Macedonia's FC Shkendija travel to Moldova's FC Sheriff for their Champions League second qualifying round second leg match on Tuesday night. Shkendija have a slender one goal lead following their 1-0 win in the first leg. The team's goal came courtesy of the red-hot Besart Ibraimi in the 24th minute.
Both sides scored plenty of goals in their first qualifying round matches. Sheriff and Shkendija scored nine goals between them. However, the second qualifying round means a step up in quality and the two will cancel each other out. Neither club is a big name from eastern Europe when it comes to football. Shkendija have never made the Champions League or Europa League group stages previously. Sheriff have never made the Champions League group stage either. However, the Moldovans have played in the Europa League group stages before.
Progression will put one of the clubs just four matches away from the lucrative group stage. The winner of this tie will unfortunately face off against Austria's Red Bull Salzburg. The Austrians were beaten semifinalists in the Europa League last season, so getting through the third qualifying round won't be easy.
Shkendija have one of the hottest strikers in the Champions League qualifying rounds. In three matches, Ibraimi has tallied five goals.Although Shkendija have a fantastic striker in the team, they showed defensive vulnerability in their first qualifying round matches against The New Saints. Shkendija took a 5-0 goal aggregate lead to Wales and gave up four goals in a losing effort. The Macedonians' defence nearly cost them the tie and Sheriff will feel they could pull off a similar comeback on Tuesday night.
Sheriff have been in this position previously. In the first qualifying round, the Moldovans lost 2-1 to Torpedo Kutaisi. Sheriff stormed back in the second leg winning the match 3-0. The good news for Sheriff is Tuesday night's fixture will be played at their home ground, the Sheriff Stadium. Sheriff are currently in the middle of their domestic campaign. The club has played 14 matches thus far and sit atop the league. Meanwhile, Shkendija haven't started their domestic campaign as yet. That didn't prove to be a problem in the first leg, but playing a fitter team could cause chaos in the second league.
Despite both teams scoring for fun in the first qualifying round, the second leg tie should be nervy. The match won't see a goal and will end in a nil-nil draw. Shkendija will do just enough to hold off Sheriff and gain progression into the next round of Champions League qualifying.