Both looking to take the next step towards a place in the league phase of a revamped Champions League, Celje and Slovan Bratislava will lock horns in the first leg of their second-round qualifier on Wednesday night.
The Yellow and Blues progressed from the first round of qualifying after making simple work of Estonian opposition, whilst the Sky Blues eased past a club from North Macedonia.
Match preview
Beginning the road to the league phase of the Champions League at the earliest stage, Celje flexed their considerable attacking power on Flora in order to advance comfortably to the second round of qualifying, beating the Estonia side 7-1 over a pair of one-sided affairs.
Despite failing to score a penalty kick, Yellow and Blues' marksman Aljosa Matko managed to breach the net of the Tallinn-based club on two occasions over the tie earlier this month, with the 24-year-old looking to better his tally of 20 strikes across all competitions from the 2023-24 season.
Since securing a date with Slovan Bratislava, Celje have commenced the quest to retain their status as Slovenian Prva Liga champions, with Wednesday's hosts sealing an opening day success over NK Bravo courtesy of a Nemanja Jaksic own goal and Armandas Kucys's first of the term.
Losing just five matches throughout the entirety of last season in the Slovenian top flight, the Yellow and Blues picked up their second-ever league crown at a canter, finishing a convincing 12 points ahead of Maribor, who were forced to settle for Conference League football this summer.
Cejle competed in the qualifying stages of UEFA's third-tier club competition 12 months ago, successfully navigating ties with Portugal's Vitoria de Guimaraes and Neman Grodno of Belarus before losing 5-2 on aggregate at the playoff round to Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Having won the Slovakian first division in each of the last six campaigns, Slovan Bratislava are no strangers to playing on the continent's biggest club football stage, but they are yet to advance through all of the qualification rounds to reach the group stage.
The Sky Blues' attempts of European stardom commenced in the middle of July with a first-round qualifier against Struga, with Bratislava sealing 4-2 and 2-1 victories to win the tie 6-3 on aggregate, comfortably advancing into the second step of the preliminary rounds.
Hoping to celebrate his 60th birthday in September with a host of Champions League fixtures, Vladimir Weiss is the man tasked with guiding the Slovakian champions to continental glory, with the former Georgia boss winning 96 of his 161 matches in charge of the club since taking the reins in May 2021.
Following nomadic spells in the Czech Republic, Italy and England - featuring for the likes of AC Milan and Watford - Juraj Kucka is now producing the goods at the Sky Blues back in his homeland at the age of 37, with the midfielder netting a brilliant brace during the first-leg win over Struga on July 10.
Unlike their hosts on Wednesday, Slovan Bratislava are yet to start their league campaign for the 2024-25 season, but the visitors should bring plenty of positive momentum into the contest from their away form last term, as they were defeated in just three of their 16 league outings.
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Team News
After rotating players for the second match, Celje are set to revert to the starting XI of their 5-0 first-leg thrashing of Flora, meaning that Mark Zabukovnik and Tamar Svetlin will operate in the engine room.
As a result, Romanian enforcer Marco Dulca and Mario Kvesic are likely to drop out of the side despite impressing in the 2-1 victory during their side's most recent Champions League clash.
Approaching his 38th birthday, veteran Matjaz Rozman is the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper for Celje and will start on Wednesday night.
Although conceding three goals over two games against Struga was not welcomed, Slovan Bratislava should stick with a centre-back trio of Kevin Wimmer, Guram Kashia and Kenan Bajric.
The Sky Blues will look to cause their hosts problems on the flanks, with Matus Vojtko and Cesar Blackman tasked with providing plenty of width as wing-backs.
Celje possible starting lineup:
Rozman; Karnicnik, Vuklisevic, Zec, Krefl; Svetlin, Zabukovnik, Bobicanec; Matko, Menalo, Kucys
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Trnovsky; Bajric, Kashia, Wimmer; Blackman, Szoke, Kucka, Vojtko; Mak, Weiss, Strelec
We say: Celje 1-2 Slovan Bratislava
Although full of confidence following their smashing of Flora in the previous round, Celje have to be viewed as underdogs for this tie as they come against the Slovakian champions.
Slovan Bratislava will be looking to pick up an encouraging result on the road ahead of next week's second leg, and we feel that the Sky Blues will go into that all-important clash holding a one-goal advantage.
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