Romanian football teams taking part in European competitions

Romanian football teams are playing in European competitions.

Florin Orban, 19.08.2014, 13:18

Three Romanian football teams are this week playing in the playoff phase of European football competitions. Steaua Bucharest is tonight playing Ludogoretz Razgrad of Bulgaria in Champions League. The first leg will be played on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest.

Steaua last week had a resounding 6-nil win against Pandurii Targu Jiu, with all the goals scored by the same player — striker Claudiu Keseru. Moreover, Costel Galca’s trainees have displayed an excellent football over the last few games. Steaua tops the league tables at present with the maximum number of points, 12.

Steaua’s opponent tonight has been dominating Bulgarian football for the last three years. Last year they reached the Europa League round of 16, after brushing aside such powerful teams as Partizan Belgrad, PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb and Lazio Rome. Playing for Ludogoretz is Romanian defender Cosmin Moti.

On Thursday, another two Romanian teams will fight to secure a place in the Europa League group phase. Petrolul from Ploiesti will play Dinamo Zagreb at home. Petrolul also had a good run this season, with the sole exception of last round’s draw against Rapid Bucharest. On the other hand, Dinamo Zagreb ranks first in Croatia, with the same number of points as Rijeka.

Also on Thursday, Astra Giurgiu will play Olympiques Lyonnais away from home. For Astra the match against OL will be an opportunity to prove themselves at European level. This year Astra won the Romanian Cup and went on to win the Supercup. They also had a promising start in the domestic league. Last round Astra secured a 2-1 home win over CSMS Iasi, although there is still room for improvement before Thursday’s match in Lyon. As regards OL, the French side is clearly the favourite on Thursday night. In two matches this season OL won against Rennes 2-nil, but lost to Toulouse 1-2.