Former winners FCSB nearly ended up being part of those 14 eliminated sides. The Romanians were made to sweat in their decider in Andorra versus Inter Club d'Escaldes. After Risto Radunovic put the visitors up 4-1 on aggregate, the Andorrans came roaring back in the final quarter of the game.
Sascha Andreu gave his side some life in the 67th minute as he tied the score on the night. Just before the end of normal time, Alexandre Llovet made it 4-3 overall with a close-range finish. Unfortunately for Inter, despite the 2-1 win at home, they lost out on aggregate and now drop to the UEFA Conference League second round of qualifying.
All but two of this round's ties included at least one side who have participated in a European group stage before. Drita, who prevailed 4-2 on aggregate against Luxembourg's Differdange 03, are one of the exceptions. The other such tie saw KuPS hold off Milsami Orhei on the road to win 1-0 across the two legs.
Olimpija Ljubljana and The New Saints, who reached the Conference League proper last term, were eliminated in what were disappointing results for both. The Slovenians conceded twice in the first half away to Kairat Almaty to fall 3-1 overall. As for TNS, Jack Bodenham's own goal four minutes from the end of extra time did them in versus North Macedonia's Shkendija, who won 2-1 on the night and on aggregate.
Malta's hopes of a maiden European group phase representative increased considerably after Hamrun Spartans, who have won the last three league titles, overcame a 2-0 first leg defeat to Zalgiris by scoring twice in six first half minutes. They then outlasted their Lithuanian opponents 11-10 on penalties after 14 rounds. It was the first time they advanced from a UCL tie, at the seventh time of asking.
Elsewhere, Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps successfully negotiated their two-legged meeting with Faroese outfit Vikingur Gota. Tjay De Barr netted the winner in stoppage time as they ended winning both legs, 4-2 overall. They face former European Cup winners Crvena zvezda next.
Vikingur will join San Marino's Virtus in the third qualifying round of the Conference League's domestic champions path - a section dedicated to league champions who are eliminated in Champions League or Europa League qualifying. The latter fell 2-1 versus Zrinjski, and 4-1 over the two legs.
Other scores from Tuesday include Malmo getting past Iberia 1999 3-1 for the second straight week, while Breidablik overcame Egnatia with an emphatic 5-0 home win to advance 5-1 on aggregate.
RFS came out on top in the all-Baltic clash with another 1-0 defeat of Levadia Tallinn, and FC Noah held off Buducnost despite a 2-2 draw in Montenegro. The Armenians, who are close to a second straight league phase showing, won 3-2 overall.
Wednesday had the final two games of the round. Shelbourne got past Linfield in the battle of Ireland. The visitors went in front at Windsor Park courtesy of Ali Coote 25 minutes in. However, the Northern Irish club levelled through Chris Shields just before the interval. Ben Hall was given his marching orders midway though the second period, where the Shels held on for a 2-1 aggregate win.
Ludogorets also progresed with a draw in their game versus Dinamo Minsk. However, the Bulgarians were forced into extra time after the aggregate score read 2-2 after 180 minutes of football. In the end, Eric Bile made the difference in the 100th minute, putting the Razgrad-based team into the second qualifying round.
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