GIANNI RUSSO

FBK Kaunas will face Rangers in the second qualifying round after beating Santa Coloma 3-1 in Lithuania last night.

Irman Zelmikas and a Linas Pilibatis double saw the Lithuanians complete a 7-2 aggregate victory over the Andorran side.

Rangers will have home advantage in the first leg against Kaunas on July 30, with the return leg six days later. The winners of the tie will be one step away from the group stages.

Kaunas' Baltic rivals Ventspils of Latvia are also through after overhauling a 1-0 deficit to beat Welsh champions Llanelli 4-1 on aggregate. Vits Rimkus scored twice in the 4-0 home win to seal a trip to Norway's Brann Bergen next week.

Moldovans Sheriff were also big winners at home, beating Kazakhstan champions Aktobe 4-0 to secure a 4-1 aggregate victory and a meeting with Sparta Prague.

Azerbaijan's FC Baku drew 1-1 at Macedonian side Rabotnicki to progress on away goals following last week's goalless draw and will now play Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade.

Dinamo Tbilisi suffered a 1-0 defeat to Runavik in the Faroe Islands but the Georgians progressed 3-1 overall and travel to Greece's Panathinaikos next week.

The remaining nine games take place tonight with Linfield's involvement in the competition almost certain to come to an abrupt halt in Croatia. However, the Irish League side are determined to learn from the experience.

The Belfast club are already 2-0 down from last week's first leg against Dinamo Zagreb at Windsor Park, but the squad, who travelled to Croatia via Dublin and Munich earlier this week, are still defiant.

Paul McAreavey, the Linfield midfielder, was part of the side that lost last week, the tie turning very much on a last-minute Dinamo free kick which secured the two-goal advantage.

McAreavey said: "People try and say the Irish League is not good enough, and basically we are beaten before we go out. But at Linfield we have a great team spirit and we know what we can achieve.

"It will be a massive test for us in Zagreb, but we have to go out and learn from it."

He added: "We just have to keep it tight and stay defence-minded, even though we are already 2-0 down. Our hopes of progressing are all but gone, but we have to go out and show no fear and put in a good performance."

They will be without Peter Thompson, who has made a £150,000 move to Stockport between the two matches with Zagreb. Glenn Ferguson, the veteran striker, will come into the side in his place.

Drogheda are in a much better position and winger Ollie Cahill has urged his team-mates to get in the faces of Levadia Tallinn as his side attempts to progress.

The League of Ireland side go to Estonia tonight defending a 2-1 lead and know they will make the second qualifying round if they can avoid defeat at the Kadriorg Stadium.

"We have a good game plan, and although Levadia have some very talented players, it will be important that we do not stand off and give them room to play,"said Cahill.