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Borussia Monchengladbach and Feyenoord attempt to rekindle former European glories when they meet in today's Cup-Winners' Cup quarter-final in Dusseldorf.
In the other first-leg matches, Deportivo La Coruna face the cup holders, Real Zaragoza, in an all-Spanish affair, Parma meet Paris St-Germain and Rapid Vienna travel to Dynamo Moscow.
Monchengladbach won the Uefa Cup in 1975 and 1979 and were the main rivals to Bayern Munich for supremacy in Germany through the decade.
Feyenoord, meanwhile, provided the challenge to the great Ajax team of the 1970s and won the European Cup in 1970 and the Uefa Cup in 1974.
The fortunes of both clubs have slumped somewhat since those heady days, but European success beckons again.
The rivalry between German and Dutch clubs is always intense and the first-leg match will be played before a sell-out crowd of 54,000 in Dusseldorf - the match having been switched from Monchengladbach to accomodate the huge demand.
Arie Haan, the Feyenoord coach, who played in the Dutch team beaten 2- 1 by Germany in the 1974 World Cup final in Munich, is still undecided about his line-up.
The winger Gaston Taument and Henk Vos are expected to play after being rested at the weekend, but the defender Henk Fraser has failed to recover from an ankle injury and the midfield playmaker Orlando Trustfull is expected to start on the bench.
"Borussia have conceded plenty of goals this season. As long as we're not afraid to play our own game, I reckon we can win this one," Haan said.
However, Bernd Krauss, the Monchengladbach coach, countered: "If we can repeat our last two performances in the Bundesliga, we can also beat experienced international teams."
Zaragoza and Deportivo have failed to impress this season and their only chance of any success lies in Europe. Deportivo, having finished second in successive seasons, are drifting in mid-table after a long list of injuries. They will be looking to their Brazilian Bebeto to provide inspiration.
Zaragoza are struggling in 11th place and have looked a shadow of the team which beat Arsenal in the 1995 final in Paris. They will be without their Argentinian striker, Sebastian Rambert, who cannot play in Europe having appeared for Internazionale earlier in the season.
Gianfranco Zola is a doubtful starter for Parma, the Uefa Cup holders, who also lifted the Cup-Winners' Cup in 1993. He has played only six minutes of football in the last month because of a muscle problem.
If he fails a late fitness test, the 22-year-old Filippo Inzaghi will join Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov in attack. Parma have slipped 10 points behind Serie A leaders Milan, and Zola warned: "The only way to get through to the next round is for us to play like the old Parma, not like the side of recent league games."
However, the Paris St-Germain coach, Luis Fernandez, said: "Don't forget we're meeting very good opponents who played three European finals in a row and won two. They have had ups and downs. Like us, they have gone through a confidence crisis, but big teams always shine on the big day."
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