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Best-placed are Viitorul from Constanta. In the first leg of the third preliminary round Gheorghe Hagi’s trainees outclassed Cyprus champions APOEL Nicosia 1-nil in the southeastern Romanian town of Ovidiu.

Florin Orban, 27.07.2017, 13:50

After an unassuming beginning Romania’s young champions took control of the game and had the upper hand all throughout the first half. The second half of the match was little bit more balanced, yet on the pitch Viitorul had more opportunities to score than their opponents.

The goal occurred in minute 75. With a shot from 30 meters, Cristian Manea flawlessly turned a free kick into a goal, scoring Viitorul’s first goal in a European Cups fixture. Towards the end of the game, Viitorul had missed another opportunity to score. However, George Tucudean was given an early bath after he got yellow-booked too many times.

The second leg of the tie pitting Viitorul Constanta against APOEL Nicosia is scheduled on Wednesday August 2nd, in Cyprus. We recall that APOEL Nicosia’s best performance so far occurred in the Champions League’s 2011-2012 season, when APOEL reached as far as the quarterfinals.

The other Romanian team in the League’s preliminary round, vice-champions Football Club FCSB (formerly known as Steaua), on the National Arena in Bucharest, on Tuesday took on Czech contenders Viktoria Plzeň, with 34,000 football fans watching the game.

Steaua were held to a 2-all draw, while Plzeň had a 1-nil and a 2-1 lead, respectively, during the game, thanks to the goals scored by Michael Krmencik, on 23 minutes and Jan Kopic in minute 53. Scoring for FCSB were Constantin Budescu on 37 minutes and Portuguese Felipe Teixeira in the 61st minute. Towards the end of the game the best footballer on the pitch, Constantin Budescu sustained an injury and will be unavailable for this coming Wednesday’s return leg, away from home.