After a dramatic Tuesday in Europe's top club competition, we take a look at the five play-off matches being played on Wednesday.

A night after Young Boys of Berne and Tottenham Hotspur served up a Champions League delight, attention turns to Wednesday and another batch of key games where an Iberian derby and Werder Bremen's clash with Sampdoria feature heavily.

MATCH PREVIEWS

S.C Braga vs Sevilla FC

Iberian tears will be shed either way with both sides playing for glory and regional pride.

Braga are riding high after their crushing of a decidedly off-colour Celtic in the last round with a 4-2 aggregate over two legs, but Sevilla could very well be too good for the Portuguese side.

The current Copa Del Rey champions will also be in good spirits after defeating Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa at the weekend, and will look to repeat their 2-0 previous victory against Braga in 2006 during the group stages of the now-defunct UEFA Cup.

FC Basel vs FC Sheriff

The Swiss Super League champions will be rushing to do their homework about the Moldovan champions, who are making their second appearance at this stage of the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Although many expect the well-supported Swiss side to ease past Sheriff, the upheaval of losing five first team players and having to promote four players from their under-21 squad to take their place is clearly having an effect on Basel's form, resulting in two losses in their last five domestic matches so far.

With both sides desperate to make the lucrative group stages of the competition, this fixture could well be too tight to call.

Werder Bremen vs U.C. Sampdoria

While both managers have spoken confidently about this fixture during their press conferences, it is certain one of them will have egg on face at the end of the knockout round.

Equal in terms of match winners thanks to the form of Mesut Ozil for Bremen, and Antonio Cassano for the Serie A side, this fixture is tightly balanced with regards to squad quality as well as pedigree.

Sampdoria will do well to take note of the Bundesliga side's recent form against Italian sides, Bremen having knocked out both Inter and AC Milan during the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup.

However, a 5-1 trashing during a pre-season friendly against Europa League finalists Fulham is an inauspicious sign for Bremen's chances of progressing further in the competition.

FK Partizan vs FC Anderlecht

Both sides are domestic bigwigs in their own leagues, but have underperformed in Europe in recent seasons.

Interestingly enough, Partizan are the current holders of the UEFA record for largest aggregate win in a European competition, a record set when they demolished Welsh champions Rhyl 12-0 over two legs during the UEFA Cup in 2008.

However, the Serbian Super Liga champions could be disadvantaged by a lack of game time, with only one domestic tie played apart their Champions League ties so far, while Anderlecht have played more games domestically and are currently third in the Belgium Pro-League table.

FC Salzburg vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC

Salzburg have been trying to make their name on the European stage, bringing in high-profile coaches such as Giovanni Trapattoni in recent years.

Nevertheless the club will not be pleased to be drawn against an Israeli side. Memories of being knocked out 5-1 on aggregate by Maccabi Haifa FC at the same stage of the Champions League last season will still be fresh in their minds, and could be a psychological factor for the Austrian side.

They have however boosted their attacking options by signing 21-year-old Brazilian forward Alan from Fluminense.

On the other hand, Hapoel barely managed a 3-2 aggregate victory against FK Aktobe to take their place in the Champions League play-offs.