Debrecen look to press home advantage

Debreceni VSC go into the second leg of their play-off against PFC Levski Sofia aiming to take the final step towards securing their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• András Herczeg's team lead 2-1 from the first leg in Bulgaria after László Bodnár and Péter Czvitkovics struck either side of Cédric Bardon's goal for the Bulgarian titleholders. If Debrecen do make it through, they will become the competition's first Hungarian representatives since Ferencvárosi TC in 1995/96.

Previous meetings

• While Debrecen had never previously played a side from Bulgaria before this tie, Levski may prefer not to remember their past encounters with Hungarian opponents. They lost heavily against Újpest FC in the first round of the 1974/75 European Champion Clubs' Cup, going down 3-0 at home and 4-1 away. They enjoyed no better fortune against Ferencváros in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991/92. After a narrow 3-2 home loss, they suffered a 4-1 defeat in Hungary in the return.

Match background

• Debrecen will be confident of avoiding any slip-ups in the second leg and they can take heart from the fact they have never let a first-leg lead slip on the six previous occasions they have found themselves in this position in Europe.

• The Hungarian outfit did have a scare of sorts against Kalmar FF in the second qualifying round last month when, leading 2-0 from the home leg, they lost 3-1 in Sweden and scraped through on away goals. The Hungarian titleholders were more clinical in the third qualifying round, however, when, after a 1-0 away win over FC Levadia Tallinn, they earned an identical victory on home soil.

• Debrecen have never competed in the UEFA Champions League proper. They lost in the second qualifying round in 2006/07 and 2007/08 and only once before have they reached the final stage of qualifying – in 2005/06, when they were beaten by Manchester United FC.

• Levski are targeting a second appearance in the group stage following their first participation in 2006/07.

• The Bulgarian titleholders were regulars in the old European Champion Clubs' Cup but in the past decade they have struggled to qualify. Although they won through in 2006/07, with a victory against Italian side AC Chievo Verona, they have slipped up four times in the qualifying stages – in 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03 and 12 months ago, when they lost out to FC BATE Borisov of Belarus.

• They also fell short of the group stage in 1993/94, though reached as far as the second round in what was an earlier version of the competition format.

• When Levski lost to BATE in qualifying last term, they went down 1-0 at home and drew the second leg 1-1. That was the eleventh time the Bulgarian side have failed to recover from a first-leg home reverse – not once have they staged a successful fightback.

• Ratko Dostanić's visitors saw off Andorra's UE Sant Julià 9-0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round before bettering the Azerbaijani champions FC Bakı to reach the play-off, a 2-0 second-leg home win carrying them through by the same score on aggregate.