The Bulgarian champion Levski has a chance to go where no Bulgarian team has gone before - the European Champions League. Overcoming the final hurdle and entering the league will be anything but easy, however, as Levski fell to Turkish vice-champion Galatassaray 2-1 last week.

On its road to the third and final qualification round, Levski first beat the champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zheleznichar (Sarajevo). The Bulgarian champions then eliminated Norway's vice-champion Bran (Bergen) with more goals scored on foreign turf (Levski tied 0-0 as host and 1-1 as a guest in Norway), although Bran has several years of experience in the Champions league.

In the final round, Levski is up against Galatassaray (Istanbul), holder of the UEFA cup and the Super Cup of Europe in 2000. The Turkish team is no stranger to success, bringing with it the experience and self-esteem of the Champions League, while Levski has only ever made it to the second preliminary round (last year when it was beaten by another Istanbul team, Beshiktash).

On the eve of the first game of two, on August 8 in Istanbul, the largest Turkish newspaper, Hyurriet, wrote that the yearly budget of Galatassaray stood at $50 million. This is more than the budgets of all the clubs in the Bulgarian premier league combined. With its $3 million budget, the Bulgarian champions seemed like David against Goliath.

But in the first half of the game, held in the Ali Sami Yen stadium, monetary differences simply did not show. Levski played as equals to the famous Turkish team - almost well enough to win.

The number of potential scoring chances which were created, one of which was cleverly converted by Levski's star Georgi Ivanov (Gonzo), brought the team not only a favourable tournament score, but also much needed confidence.

Without the omnipresent Gheorge Hagi and the Brazilian striker Mario Jardel, the Istanbul team was far from full strength. Their jerseys were also missing the logos of its sponsor, the local GSM operator Telsim, indicating money may be more of a concern than in their stronger days. "I am the only coach who has not received a salary in 11 months," said Mircea Lucescu, the team's Romanian coach openly before the game.

A big team cannot do without big money and this became clear when Galatassaray could not provide the overwhelming victory its fans have become accustomed to.

At the press conference after the game, Levski's Serbian coach Liupko Petrovich commented on the close match. "Only God and Allah know which team will win," he said. "I admit that the minimal loss gives not bad chances for my team, even though the Turkish team is much stronger."

Ultimately, neither coach seemed very worried - after all the team which loses will continue on to the European tournament for the UEFA Cup, which is second only to the Champions League.

Historically, other teams from Bulgaria have managed to obtain partial success in the European club championships. Sofia's CSKA twice managed to reach the semifinals of the former tournament for the Cup of Europe. Slavia, another Sofia club, also played in a semifinal in a now non-existent tournament for national cup holders. However, these successes were decades ago. Today it is much more difficult to rise to the top of European football.

On Wednesday, Levski will have the opportunity to prove it is up to the task.