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Tampere have a taste for victory

Having won their first European Cup match at the fifth attempt last week, Tampere United made it two from six against S.S. Murata to earn a PFC Levski Sofia tie.

Having won their first European Champion Clubs' Cup match at the fifth time of asking last week, Tampere United made it two successes in six with a 2-0 victory against S.S. Murata last night.

Niemi again
The Finnish champions are taking part in the competition for the third time but had never progressed from the opening round until their two-legged tie with S.S. Murata this season. Having won 2-1 in San Marino in the first leg thanks to two Jari Niemi goals, Tampere followed that up at home through fine strikes from Tomi Petrescu and Niemi again and can look forward to the considerable challenge of PFC Levski Sofia in the second qualifying round.

Hjelm happy
Tampere also competed in the 1984/85 European Cup against eventual winners Juventus, losing 6-1 on aggregate, and the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League, when they went down 6-0 over two legs to FC Pyunik. As such, they have every right to bask in the glory of victory before looking ahead to the next challenge. Tampere coach Ari Hjelm said: "We did our job professionally and took our place in the next round with style. The first half was very good and we scored two great goals."

'Big challenge'
The coach was well aware his side were always fancied to progress against the first team from San Marino to enter the competition. It will be a different proposition when they take on a Levski team who played in last season’s group stage and gained experience of playing FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC and Werder Bremen. "Next we have a big challenge and we are now the underdogs," said Hjelm. "Levski are a tough team, but if we can play like we played against Murata in the first half we might surprise them."

Early warning
The Bulgarian club have already taken steps to ensure there are no nasty shocks sending assistant coach Tzanko Tzvetanov, a former international defender, to scout their rivals in action. "We must not underestimate Tampere," he said. "They are a strong side and have a quality player in every department. – defence, midfield and attack. They are an athletic and physical side and are strong in the tackle. We must approach the games seriously otherwise we might have problems."

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