coaches with victories in the first legs of their Europa League third qualifying round ties on Thursday. A David Ngog brace gave Roy Hodgsons Liverpool a 2-0 victory at Macedonian minnows Rabotnicki, while Luigi Delneri oversaw an equally straightforward 2-0 win for the Italian side at Irish team Shamrock Rovers. Liverpool and Juve have had to undergo the ignominy of the Europa League preliminary rounds after each finished seventh in their respective leagues last season, prompting managerial changes at both Anfield and the Stadio Olimpico. With 10 World Cup players including Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole and Javier Mascherano all short of fitness, Hodgson fielded a team partly made up of fringe players at the Filip II Arena in Skopje. Liverpool took the lead in the 17th minute when Lucas picked out Ngog and the Frenchman capitalised on Egzon Belicas slip to dink the ball over goalkeeper Martin Bogatinov and then tap it into the empty net. Ngog made it 2-0 shortly before the hour when he crisply volleyed in Martin Kellys right-wing cross from six yards out. There were a lot of players out there I need to learn about, as some of them I have hardly worked with, said Hodgson in praise of his young side. It was a very good exercise in that respect. Juve boss Delneri handed first competitive starts to a number of new signings, including goalkeeper Marco Storari, former Bari centre-back Leonardo Bonucci and on-loan winger Pepe. Brazilian-Italian striker Amauri put the Serie A side ahead in the third minute in Dublin, finishing deftly after a sharp one-two with Diego, before netting his second with 15 minutes to play. I always felt we could go out and play the way we did and have patches where we could hassle them, but we knew it would be difficult to do that for 90 minutes against a side of their quality, said Shamrock boss Michael ONeill. In the end I couldnt have asked any more of the players. Bundesliga side Stuttgart emerged from their game at Norwegians Molde with a 3-2 victory, but only after the hosts had twice fought back from a goal down. Sebastian Rudys opener was cancelled out in the 65th minute by a fortunate goal from Mattias Mostrom, who charged down an attempted clearance and sent the ball bouncing past goalkeeper Sven Ulreich. Zdravko Kuzmanovic restored the visitors lead with a free-kick in the 74th minute, only for Magne Hoseth to reply two minutes later, before substitute Martin Harniks back-post header settled the game in the 82nd minute. Elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon won 1-0 at Norways Nordsjaelland and French side Montpellier prevailed 1-0 at Gyor of Hungary. A goal from new signing Dennis Rommedahl gave Greek giants Olympiakos a 2-1 win at home to Israelis Maccabi Tel-Aviv but Galatasaray let slip a 2-0 lead in the last 10 minutes to draw 2-2 against Serbias OFK Beograd in Istanbul. Maritimo of Portugal enjoyed the nights biggest victory, winning 8-2 at home to hapless Welsh outfit Bangor City. The second legs take place on August 3-5, with heavyweights such as Manchester City, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and Porto all due to enter the competition in the following round. Ibrahimovic commits to Barcelona Barcelonas Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has put an end to speculation that he is leaving the Spanish champions, saying Thursday that he is staying put at the club. I am a Barcelona player and I will continue to be one, the 28-year-old was quoted by Barcelonas website as saying at a news conference in Oslo ahead of a friendly against Norwegian side Valerenga. The rumours have not affected me because I have not had any doubts that I want to stay. I have taken them as a compliment. Ibrahimovic said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola who told him he was important to him. I will continue to work as hard as possible to maintain his confidence, he added. Barcelona signed Spain striker David Villa, who shone during the World Cup, from Valencia in May, fuelling speculation that Ibrahimovic was on his way out. The Swede joined Barcelona from Inter Milan in last year in a deal worth 75 million euros but he had a mixed first season at the Catalan club.