MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Premier League leaders Rubin aim to get their inaugural Champions League campaign back on track Tuesday night as Inter Milan visit Tatarstan's capital, Kazan.

The Russian champions collapsed in the second half of their opening game in Ukraine two weeks ago, Argentinean forward Alejandro Dominguez's first-half free kick overwhelmed by three goals for Dynamo Kiev in the last 20 minutes.

Inter drew 0-0 in Milan with reigning European Cup holders Barcelona and come into the game on the back of their first loss in this season's Italian championship.

Rubin also lost their weekend match, at home against Amkar Perm, and only managed a 0-0 draw in Tomsk after their return from Kiev, their lead at the top of the Russian table cut to four points with seven games to play.

Kazan has hosted European football only once before, when Rubin lost 1-0 to another Serie A side, Parma, in the UEFA Cup first round in 2006, and coach Kurban Berdiyev compared the atmosphere in the city to a public holiday.

"Having the Champions League in town is like a public holiday for Kazan. People here have dreamed about it. A few years ago we never thought great clubs would come to Kazan, not even for friendly games," he said on Monday.

The famously taciturn trainer recognized the importance of the game to Rubin's European chances, and admitted to having some butterflies in the buildup.

"This match is really important for us," he said. "I'm a bit nervous as it is also a new experience for me. However, I think we are ready to face Inter."

Inter coach Jose Mourinho, who won the European Cup with Porto in 2004 and then led Roman Abromovich's Chelsea to consecutive English titles, expects the Rubin defense to be well-organized, but his main target is getting enough points in three matches against Rubin and Dynamo Kiev to be assured of qualifying for the knockout stages when Inter travel to Barcelona for their penultimate group game.

Rubin have fared better away from home in the Russian league this year, with all four of their losses coming in Kazan, and the first half in Kiev was typical of their season, with solid defense coupled to a quality goal.

On Tuesday night, the onus will fall on the attacking trio of leading scorer Dominguez, Russian striker Alexander Bukharov and Turkish international Gokdeniz Karadeniz to provide a greater attacking threat than was seen in the second half in Kiev without compromising the defending on which much of the team's success has been built.

The match kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Moscow time (16:30 GMT) and will be broadcast live on NTV.