We are under way in Helsinki.

A few minutes behind in Bialystok.

This is the first time Jagiellonia have played a Scottish team, but Rangers have faced Polish sides 11 times previously.

The Ibrox club got off to a bad start, losing 3-1 home and away to Gornik Zabrze in the European Cup-winners Cup in 1969.

But they have since won seven of their nine games, the latest being a 2-0 win away from home to Lech Poznan in the Europa League in 2020.

Will that trend continue tonight?

The teams are already out in Helsinki, while here come the sides into a sea of colour in Poland...

Here we go...

The home fans have a rather impressive pre-match display behind one of the goals.

A large cutout of Iron Man with "Heroes aren't born, they're built" written below.

It blends in well with their own colour scheme.

Jagiellonia Białystok head coach Adrian Siemieniec thinks Rangers will be "a very demanding opponent".

But he recognises that Rangers players are under "enormous expectations and pressure" and hopes to capitalise on "enormous disappointment when things don't work out".

Meanwhile, Poland midfielder Taras Romanczuk is taking nothing for granted from Rangers' 1-1 draw with Dundee United on Friday, saying "comments weren't very kind towards us either" in their opening game of the season as both sides are finding their feet with rebuilt squads.

Image source, SNS

Jagiellonia Bialystok have been steadily building themselves a bit of a reputation in European football since winning the Polish title for the first time two years ago.

They reached the Conference League quarter-finals two seasons ago, losing to Real Betis, after finishing ninth in the league stage.

Last season, they finished 17th then gave Fiorentina a fright before losing 5-4 on aggregate after extra time in the play-off round.

Having finished third in the Ekstraklasa last season, Adrian Siemieniec's side have started the season positively and sit second in the Ekstraklasa on goal difference behind Legia Warsaw after winning their opening two games.

Nik Prelec, the Slovenian forward signed from Oxford United this summer, scored in both the 1-0 home win over Korona Kielce and the 2-1 victory away to Motor Lublin on Friday.

The squad also features former Derby County winger Kamil Jozwiak and former Celtic centre-half Yuki Kobayashi.

Monday's 3-0 defeat away to SJK in their domestic league was not the warm-up HJK wanted in preparation for hosting Motherwell and they now trail top-flight leaders KuPS by 11 points 18 games into their season.

However, Helkingin Jalkapoooklubi, to give them their full name, are a difficult nut to crack at home.

Head coach Joonas Rantanen rested several key players, including former Celtic and Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki, with only three players retained from the side that put eight goals past Coleraine in the two legs of their previous Conference League qualifier.

In a squad dominated by home grown talent, Lucas Lingman is a Finland midfielder, while 19-year-old centre-half Amara Nallo has joined this summer on loan from Liverpool. However, both start on the bench tonight along with Pukki.

Image source, SNS

Former Rangers midfielder Dariusz Adamczuk told Jagiellonia's website: "It's a shame the first leg isn't away and the return leg is in Białystok, from Jagiellonia's perspective. The return leg will be tough - those stands could be overwhelming.

"During my time at Rangers, we had a dozen or so internationals in the squad. Then came the club's decline and its rebuilding.

"But they're probably more focused on challenging Celtic for their domestic title this season."

Image source, SNS

Nicolas Raskin is on the bench for Rangers after his break following the World Cup.

Speculation has linked the Belgium midfielder with a move away from Ibrox all summer.

Image source, SNS

Motherwell have faced Finnish opposition once previously in European competition and it was not happy one.

They lost 3-1 in the home leg against MyPA-47 in the Uefa Cup preliminary round in 1995 and, although they won the away leg 2-0, they exited on away goals.

HJK's first meeting with a Scottish side also ended in disappointment.

After a 2-0 defeat by Celtic in Glasgow in 2000, they reversed that scoreline at home, but the visitors scored in extra time to progress to the Uefa Cup second round.

They also lost 4-1 to Celtic in the Champions League third qualifying round in 2012 before drawing home and away with Aberdeen in the Conference League group stage in 2023-24.

Calum Macdonald
BBC Scotland in Bialystok

It's not often I have sympathy for professional footballers, but today I do.

Myself, Liam McLeod and Steven Thompson were sweating while sitting at lunch today as Bialystok continues to swelter.

It's a nice wee place by the way, but the weather and the scenery won't mean a jot to the 1,000 or so travelling Rangers fans unless they come away with a win.

HJK Helsinki: Markovic, Cissokho, Ring, Tikkanen, Mentu, Borchers, Leonel Montano, Mero, Moller, Yitolva, Haarala.

Substitutes: Ost, Haapanen, Nallo, Cicale, Lingman, Simojoki, Kallinen, Kirilov, Pukki, Levealahti, Lappalainen, Gueye.

Motherwell: Paulsen, Girdwood-Reich, Moormann, Sparrow, Fadinger, Lowry, Priestman, Charles-Cook, Maswanhise, Longelo, Vogt.

Substitutes: Connelly, McConnell, Knight-Lebel, Koutroumbis, Wilson, Ross, Whyte, Booth, McAllister.

Jagiellonia Bialystok: Abramowicz, Wojtuszek, Konstantopoulos, Kobayashi, Montoia, Romanczuk, Imaz, Lozano, Conceicao, Szmyt, Prelec.

Substitutes: Perchel, Damasiewicz, Polak, Drachal, Rallis, Agbonifo, Sylla, Klynge, Krasiewicz, Zalewski, Kozlowski, Kuczynski.

Rangers: Pandur, McCrorie, Fernandez, Sterling, Rommens, Neil, Diomande, Chukwuani, Aasgaard, Yokota, Chermiti.

Substitutes: Kelly, Makhanya, Hutton, Devlin, Dragojevic, Raskin, McCausland, Gassama, Curtis, Shankland, Naderi, Miovski.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Bolt Arena

I've just had a wee blether with a local journalist and he really doesn't have high hopes for HJK.

"Shaky," is how he described them this season.

Who am I to suggest otherwise?

Anyone trying to find a connection between Rangers' Europa League opponents, Jagiellonia Bialystok, and Glasgow rivals Partick Thistle apart from their similar strip and nickname will be sadly disappointed.

The Jaga from Bialystok, the largest city in north-eastern Poland, and 10th overall, play in yellow and red because those are the colours of the historic local dynasty.

However, there was a Firhill connection when defender Ziggy Gordon moved from Thistle to Jagiellonia for the 2017-18 season when Adrian Siemieniec, who was promoted to head coach three years ago, was assistant.

Former Celtic striker Cillian Sheridan also joined the Polish side at the time. Now it is the other side of the Old Firm who head to the 22,432-capacity Chorten Arena for Thursday's first leg.

Image source, Getty Images

Calum Macdonald
BBC Scotland in Bialystok

Rangers fans of a certain vintage will remember their new manager's first European game as a player.

He was an early substitute against Alania Vladikavkaz, scoring an equaliser as Rangers came from 1-0 down to win 3-1.

Anyone out there there remember the score in the second leg? Derek McInnes would certainly settle for a repeat tonight, however unlikely that is...

Image source, SNS

Rangers manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland his side will have to deal with the heat in Poland, with the temperature currently around 30 degrees in Bialystok.

"We had a week in Spain not so long ago and we played a couple of games and we said that, although it was tough for the players then, we thought that, if we get temperatures in Europe that maybe mirror that, we'd maybe have that under our belt," he said.

"But obviously it is a factor and it's unusual for this area to have this heat as well, so it's not as if the Polish lads are accustomed to it either."

On his team selection, he adds: "We're a wee bit short defensively in our options, as you know.

"Makanja is not long in, he's not had a lot of football, he played a bounce game on Monday at the training ground and came through that and even yesterday we didn't know if we'd have the visa sorted.

"So we picked a back four with McCrorie right back, Fernandez, Sterling and Rommens - and we feel that that's the best back four to deal with their three.

"I love playing in Europe, I loved managing in Europe with Aberdeen, I like the pace of it all where you have to get to know the team pretty quickly and get a handle on the opponent."

Alfred Johansson has made two changes from the Motherwell side that beat Hibs 2-1 in the Scottish Premiership at the weekend.

Tawanda Maswanhise starts for the first time this season, replacing the injured Ibrahim Said up front, while midfielder Alex Lowry is handed his first start since signing on loan from Wycombe Wanderers as left-back Dylan Williams misses out through injury.

Image source, SNS

Derek McInnes makes five changes to the Rangers side that drew 1-1 with Dundee United on Friday.

Latest signing Daisuke Yokota, the winger signed from Hannover, makes his debut, while fellow new recruit Olwethu Makhanya, the centre-half arrival from Philadelphia Union, is on the bench.

Ross McCrorie comes in at the back for the injured Ben Godfrey, with former Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil making his first Rangers start, replacing Cammy Devlin in the middle of the park and taking the captain's armband.

Defensive midfielder Tochi Chukwuani is in for winger Djeidi Gassama, with Youssef Chermiti starting ahead of Lawrence Shankland up top.

Image source, SNS

Jagiellonia Bialystok head coach Adrian Siemieniec makes just one change to his side following the 2-1 away win over Motor Lublin in the Polish top flight.

Apostolos Konstantopoulos replaces former Real Zaragoza defender Bernardo Vital at centre-back.