Paris: Under-pressure Glasgow Rangers and Dynamo Kiev both need to clinch away victories to avoid exiting the Champions League at the qualifying round stage this week.
Scottish champions Rangers lost 1-0 at Ibrox last week to Malmo and head to Sweden knowing that in 55 years the club has never come back from losing a home leg to win a European tie.
But manager Ally McCoist, who took over from Walter Smith in the summer, believes Saturday's 2-0 league win over St Johnstone could prove the key to overturning the deficit on Wednesday.
"I firmly believe that on chances created in the second-half against Malmo that we can turn it around," said McCoist.
"Even against St Johnstone we created a fantastic number of goal-scoring opportunities and I believe we will do that over in Malmo. I really believe that if we take them we will win the game."
Dynamo's hopes of making the play-off round -- the next step in the tournament before the lucrative group stage kicks in -- depend on overturning a 2-0 home loss to Russia's Rubin Kazan.
Christian Noboa and Bebras Natcho scored for the Russian side in the first leg, avenging a 3-1 defeat when they last visited Kiev in the 2008/09 group stages.
"We're not going to give up. We'll prepare for the second leg, and time will tell," said Dynamo coach Yuri Semin.
Danish champions Copenhagen, who reached the round of 16 last season, are 1-0 up on Shamrock Rovers ahead of their trip to Dublin while fellow group stage regulars Panathinaikos are in the box seat after a 1-1 draw at Odense.
Portuguese giants Benfica take a 2-0 lead to Trabzonspor in Turkey.
Christian Noboa and Bebras Natcho scored for the Russian side in the first leg, avenging a 3-1 defeat when they last visited Kiev in the 2008/09 group stages.
"We're not going to give up. We'll prepare for the second leg, and time will tell," said Dynamo coach Yuri Semin.
Danish champions Copenhagen, who reached the round of 16 last season, are 1-0 up on Shamrock Rovers ahead of their trip to Dublin while fellow group stage regulars Panathinaikos are in the box seat after a 1-1 draw at Odense.
Portuguese giants Benfica take a 2-0 lead to Trabzonspor in Turkey.
First Published: Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 10:07