Zenit St Petersburg manager Andre Villas-Boas is targeting a “spectacular” return to the Champions League with just one match against Standard Liege standing between his side and the group stages.

Zenit St Petersburg have a 1-0 away goal advantage from the first leg in Belgium and the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss is focused on a return to the European stage with the Russian club.

Villas-Boas’s charges claimed a 2-0 win over Amkar in the Russian Premier League on Saturday ahead of their second leg tie against Standard, and – speaking after the match – the Portuguese coach said: “You’ve got to remember that it’s only been three days since our match with Standard, and we didn’t get home until seven in the morning.

“Today everyone had a spectacular match, and we need to continue this level of play in order to advance in the UEFA Champions League.”

Scottish champions Celtic have the slight edge over Maribor for the second leg at home as they scored an away goal in the 1-1 draw, while BATE are in exactly the same situation with Slovan Bratislava, APOEL Nicosia and AaB are also tied at 1-1 and Porto have a 1-0 advantage over Lille.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila said there is no new movement on the transfer front ahead of the crunch clash with Maribor.

New signing Aleksandar Tonev, a Bulgarian midfielder on loan from Aston Villa, was not on the bench for last weekend’s match against Inverness, which the Bhoys lost 1-0, while progress over Wakaso Mubarak’s move to Parkhead is slow.

Deila made the call to switch 10 players following the midweek performance against Maribor, in a bid to keep players fresh for the return leg in Glasgow today.

When asked whether any new faces would be joining the squad imminently, Deila was coy on the club’s transfer dealings.

“There is still a lot of paperwork to do with Mubarak,” he said.

“But it is very early to talk about that (other transfers) and we have to assess all the team and see what we need.

“There will be no players coming in that can affect the game on Tuesday (today).”

Tomorrow’s games see Malmo bid to overturn a 2-1 deficit to Salzburg, although they have a valuable away goal, while Athletic Bilbao play Napoli in Spain with the scoreline at 1-1 following the first leg.

Arsenal and Besiktas will try again at the Emirates after both sides drew a blank in Istanbul while Steaua Bucharest travel to Ludogorets with a 1-0 advantage and Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen return home with a 3-2 lead over FC Copenhagen.

Champions League, play-offs

Group stage draw: August 28 (17.45).