Romanian Fotball Teams in European Cups

We bring you a preview of Romanian football teams' participation in the European Cups.

România Internațional, 29.07.2014, 13:15

Four Romanian teams this week will be proving their mettle in the European competitions’ third preliminary round.

Steaua Bucharest have already set off for Kazakhstan, as on Wednesday they will be taking on Kazakh side Aktobe, in the first leg of the tie that could earn Steaua a place in the Champions League’s playoff session. With Constantin Gilca at the helm, Steaua had a lackluster run earlier this season. Though defeated in the game against Astra Giurgiu in Romania’s Supercup, Steaua won both games against Rapid, snatching a 2-1 win in the League’s Cup and a 3-1 win in the domestic championship’s first leg. However, Steaua failed to live up to their performance in the previous season, probably also because of the significantly thinner lineup in the wake of the summer transfer season.

Three teams represent Romania in the Europa League’s third preliminary round. Two of them will be playing their games on home turf this coming Thursday. Astra Giurgiu will be taking on Czech side Slovan Liberec. Astra’ s run so far has been excellent: after the win against Steaua in the Supercup, last season’s vice-champions also snatched a valuable 4-1 win against FC Brasov in the League Cup and a 2-nil win against Concordia Chiajna, in a game counting towards the domestic championship’s first leg.

Southern Romanian team Petrolul from Ploiesti will also be taking on a Czech team, Victoria Plzen, a team that last season had an excellent international run, including a participation in the Champions League’s group stage. The Romanians’ lineup, however, is a strong one, and that is all the more so since it includes one of the best footballers of the last decade, Adrian Mutu. Earlier this season Petrolul suffered a 1-nil defeat against Unversitatea Cluj, in the League Cup, yet they succeeded a 1-nil win against FC Brasov, in a game counting towards the domestic championship’ s first leg.

CFR Cluj will be traveling to Minsk, in Belarus, to play their first leg against local side Dinamo. CFR also failed to go past the League Cup’s eighth finals, since they were thrashed by CSMS Iasi, 4-2. However, CFR Cluj snatched a precious 4-nil win against Ceahlaul from Piatra Neamt, in the domestic championship’s first leg.