First night nerves for Marseille

Russian test
The 1992/93 European champions Marseille take on UEFA Cup holders PFC CSKA Moskva in Russia in their opening Group F game, while the other match in their section sees SC Heerenveen travel to FC Dinamo Bucuresti. Elsewhere on 20 October, AZ Alkmaar head for FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk while their Group D rivals Grasshopper-Club host Middlesbrough FC.

Border incident
Grasshoppers' Swiss countrymen FC Basel 1893 will have one of the more intriguing encounters of the night as they face near neighbours from over the border in France, RC Strasbourg. Meanwhile, in the other Group E fixture, Serie A giants AS Roma are bound for Norway to tackle Trømso IL.

Challenging section
With Group H looking particularly challenging, Besiktas JK kick off with a home tie against Bolton Wanderers FC, while FC Zenit St. Petersburg welcome Vitória SC to Russia. Russia's third representatives in the group stage, FC Lokomotiv Moskva entertain RCD Espanyol on the same night, while Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC welcome US Città di Palermo in the other Group B game.

Viking test
In Group A, Viking FK start their campaign at home to AS Monaco FC while PFC CSKA Sofia receive in-form Hamburger SV. Group C, meanwhile, sees FC Steaua Bucuresti play RC Lens in the Romanian capital while top seeds Hertha BSC Berlin visit Sweden to play Halmstads BK.

Revenge mission
Finally, Group G rivals Stade Rennais FC and VfB Stuttgart meet in France, while in Ukraine, FC Shakhtar Donetsk will try to avenge their neighbours FC Metalurh Donetsk, who were knocked out in the first round by Mircea Lucescu's side's Greek opponents PAOK FC.