Arsenal and Celtic headline a list of sides seeking to clinch a place in the lucrative Uefa Champions League group stage this week in the return legs of the play-offs.
Ten-man Arsenal escaped Turkey with a goalless draw against Besiktas but remain on course for a 17th consecutive group phase appearance although they will be without suspended midfielder Aaron Ramsey for Wednesday’s second leg.
The north London club boast a proud record of having never lost a Champions League qualifying tie and, although last week’s draw was the first time in 13 matches they had failed to win a play-off encounter, the goal is quite simple for manager Arsene Wenger.
“We know the second leg will be tight again, but we are at home, so the task is clear for us – we want to win,” said the Frenchman, who led the club to the 2006 Champions League final.
Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw at Slovenian champions Maribor in the first leg but the Scots are favourites to progress under new coach Ronny Deila.
The Glasgow giants were handed a reprieve after Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player in the previous round but suffered a setback as a weakened Celtic side slumped to a 1-0 loss on Saturday at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premiership.
Deila, though, expects his players to respond and capitalise on their second chance in Tuesday’s return fixture at Parkhead.
“The players will have no problem picking themselves up. We have a new game now and we are going to bounce back on Tuesday,” the Norwegian told the club’s in-house television channel, Celtic TV.
Two-time former champions Porto, who hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg, will look to wrap up their tie with French side Lille in Portugal today, while Athletic Bilbao versus Napoli is the pick of the fixtures tomorrow.
Athletic are bidding to qualify for the group stage for the first time since 1998/99 and gained the upper hand with a 1-1 draw against Napoli, knocked out of a group containing Arsenal last season, in Italy.
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