The Champions League group stage and its attendant riches appear just 90 minutes away for Manchester United, Liverpool and Inter Milan, while Swiss outsiders Thun are poised to bring fresh faces to the party.
Holders Liverpool, having worked their way through from the first qualifying round, are well placed to reach the group stage when they host CSKA Sofia tonight with a 3-1 lead from the first leg of their third qualifying round tie.
Manchester United travel to Hungarian champions Debrecen with a 3-0 lead while Inter host Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 ahead. Both those games take place tomorrow.
Two other former champions, Ajax Amsterdam and Steaua Bucharest, are still in the hunt, but have work to do. Ajax host Brondby, level at 2-2, while Steaua travel to Norway to play Rosenborg Trondheim after a 1-1 draw at home.
All those teams are regulars in Europe's premier club competition, but it is unknown territory for Thun, whose fairy-tale journey shows no sign of ending. The team who were playing amateur football in the third Swiss division nine years ago host Malmo, with a 1-0 lead from their first leg in Sweden.
Given they have already ousted Dynamo Kiev, there is no reason to believe that Thun are going to self-destruct. Thun's sole "success" in more than 100 years is a losing appearance in the Swiss Cup final in 1955 and, though they have finished in the top three in both the last two seasons, an appearance in the group stage of the Champions League would still be an astonishing achievement.
"If we make it, it will be more than just a dream - it will be one of the biggest sensations in football," said captain Andres Gerber. "We have a really great team spirit at the club and if we get through on Tuesday it will really show that you can achieve great things in football without having a lot of money."
Thun warmed up with a 2-0 win at Neuchatel Xamax at the weekend.
Malmo, losing finalists in the old European Cup in 1979, are also seeking their first appearance in the group stage as are Slovakia's Artmedia Petrzalka, who visit Partizan Belgrade level at 0-0 having knocked out Celtic in the previous round.
The winners of this week's 16 games will join the 16 automatic qualifiers in the group stage, which begins in September following the draw this Thursday.
Slavia Prague, Udinese and CSKA Sofia are also eyeing a first appearance in the group phase. Slavia host Anderlecht, 2-1 behind from the first leg, while Udinese are better placed as they welcome Sporting with a 1-0 lead.
