As you may have heard a few weeks ago, Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad's entry to the Champions League had a huge fairytale aspect to it.
Arguably, not since Yordan Lechkov's balding head guided a ball into the back of a German net at the 1994 World Cup has Bulgarian football enjoyed such a mythical moment - a couple of major tournament appearances since then not withstanding.
Then again, the fact that the small town club from the North-East of the country did a Chelsea or Manchester City in domestic terms seems to have drawn the ire of other clubs in Bulgaria who have had to watch Ludogorets pick up trophy after trophy in recent seasons.
All four Champions League ties involving Premier League clubs have been previewed above
Their Champions League playoff victory over Romania's Steaua Bucharest (a storied club in their own right) was as dramatic as they come. Goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was sent off in the dying embers of extra-time, leaving Romanian defender Cosmin Moti to borrow his gloves. The ex-Dinamo Bucharest man put them to good effect, saving two penalties and also scored Ludogorets's first from the spot in that shootout victory.
Their reward was a group with European Cup powerhouses Real Madrid and Liverpool, as well as regular participants FC Basel.
The journey starts with a trip to the hallowed turf of Anfield tonight. But apart from their dramatic entry into the competition what do we know about Liverpool's first opponents?
Key players
Brazilian attacking midfielder Marcelinho has been part of the trophy-winning squad since 2011 and last season was named Bulgarian Foreign Player of the Year.
The 30-year-old delivered eight goals and seven assists in the Bulgarian league in 2012/13 and added two goals and a further assist in this season's Champions League qualifiers.
Slovenian striker Roman Bezjak scored 13 league goals last season and the No 9 was also the Europa League's third top goalscorer with six goals, and already has two goals in four Bulgarian A Group games this campaign.
Captain and central midfielder Svetoslav Dyakov is a Bulgaria international with 17 caps to his name and was named Buglarian football's best midfielder last season.
Tactics
Manager Georgi Dermendziev has only been in charge since July and employs a 4-2-3-1 formation. Bezjak leads the line with Marcelinho in the No 10 role. Dyakov is one of the two deep-lying central midfielders and qualification hero Moti plays at the heart of the defence.
Milan Borjan, the goalkeeper who will face Liverpool, is an emergency addition with one of their mainstays suspeneded and the other injured.
During last season's Europa League, five of their 15 goals came from outside the box and just one from a set piece. They also did not look to dominate possession, averaging 49 per cent over the 10 matches.
Squawka stats show that most of their chances in that tournament were created through the middle rather than from wide positions.
All stats are courtesy of statistics website Squawka. Learn more about Squawka and the free app by clicking here.
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