The Turin club was one of three former European champions to win their first-leg matches in the third qualifying round on Thursday, with FC Barcelona defeating visiting Polish side Wisla Krakow 4-0 and Marseille winning 1-0 at Brann of Norway with a crucial away goal.

Another former European champion, Liverpool, should still advance to the lucrative group phase but was lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw at Belgian champion Standard Liege.

But it was Juventus, making its return to European football’s top competition because of its part in Italy’s match-fixing scandal, that racked up arguably the best win in the night’s 15 matches.

Mauro Camoranesi opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a firm shot from inside the area.

Alessandro Del Piero doubled the advantage in the 26th, Giorgio Chiellini made it 3-0 ten minutes later and Nicola Legrottaglie rounded off the scoring in the final minute.

Juventus should easily negotiate its second-leg match in Slovakia on Aug 26 to complete its return to the competition proper.

It would mark the final stage of a lengthy rehabilitation from its exclusion from the Champions League and relegation to Italy’s second division in 2006. Juve played in Serie A last year, finishing third, but still did not participate in any cup games.

“The return to European Cup play is important and the boys really wanted this win,” Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said.

“This is an important win, but we have to be sure to concentrate for the return game.”

Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry appear likely to stay with Barcelona for the season after playing and scoring in the Catalan side’s one-sided victory at Camp Nou. If Barcelona had wanted to sell either striker, as had been rumored, it would have been expected to leave them on the sidelines to ensure they were eligible to play in the competition for another club.

Barcelona’s emphatic win made it virtually certain to reach the group phase and gave new coach Pep Guardiola a promising start in his first competitive match in charge.

Eto’o opened and closed the scoring, Xavi Hernandez made it 2-0, and Henry struck early in the second half.

“This is the path to follow,” Guardiola said. “But not everything will be like this.

The team is not yet fully formed.” Marseille won through a goal by Bruno Cheyrou, but Standard Liege was unlucky not to beat five-time European champion Liverpool.

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina saved Liverpool twice, first clearing the ball when it had appeared to be over the line and then stopping Dante Dalmat’s penalty kick.

“We have to finish it off at Anfield,” Reina said.

The other English side in action, Arsenal, eased to a 2-0 win at FC Twente through second-half goals by William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor.

In other games, Schalke beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 1-0 when Christian Pander curled a 20-meter free kick over the wall and into the top left corner of goalkeeper Leo Franco’s net in the 20th minute.

Franco stopped Schalke from opening an even bigger lead and the German side lost newly signed forward Jefferson Farfan, whose pace had troubled Atletico’s defense, to a shoulder injury in the second half.

Luis Garcia, a substitute, narrowly missed Schalke’s goal in the 71st, Atletico’s last chance before Antonio Lopez was sent off with his second yellow card of the match in the 75th.

Schalke could not capitalize on the advantage and faces a tough return leg.

The biggest shock came when Cypriot champion Anorthosis Famagusta beat Greece’s Olympiakos 3-0. Olympiakos defender Vassilis Torosidis knocked the ball into his own net in the fifth minute, striker Lukasz Sosin headed past sprawling goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis 12 minutes later, and Vincent Laban killed off the match in the 86th with a deflected 20-meter shot.

In other games, it was: Shakhtar Donetsk 2, Dinamo Zagreb 0; Levski Sofia 0, Bate 1; Spartak Moscow 1, Dinamo Kiev 4; Aalborg 2, Kaunas 0; Sparta Prague 1, Panathinaikos 2; Partizan Belgrade 2, Fenerbahce 2; Galatasaray 2, Steaua Bucharest 2; Guimaraes 0, Basel 0.

Fiorentina beat Slavia Prague 2-0 in Tuesday’s third round, first-leg match.