Leandro looking for new career high

Brazilian-born midfielder Leandro said reaching the UEFA Champions League group stage with Debreceni VSC would trump playing in the Copa Libertadores semi-finals with CA Paranaense, as the play-off against PFC Levski Sofia concludes in Hungary.

Best yet
The 27-year-old, who has won three NB I titles and been capped ten times by his adopted homeland after taking Hungarian citizenship, said: "I played in the 2005 Liberatores Cup semi-final for Paranaense and only missed out on the final due to injury, but us progressing to the Champions League group stage would beat that. It would be the biggest success of my career."

Stand-in captain
In the absence of the suspended Zoltán Kiss, the left-sided Leandro will skipper Debrecen as the Hungarian champions look to hold on to a 2-1 first-leg advantage. "It's a really special feeling for me to be captain and to be in this position is wonderful for the players. It will be even better if we can qualify," he said. "We have a lot of fans here who can create some atmosphere."

'No miracle'
Levski, however, are eager to turn that atmosphere sour after the disappointment of their first-leg defeat, and forward Hristo Yovov reckons overturning the deficit is within their grasp: "The team was low after the first leg but then we watched the game again, saw the mistakes we made, worked on them, so we believe we will play better this time. We don't exactly need a miracle. We just need to play to our level. I don't want to look down on the Debrecen players but if we play well and play to win then we will beat them."