Moenchengladbach seek UCL debut
Borussia Moenchengladbach aim to return to Europe’s biggest football stage for the first time in 34 years when they take on Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League play-offs.
The two-legged tie on Tuesday and August 29 starts with a home game for the German side which last played in the elite event in the 1977-78 season, going out in the semifinals against Liverpool who also beat them in the 1977 final.
Ten play-off ties are scheduled in total to complete the 32-strong group stage field for which the draw will be made on August 30.
They include Spartak Moscow v Fenerbahce, Braga v Udinese and Malaga v Panathinaikos.
England are not represented this time around because Chelsea are directly qualified as title holders and the fourth-place Premier League finisher misses out on the playoffs as a result.
Moenchengladbach won five Bundesliga titles, one German cup and two Uefa Cups during their heydays in the 1970s.
They finished a surprise fourth in the past Bundesliga season and hope for a place in the lucrative group stage although they lost key players Marco Reus and Dante to champions Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, respectively.
“It will be a difficult game. Kyiv have a strong team. But we know, from the past season as well, that we can beat any team. It will be difficult for Kyiv as well,” midfielder Havard Nordveidt said.
Kyiv won the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in 1975 and 1986, reached the Champions League semifinals in 1999 and the Uefa Cup semis in 2009. The Ukrainians are bidding a first group stage berth in three years and 15th overall.
They eliminated Dutch side Feyenoord in the third qualifying round but are coming off their first domestic league season defeat, 1-0 at Vorskla. Moenchengladbach won a cup game 2-0 at Aachen on Saturday, with the Bundesliga yet to start.
The two sides have met once before, with Moenchengladbach winning the 1977 semifinal tie 2-1 on aggregate.
Spartak and Fenerbahce start Tuesday’s action with their first meeting, while Lille aim to return to the group stage for the first time since 2005 against Danish runners-up Copenhagen, who have lost three of their four home games against French opposition.
Swiss club Basle seek a third straight Champions League berth against Romania’s Cluj, with each side winning their home game in the 2009-10 group stage. Scotland’s Celtic are at Sweden’s Helsingborg, who have never qualified for the elite event.
The same applies to Israel’s Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, who need to overcome Bate Borisov, with the first leg in Belarus on Wednesday.
Dinamo Zagreb meet Maribor in a Croatian-Slovenian duel, and Limassol of Cyprus play Belgium’s Anderlcht.
Spain’s surprise fourth-place finisher Malaga are in their first Champions League campaign but face a major hurdle against Greek side Panathinaikos who are coached by their former helmsman Jesualdo Ferreira.
Udinese are at Braga as they aim to avoid the fate of 12 months ago when they were denied a place in the group stage by Arsenal.