Eintracht Frankfurt will be expecting to complete the job and reach the Europa Conference League group stage when they host Levski Sofia in the second leg of their playoff tie on Thursday.
However, the Bulgarians showed that they should not be underestimated when gaining a 1-1 draw in last week's first leg.
Match preview
© Reuters
That said, Frankfurt will be highly motivated to go on yet another different European adventure, following their Europa League triumph in May 2022, before competing in the Champions League for the first time in their history last time out, ultimately losing to Serie A champions Napoli at the last-16 stage.
Despite conceding a 95th-mintue equaliser to Levski Sofia at the Vasil Levski National Stadium last Thursday, Randal Kolo Muani's sixth-minute strike ensured that they remain firmly in the box seat to reach the group stage.
Die Adler benefitted from an injury-time strike themselves in their last match, with new signing Omar Marmoush snatching a precious point for his side away to Mainz 05, which represented an excellent result considering that Ansgar Knauff had been sent off on the hour mark following Lee Jae-sung's first-half opener.
Should they advance beyond the test of Levski Sofia as expected on Thursday, the Europa Conference League would undoubtedly be a competition that Frankfurt would hope to add to their trophy cabinet, with new manager Dino Toppmoller likely to sense an excellent opportunity to forge his name into the club's history books.
© Reuters
Levski Sofia, meanwhile, have not competed at the group stage of any European competition since finishing bottom in Group C in the Europa League in the 2010-11 campaign, so they will be desperate to inflict a major upset at Deutsch-Bank Park this week.
Hassimi Fadiga's last-gasp effort in last week's first leg has certainly given them a glimmer of hope ahead of their trip to Germany, and the fact that they actually had more possession across the course of the encounter was impressive in its own right considering the disparity in resources between the two clubs.
However, Fadiga's equaliser was their only shot on target, suggesting that Nikolay Kostov's are likely to find creating chances even more difficult away from home. Having kept clean sheets in their away trips to Shkupi and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the previous qualifying rounds, though, they appear able to keep things tight defensively at least.
For a side that has not lifted their own domestic title since 2009, reaching the group stage of any European competition would have to be considered a major achievement, so Frankfurt can clearly expect to come up against a highly motivated opponent.
Team News
© Reuters
Frankfurt will remain without Lucas Alario, Mehdi Loune and club captain Sebastian Rode due to injury, but Knauff is available, with his one-match suspension only set to apply for their league clash against FC Koln on Sunday.
Jesper Lindstrom is reportedly close to sealing a move to Napoli and is therefore extremely unlikely to be involved, while Makoto Hasebe and Hugo Larsson missed the trip to Mainz on Sunday due to illness and may not be risked.
Levski Sofia, meanwhile, will travel without Marin Petkov and Bilal Bari due to ankle and knee injuries respectively, with Kostov likely to be tempted to name the same starting XI which claimed a draw last week.
However, Fadiga will hope to receive a starting berth after making himself the hero of the night after entering the field from the substitutes' bench.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Koch, Tuta, Pacho; Knauff, Ebimbe, Skhiri, Lenz; Gotze, Marmoush; Kolo Muani
Levski Sofia possible starting lineup:
Andreev; Petris, Dimitrov, Cordoba, Tsunami; Mitkov, Kraev, El Jemili; Fadiga, Ricardinho, Welton
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Levski Sofia
Despite being held in Sofia last week, we expect Frankfurt to have too much quality and European nous for their opponents on their home ground on Thursday.
Providing Toppmoller does not rotate too heavily, the likes of Mario Gotze and Kolo Muani in attack will be confident of combining on a regular basis to help their side through to the group stage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
