Rangers on European collision course with Romanov's Kaunas

FOR the second successive season, Rangers face a potential showdown with Vladimir Romanov's Kaunas side in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

The intriguing match up failed to materialise a year ago when Kaunas surprisingly lost their first qualifying round tie against Zeta of Montenegro, but the Lithuanian champions were handed another chance to book a trip to Ibrox by yesterday's draw in Nyon.

This time, the Lithuanian champions, backed by Hearts' owner Romanov, must first overcome little known Santa Coloma of Andorra in the first qualifying round. They will be strong favourites to do so and secure a place in the second qualifying round against top-seeded Rangers.

The Ibrox club will be at home in the first leg on 29 or 30 July before travelling for the return a week later. On 1 August, in between the two matches, the draw for the third qualifying round will take place and Rangers will hope to remain on course for a place in the lucrative group stage of Europe's elite club competition.

If the qualifying ties are normally defined by tension, with so much at stake, a meeting with Kaunas would also have some fascinating sub-plots. Andrius Velicka, the former Kaunas and Hearts striker who will join Rangers from Viking Stavanger on 14 July, could make his debut against his former club.

Kaunas' current squad contains two players among the many who have been loaned to Hearts since Romanov took control of the Tynecastle club, defender Tomas Kancelskis and midfielder Linas Pilibaitis.

Ricardas Beniusis, the striker who had a disastrous spell at Hearts, also remains on the Kaunas books but is currently on loan at Latvian club Metalurgs. The current Kaunas coach is Andrei Zygmantovich, a former USSR international who is one of those short-listed by Romanov for the current managerial vacancy at Hearts.

Currently leading the Lithuanian league after 13 games of the 2008 campaign, Kaunas should be too strong for Santa Coloma, the tiny village team who won their first Andorran title last season. They did, however, beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 at home in the first leg of a Uefa Cup first qualifying round tie last season before losing the return 4-0 in Israel.

Rangers manager Walter Smith, who plans to utilise new recruit Velicka's knowledge of Kaunas, fully anticipates a meeting with the Lithuanians and is confident his squad will be well prepared for the first but most crucial challenge of their season.

"We just have to make sure that our pre-season preparation is thorough and that we're ready to play at that time," Smith told rangers.co.uk. "We were last season and I'm sure we will be again.

"It's always interesting when you're looking at teams that have to play out a first-round tie and I think Kaunas would be the favoured side to go through there. The Andorran side, I don't think many people would know too much about and I think Kaunas themselves would think that they will be favourites.

"We were close to playing Kaunas last season. They will be of a good standard and they will be a strong team.

I hope Andrius will be able to help us but he's been away from the club for quite a while and I think they have quite a large turnover of staff.

"He'll obviously be able to keep us up to speed with what's happening there but when you look on the face of it, you know that you're going to face a tough first tie."

Rangers negotiated a path beyond Zeta and then Red Star Belgrade to reach the group stage last year, part of a 19-game European campaign which ultimately took them all the way to the Uefa Cup final and gave the club's coffers an enormous boost.

"Financially, every season there is a lot made of it and quite rightly so," added Smith. "As we found out last season, it makes a big difference to any club. The amount of money that is available for qualifying to the group stages is of enormous benefit.

"We know that these games are nervous occasions for everyone involved and I would hope that the experience and the confidence we gained will help us handle the situation."

Champions League first qualifying round draw

(First leg 15-16 July, second leg 22-23 July) Linfield (Northern Ireland) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia); Valetta (Malta) v Artmedia Bratislava (Slovakia); Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) v Runavik (Faroe Islands) ; Santa Coloma (Andorra) v Kaunas (Lithuania); Murata (San Marino) v IFK Gothenburg (Sweden); Llanelli (Wales) v Ventspils (Latvia); Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) v Pyunik (Armenia); FC Baku (Azerbaijan) v Rabotnicki (Macedonia) ; Tampere United (Finland) v Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro) ; Dudelange (Luxembourg) v Domzale (Slovenia); Dinamo Tirana (Albania) v Modrica (Bosnia).

Champions League second qualifying round

(First leg 29-30 July, second leg 5-6 August): Rangers (Scotland) v Santa Coloma or Kaunas; Brann (Norway) v Llanelli or Ventspils; Inter Baku or Rabotnicki v Partizan Belgrade (Serbia); Tampere United or Buducnost Podgorica v Artmedia or Valletta; Anorthosis Famagusta or Pyunik v Rapid Vienna (Austria); F91 Dudelange or Domzale v Dinamo Zagreb or Linfield, Panathinaikos (Greece) v Dinamo Tbilisi or NSI Runavik; Murata or IFK Goteborg v FC Basel (Switzerland); Aktobe v Sheriff v Sparta Prague (Czech Republic); Drogheda United or Levadia Tallinn v Dinamo Kiev (Ukraine); Anderlecht (Belgium) or BATE-Valur Reykjavik; Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) v Wisla Krakow (Poland); Fenerbahce (Turkey) v MTK Budapest (Hungary); Aalborg (Denmark) v Dinamo Tirana or Modrica.

KAUNUS

• Country: Lithuania.

• Manager: Andrei Zygmantovich.

• Stadium: Dariaus Ir Gireno.

• Capacity: 8,500.

• Honours: Eight league titles, four Lithuanian Cup wins and three Super Cup victories.

• Star Player: Rafael Ledesma, voted best player in the Lithuanian League last year. The Brazilian midfielder plays off the strikers.

• Interesting fact: Have played Rangers, Celtic and Liverpool in past Champions League qualifiers. New Ibrox signing Andrius Velicka scored 89 goals in 166 games for them.

SANTA COLUMBA

• Country: Andorra.

• Manager: Vicens Marques.

• Stadium: Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall.

• Capacity: 1,800.

• Star Player: Danilo Aguirre Santinelli. The 28-year-old Argentine, one of eight South Americans in Santa Coloma's squad, pulls the strings in midfield.

• Honours: Four league titles, four Andorran Cup wins and seven Super Cup triumphs.

• Interesting fact: In the eight European games Santa Coloma have played they have won only once, lost seven and conceded 25 goals.