TAKE a look at the runners and riders for this week's Cup Winners' Cup second round matches and you find a fair cross section of contemporary European heavyweights - AEK Athens, Barcelona, Benfica, Fiorentina, Galatasaray, Liverpool, Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Red Star Belgrade and Nimes. And who?

Yes, Nimes. At first glance, it looks like a mistake. How on earth can a small third division side from the south of France find itself in the second round of the Cup Winners' Cup, battling it out with no less than four former European Champions' Cup winners?

The answer is simple. Last season, Nimes proved themselves the giant killers par excellence of the French Cup, going all the way to the final, only to lose to Auxerre. However, Auxerre were also last season's league champions and understandably they opted to play in the highly remunerative Champions League, leaving Nimes, as beaten finalists, to represent France in the Cup Winners' Cup.

One suspects they won't be giant killers in Europe but it is a fact that the third division side continues to display a split personality, looking mediocre in the league yet highly competitive in Cup games. Last year's Cup run (they even scored first in the final itself before being overhauled) came in a season when they managed to see themselves relegated to Division Four. Nice work.

This season, it's the same story. Saved from relegation only by the grace of a French Federation ruling which allowed them back into Division Three because of their "sporting merits", Nimes have so far struggled.

Yet, despite an apparently mediocre league start, Nimes have managed to pull off Act One of their now habitual giant killing act, defeating Hungarian side Kispest Honved last month in the first round of the Cup Winners's Cup (3-1 win at home, 2-1 win in Budapest).

On Thursday night, round two of the Nimes giant killing act sees them pitted against Swedish side AIK Stockholm. Given the quality of the other sides still left in, one would have to say the draw was kind to Nimes. AIK Stockholm are a respectable team by Swedish standards and they currently lie fourth in the league table with just three days to play.

Having said that, though, AIK are not Benfica, Barcelona, Paris St. Germain or Liverpool. Little Nimes are entitled to hope that they might just get through one more round and make it into the quarter finals of the tournament next March.

At that point, the club could have a good laugh at those French television executives who offered them only a pittance by way of TV rights to their European games, in the belief that Nimes' ragbag collection of apprentices, part timers and veterans would make a short appearance on the European stage.

Nimes could then also thumb their noses at French first division side Olympique Marseilles. During the summer, serious efforts were made to persuade Nimes to renounce their Cup entry in favour of Marseilles, with an offer of $4 million being thrown on the table at one stage in short lived negotiations.

Laughing loudest amongst the Nimes squad may be the side's Bosnian veteran, 36 year old Mehmed Bazdarevic. He is the one "famous" name on the Nimes books, a "pre war" Yugoslav international who also spent several seasons with leading French club Sochaux.

These days Bazdarevic finds himself leading a series of seemingly lost causes. This day last week, he captained Bosnia in their first ever competitive "home" international when they were beaten 4-1 by Croatia in a World Cup qualifier in Bologna, Italy.

Vatching Bazdarevic in imperious action against Croatia (final scoreline notwithstanding) it was easy to understand just what a telling contribution his vision, class and experience makes to little Nimes, especially on the "big occasion".

There is one other name in the Nimes camp, though, which catches the eye and it is that of defender Laurent Adams. His father, Jean Pierre, was a defender with the club in the 70s and early 80s who went on to win 22 caps for France. Those were the halcyon days at Nimes, a time when the club was regularly in and out of the first division.

The point about Jean Pierre Adams, however, is that he has been in a coma since 1982, following a knee operation that went drastically wrong. For his sake and for that of his family, success at Nimes does not seem overdue.