The city of Razgrad, somewhat spoilt for Champions League action in recent years, will host a pair of teams that look to be among the most evenly matched at the 1/16 finals stage. Ludogorets will play in all continental tournaments in the current European competition. The Bulgarian champion started the season in the Champions League qualifying, where they dealt with the clubs Sutjeska and Shamrock Rovers, but failed to get past Dinamo Zagreb in the semi-finals. Following that setback, Ludogorets narrowly missed out on Zalgiris in the final round of the Europa League qualifying, before being relegated in the group stage from the top two positions in the group by Roma and Betis. Anderlecht finished third in the Belgian league last season and so went straight into Conference League qualification. There, the Belgians took on the rather weak Paide and the rather strong Young Boys. In Anderlecht's group, all of their opponents were ridden by West Ham, while the Belgians scored eight points to finish second behind the English. The bookmakers had a slight tilt in the odds ahead of the first leg in favour of the home side.

Ludogorets only returned from hibernation a few days ago and played their first official game in more than two months, beating the underdogs 2-1 in a low-scoring game. The Bulgarian club is in high spirits as they fight hard for the league title against CSKA Sofia. Ludogorets have had a rather busy preparation campaign for the resumption of the European competitions so that the first opponent will be in a good mood and with a fighting spirit.

There are far fewer questions about Anderlecht's form now. Since the third decade of December to date, the Belgians have played nine official games. While Anderlecht picked up just one point in three league rounds in mid-January, they have managed ten of a possible twelve in the next four meetings. Another thing is that the team's successful streak should not be misleading, as Anderlecht are the tenth club in the standings. In their last fifteen away matches, the Belgian club have won only five times, so they will not be able to be fully competitive in Razgrad.