MONACO, Sep 15 (SW) - Monaco, Auxerre and Strasbourg have one foot in the UEFA Cup group stage after they were all victorious in their first-round first leg matches of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup on Thursday.

Monaco - Willem II 2-0

Monaco completed what was a pitiful day for Dutch sides in the UEFA Cup as they defeated Willem II 2-0 at the Stade Louis II in the principality.

Didier Deschamps' side went in front on 24 minutes when Olivier Kapo found the back of the Willem II net and the lead was doubled when Emmanuel Adebayor struck the nylon three minutes after the second-half restart.

Auxerre - Levski Sofia 2-1

Jacques Santini got a win in his first European game at the helm of Auxerre with a Luigi Pieroni goal late against Bulgarian side Levski Sofia.

Levski jumped out in front at the Abbé-Deschamps stadium when Cedric Bardon scored in the 35th minute to grab a 1-0 lead.

Romain Poyet pulled Auxerre level in the 53rd minute and the home side came out victorious with Pieroni scored with eight minutes to go.

Lens - Groclin 1-1

After getting through the Intertoto Cup to earn their spot in the UEFA Cup, Lens began with a disappointing result as they drew at home 1-1 with Polish side Groclin.

Hilton put Lens in front on 13 minutes, but less than a minute later, Piotr Rocki pulled the Poles level with a goal of his own.

Germinal - Marseille 0-0

A disappointing start to the Ligue 1 campaign didn't get too much better for Marseille as they were held to a goalless draw away to Belgian side Germinal.

With just one win in six league matches, the French side were hoping to jumpstart their season with a good result, but the Belgians resisted and earned the stalemate.

Graz AK - Strasbourg 0-2

French league cup winners Strasbourg got their UEFA Cup campaign off to a nice start with a 2-0 win at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion against Graz AK.

A healthy Mickaël Pagis put Strasbourg in front within the first minute of the match and the win was secured just before the interval on a goal by Guillaume Lacour.