Celtic host Malmo on Wednesday night, in the first leg of the Champions League play-off between the two clubs, with a place in the Group Stages at stake.
History
This fixture has never happened before, however it isn't the first time that either team has played another team from their respective countries.
In recent years Celtic have taken on Elfsborg and Helsingborgs in previous Champions League qualifiers. The Celts dispatched both Swedish opponents without conceding a goal.
Likewise, Malmo have also got a superb record against Scottish competition. Back in 2011, Malmo set aside Rangers in their quest to reach the Champions League that season. Additionally, Malmo also destroyed Hibernian a couple of years later winning 9-0 on aggregate.
At the helm of Celtic and Malmo are Norwegian managers. Celtic's Ronny Deila guided them to another Scottish Premiership trophy in his first season with The Bhoys. Like his opposite number, Åge Hareide helped his side to a 21st Allsvenskan title.
How they got there
Celtic on paper arguably had the easier test in their previous qualifiers, coming up against Stjarnan of Iceland and Qarabag of Azerbaijan. Apart from a few nervy moments, both teams didn't cause Celtic too much bother and they progressed.
Malmo's journey to the play-off began against Lithuanians, Žalgiris Vilnius. The Swedes went through with the narrowest of margins drawing 0-0 at home but managed a 0-1 away win thanks to Anton Tinnerholm. The previous qualifier was against Red Bull Salzburg of Austria. The light blues repeated the feat of the season before when they played by defeating them. An eyebrow raising result once more having come back from a 2-0 defeat in the first leg.
Key players
Arguably the most important Celtic player right now is their captain, Scott Brown. The Scotland international skipper is the glue which holds the team together, as has been shown in previous matches without him. In the recent 2-2 draw away to Kilmarnock, Brown's absence was noted to being a major factor in the draw. Furthermore, after he was substituted in the 4-2 win over Inverness, Celtic's structure fell apart and they shipped two late goals.
As for Malmo, their strikers really need to be on point if they want to do some damage at Celtic Park. On-loan striker, Nikola Đurđić is a key player up against what's been an unsteady Celtic defence recently. The one time Serbian internationalist has played against Celtic before as a Helsingborgs striker in the past Champions League qualifier.
What's to be expected?
Unsurprisingly, Celtic will have to play more offensively than their opponents. Knowing that Malmo are a dangerous outfit, scoring two goals might not even be enough to see off the Swedes- as was shown in the previous qualifier against Red Bull Salzburg. Whoever starts up front for Celtic has a major job to do, be it Nadir Ciftci or Leigh Griffiths.
Malmo may sit back in the first leg, knowing that a couple of important players are serving suspensions including captain, Markus Rosenborg. A narrow Celtic win or a draw will give the Swedish champions a lot of hope for the return leg next week. They're currently 5th place in the Allsvenskan but are starting to hit form in their end of season run in.