Inter Milan’s Adriano (left) and Tomas Hubschman of Shakhtar Donetsk fight for the ball in Milan on Wednesday

London: Three former winners advanced smoothly into the Champions League group stage on Wednesday when Manchester United, Inter Milan and Ajax Amsterdam made sure of their places in the money-spinning final 32.

United won 3-0 at Hungary’s Debrecen for a 6-0 aggregate score, Inter drew 1-1 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine for a 3-1 aggregate success, while Ajax rallied to beat Brondby 3-1 for a 5-3 overall victory.

Anderlecht, Rangers, Werder Bremen, Club Bruges and Villarreal also progressed to take their place in Thursday’s draw in Monaco.

On Tuesday, holders Liverpool and Real Betis advanced, along with surprise duo Thun of Switzerland and Artmedia Bratislava of Slovakia, joining the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and AC Milan, all automatically through.

Playing in the group stage of the continent’s premier club competition is worth between ?10 and ?20 million depending on television and other factors and is absolutely essential for the budgets of Europe’s major clubs. Manchester United have certainly come to rely on it, as Wednesday’s success made it a record 10 consecutive years in the group phase for the 1968 and 1999 European champions.

They were never likely to be troubled having strolled to a 3-0 first-leg win at Old Trafford and were similarly dominant in Budapest.