THE STARK CONTRAST in the resources available to the two clubs was illustrated shortly after Legia Warsaw’s players, coaching staff and backroom team arrived at Turner’s Cross yesterday for their final pre-match training session and press conference.

Crammed into the small boardroom beneath the Joe Delaney Stand, the club’s media staff — which could nearly be counted in double figures — bemoaned the lack of an internet connection they required to set up a live stream for their legion of fans back in Poland.

Champions League football returns to Turner's Cross this evening. Source: Eóin Noonan

Broadband access is seemingly not an issue at the 31,000-capacity home ground of the 13-time Polish champions. Before Legia Warsaw’s Champions League first round qualifier against Cork City makes its way there next Tuesday, the teams will lock horns tonight on Leeside in front of a sold-out attendance of just shy of 7,000.

“We always have support, in Poland especially and out of Poland we have big support from our fans,” Legia boss Dean Klafuric said. “We know there are a lot of people from Poland who live in Ireland and work here, so for sure we will have big support.”

The 19-man squad that Klafuric has brought to Cork doesn’t include several of Legia’s key players. Croatian international midfielder Domagoj Antolic, captain Miroslav Radovic, Jarosław Niezgoda (Legia’s top scorer last season) and ex-Arsenal forward Eduardo have stayed behind. Defenders Michal Pazdan and Artur Jędrzejczyk have also yet to return to club duty following their involvement in Poland’s disappointing World Cup campaign. Spanish striker Carlitos, the leading goalscorer in the Polish top flight last season, won’t be involved either, having joined from Wisla Krakow last week.

However, they certainly have sufficient calibre and experience within their ranks to make it an extremely tall order for Cork City to keep this tie alive for the second leg in seven days’ time. The nine senior internationals available to Legia for this game have accumulated 177 caps between them.

One player worth keeping a particularly close eye on is playmaker Sebastian Szymanski. The 19-year-old, who was included in Poland’s 35-man preliminary squad for the World Cup, has reportedly attracted interest from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Sebastian Szymanski is a player worth keeping an eye on. Source: MB Media

With Peter Cherrie ready to step in, Cork City will make a late decision on the involvement of veteran goalkeeper Mark McNulty, who was substituted late in Friday’s 0-0 draw with Shamrock Rovers after twisting his ankle. Defender Alan Bennett and striker Graham Cummins are carrying knocks, while midfielder Garry Buckley will be assessed for a head wound which required stitches.

According to City manager John Caulfield, concentration will be key for his players if they’re to pull off an upset. The bookmakers have installed Caulfield’s team as 9/2 underdogs to win the first leg. A Legia victory is available at odds of 8/13.

“Let’s call a spade a spade: they’re going to dominate possession,” Caulfield said. “It’s not going to be like a League of Ireland match, where generally we’d have much more of the ball. If you look at most of our matches, we’d normally have 65% or 70% of the game. That’s not going to happen [tonight].

“It’s a different type of match. You have to prepare accordingly and that’s what we’ve done. We have to make sure when we don’t have the ball — which is going to be a lot of the time — that our concentration levels are going to be good. Sometimes players can switch off, but we’ve done a lot of work on that.

“There will be times when we get opportunities and get the ball, and we need to be able to use it. That’s what we’ve worked on. That’s why it’s intriguing because it’s totally different to your normal league match.”

Legia boss Dean Klafuric has identified Graham Cummins as one of Cork City's main threats. Source: Eóin Noonan

It’s 12 years since Cork City flew the Irish flag in the Champions League. Back in 2006, a 2-1 aggregate win against Apollon Limassol of Cyprus was followed by a 4-0 defeat over two legs at the hands of Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade.

Plenty has occurred in the meantime for City. Tonight’s game is likely to be an emotional occasion for the supporters who put their shoulders to the wheel in 2010 when Cork City FC temporarily went out of business over a debt to the Revenue Commissioners. Starting from scratch in the First Division under the ownership of fans, the prospect of Champions League football within eight years would surely have seemed absurd.

As the club now looks ahead to a much more promising future, City are guaranteed to earn in excess of €800,000 from this year’s European campaign. Should they fail to advance to a meeting with Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) or HŠK Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) in the second qualifying round, the Irish champions will instead move into the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

For Legia, the goal in Europe this year — which Dean Klafuric admitted yesterday — is a place in the Champions League group stages. That’s something they last achieved in 2016-17 after eliminating Dundalk from the play-off round with a 3-1 aggregate win. They went on to draw at home to Real Madrid, as well as recording a win over Sporting Lisbon.

This first leg will be Legia Warsaw’s first competitive game since their 2017-18 season concluded on 20 May. While the Polish league and cup holders have played four friendlies since 17 June, the fact that Cork City are in the midst of their season should work in the hosts’ favour, according to Dean Klafuric.

Legia Warsaw manager Dean Klafuric. Source: NurPhoto via Getty Images

“It’s an advantage for Cork City. But we have finished with our preparation period and we are also ready to play,” said Klafuric, who took over at Legia in April following the sacking of Romeo Jozak.

For John Caulfield, depriving Legia of a valuable away goal will be a priority. Clean sheets have been plentiful for the home side at Turner’s Cross this season; they’ve kept 10 in their 12 Premier Division games there so far in 2018.

He said: “You’re trying to stay in the match and hopefully you might get an opportunity. European football is intriguing. If they hit you for a few [goals] early on then the game is all over.

“We’re massive underdogs but that’s the brilliant thing. We’re all looking forward to the game. Tactically we’re all looking forward to seeing if we’ve got it right.

“It’ll be great for our supporters to see players moving the ball at a quicker pace than they’d be used to in our own league. But at the same time we’re hoping that we can keep out the goals.”

Kick-off this evening at Turner’s Cross is at 7.45pm. With a World Cup semi-final taking place simultaneously, unfortunately no Irish broadcaster will carry live TV coverage.