Domestic clues ahead of deciders

The UEFA Champions League third qualifying round concludes this week and with many of the sides in action in their respective domestic leagues this weekend, uefa.com takes a look at how they faired ahead of their deciding legs.

Mixed fortunes
Galatasaray AŞ started the defence of their Turkish Süper Lig crown with a 4-1 win over Denizlispor as they prepare to travel to Romania for their game with FC Steaua Bucureşti. The tie is delicately balanced at 2-2, a score Steaua replicated against CF Gloria 1922 Bistrita on Saturday. Galatasaray's Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe SK are better placed to progress after they were also involved in a 2-2 stalemate in their away leg with FK Partizan, but they began their domestic campaign with a 1-0 loss at Gaziantepspor.

Late goals
FC Schalke 04 warmed up for their trip to Spain and a second leg against Club Atlético de Madrid – where they will defend a 1-0 lead – by salvaging a point against Werder Bremen, Heiko Westermann scoring late to secure a 1-1 draw. In England, Liverpool FC went one better by netting two late goals to record a comeback victory against Middlesbrough FC at Anfield while their third round opponents, R. Standard de Liège, made it two wins out of two in Belgium with a 3-0 victory over KVC Westerlo. Arsenal FC went down to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Fulham FC as they seek to protect their two-goal lead against Steve McClaren's FC Twente.

Tight ties
Olympique de Marseille share the Ligue 1 leadership after overcoming Le Harve AC 1-0 on Saturday, the same scoreline they are defending at the Stade Vélodrome when SK Brann come calling off the back of a goalless draw with Rosenborg BK. Swiss champions FC Basel 1893 will hope to continue their goalscoring form when they welcome Vitória SC following their 4-3 home win over Neuchâtel Xamax FC in a tie where the deadlock is still to be broken.

Dynamo dominance
FC Dynamo Kyiv, holding a commanding 4-1 advantage following the away half of their tie with old Soviet adversaries FC Spartak Moskva, continued their excellent recent form with a 2-0 win at FC Arsenal Kyiv while their rivals for a group stage berth had to settle for a 1-1 draw with FC Dinamo Moskva. Dynamo's fellow Ukrainian representatives FC Shakhtar Donetsk are 2-0 up following their home leg against NK Dinamo Zagreb but went down 1-0 to FC Vorskla Poltava on Saturday while the Croatian outfit kept up their 100 per cent record after five games in the Prva Liga, winning 3-2 against NK Zadar. FC Artmedia Petržalka lost 3-2 to Slovakian league leaders MFK Košice ahead of their home leg against Juventus which they will start four goals in arrears.