The Europa Conference League round of 16 starts with a clash between Swiss side Basel and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia at St. Jakob-Park on Thursday night.
These two sides have already met twice in the competition this season during the group stage, but only one team will get through to the next round this time after their two encounters over the next week.
Match preview
Basel are searching for their first-ever European silverware this campaign in the Conference League, but they are currently well off the pace in the Swiss Super League as the season reaches its business end.
Heiko Vogel's men are fifth in the league standings - a mammoth 18 points behind leaders Young Boys - and face a real battle to secure a top-two berth and consequential Champions League qualification for the 2023-24 season.
After finishing second to Thursday's opponents Bratislava due to the goals scored metric in Group H, Basel were sent into the playoff round of this competition where they faced Turkish outfit Trabzonspor.
RotBlau managed to get the better of the Super Lig club over two legs, with second-leg strikes from Zeki Amdouni and Andi Zeqiri securing Basel's passage into the last 16 after they lost the first leg 1-0 in Trabzon.
Slovan Bratislava managed to avoid the difficulty of the playoff round by finishing top of the Conference League group both sides found themselves in, and are now looking to add only their second-ever European trophy to their cabinet following their UEFA Cup Winners' Cup success in 1969.
Vladimir Weiss's charges are unbeaten in competitive action since November and are embroiled in a fight for the Slovakian Super Liga title with DAC Dunajska Streda in the closing months of the domestic campaign.
Aleksandar Cavric has been Bratislava's main man in the Conference League so far this season, having netted four times in the group stage, with only Luka Jovic, Artem Dovbyk and Mikael Ishak having scored more in the competition this term.
The aforementioned Cavric was on the scoresheet when Weiss's men were victorious in Basel back in October - anything similar to that 2-0 win would put them in a very commanding position in the tie ahead of next week's second leg in Slovakia.
Team News
Basel midfielder Taulant Xhaka is a doubt for Thursday's match due to illness - the 31-year-old played 26 minutes in his side's 2-1 away win at St. Gallen last Wednesday.
Centre-back Arnau Comas will remain out due to a muscle injury sustained in early January, with the Spaniard not featuring for Basel since the 1-0 defeat at Grasshopper back in November.
Slovan Bratislava have competition for places within their ranks ahead of Thursday's trip to Switzerland, with Armenian attacker Tigran Barseghyan pushing for a start after scoring off the bench in the win over Spartak Trnava on Saturday.
Former Aston Villa winger Andre Green is expected to be in the matchday squad for Bratislava in Basel - the 24-year-old has featured four times in the Conference League so far this year, starting once.
Basel possible starting lineup:
Hitz; Adams, Pelmard, Calafiori; Frei, Millar, Males, Diouf, Lopez; Fink, Zeqiri
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Chovan; Medvedev, Kashia, De Marco, Lovat; Kankava, Chakvetadze, Kucka; Cavric, Abubakari, Weiss
We say: Basel 2-1 Slovan Bratislava
Basel are struggling in the Swiss Super League at the moment so will welcome this last-16 tie as a pleasant distraction - as well as an opportunity to move one step closer to European silverware.
Slovan Bratislava have already travelled to Basel and won this season during the group stage, but we believe the Swiss side will hold the advantage heading into the second leg next week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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