Payback time for Stuttgart's Meira

Fernando Meira is looking to erase his previous memories of Glasgow when he leads VfB Stuttgart out tonight against Rangers FC at Ibrox. The 29-year-old captain is one of a few survivors from the Stuttgart side that lost 2-1 to Rangers on Matchday 1 in 2003/04 having also tasted defeat the previous season against Celtic FC in the UEFA Cup.

'Amazing crowds'
The Portuguese international defender hopes it is a case of third time lucky tonight, but if the German champions are going to win he admits Armin Veh's young side will have to quell a vociferous home support. "It's very tough to play against teams in Glasgow because the crowds are so amazing," Meira told uefa.com. "I've told the younger players already it's going to be difficult to communicate on the pitch. But it can also be a motivation and we are used to stadiums full of supporters in Germany, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The team is ready to show what we are capable of."

'Getting better'
Stuttgart have endured an indifferent start to the defence of their Bundesliga title having won only two of their first five matches, but last weekend’s 3-0 victory over FC Energie Cottbus has boosted morale and Meira insists they will be playing for all three points in Glasgow. "We are Stuttgart and we always play to win," Meira added. "We are a young team and so far we have found it difficult to play at the same level as last year. We also have a few injuries to key players and other teams are more motivated against us because we are the champions. But we're getting better and I hope we can go back to the top of the Bundesliga in the next few weeks."

Lofty ambitions
Despite losing to Rangers four years ago Stuttgart progressed to the knockout stages before losing to Chelsea FC. Meira aims to go one better this season by reaching the quarter-finals. "We have already achieved one target in reaching the group stage and now we want to go higher and aim for the last eight," he said. "Every teams needs a dream and that is our dream. We know it won't be easy in this group because we also have to play [FC] Barcelona and [Olympique] Lyonnais but we are confident and a win against Rangers would get us off to a good start."