/world sport
(CNN) -- Mark Hughes' Manchester City suffered an embarrassing UEFA Cup qualifying round defeat to a Danish side on the eve of the Premier League season.
Danny Olsen (right) is about to receive the congratulations of teammates after scoring against City.
Hughes, who took over from former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, saw his men go down to a 1-0 reverse to FC Midtjylland at Eastlands Stadium on Thursday night.
The Welshman, who left fellow Premier League club Blackburn to join City, had to deny reports earlier this week that he was looking to walk out because of a lack of transfer funds from the club's owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
He watched forlornly from the touchline as his side fell behind to a Danny Olsen goal in the 16th minute.
It followed a mistake by home captain Richard Dunne. City almost equalized two minutes before half-time, only for Daniel Sturridge's shot to come back off the underside of the crossbar.
Martin Petrov also hit the woodwork but Hughes was forced to listen to his side being jeered off at the end and they might have fallen further behind in the two-legged affair as the Danes grew in confidence in the second half.
City's Premier League rivals Aston Villa had no such problem in their 4-1 away win over Icelandic side FH Hafnarfjordur.
Much of the interest centered on Villa's England international Gareth Barry, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool all summer, but played and scored the opener in the fourth minute.
It means he would be cup-tied in the Champions League should he move to Liverpool -- increasing the likelihood he will stay at Villa Park.
England international squad members Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor also scored first-half goals at the Laugardalsvollur Stadium and although Matthias Gudmundsson pulled one back, Martin Laursen's second-half header secured his side a comfortable lead to take back to Villa Park.
Defender Curtis Davies gave his reaction to Barry's performance and said he hoped he would remain at Villa.
"We love Gareth, we want him to stay and hopefully he does," he told Channel Five television.
"We just try to get on with it. If Gareth's there I'm happy. If he's not there one day, I will be disappointed but good luck to him."
Other big names in action on Thursday enjoyed mixed fortunes.
Spanish Primera side Deportivo La Coruna were held 0-0 at home to Hadjuk Split, while Serie A Napoli were convincing 3-0 winners at Vllaznia.
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