RRI Sports Club

The latest from football.

Florin Orban, 28.08.2024, 13:45

Two Romanian football teams will play, on Thursday, in the preliminaries of the European competitions. Romania’s champions FCSB, will face, in Bucharest, the Austrian team LASK Linz in the second leg of Europa League’s play-off. The first match, held in Austria, ended in an equal draw.  The French Adil Taoui scored first for the hosts, in the 34th minute, then, in the extra time of the first half, David Miculescu equalized for the Bucharesters. FCSB enters this confrontation after poor results in the first stages of the Romanian Superleague. The team ranks 15th in the ranking, with only 5 points, while the champion en titre has, so far, after six games, only one win, two draws and three defeats. Linz did not start well in the championship of the first Austrian league either, having, after four stages, one victory and three defeats. If FCSB prevails against the Austrian team, it will advance to the main stage of the Europa League. In case of defeat, coach Elias Charalambous’s players will perform in the main phase of the third continental competition, the Conference League.

The other Romanian team in the European Cups, CFR Cluj, is also fighting for a place in the Conference League. On Thursday, the Transylvanian team faces the Cypriot team Paphos, away. In the first match, in Cluj, CFR won 1-nil. Kosovo’s Meriton Korenica scored in the 17th minute. It was a difficult match for the Transylvanian team, especially due to the fact that they were outnumbered in the 40th minute, when Ciprian Deac hit the Portuguese João Correia without the ball and was sent off. However, the Romanian team performed well in defense, counterattacked dangerously and proved to be categorically better than Paphos. However, it remains to be seen if CFR can prove superior in Aphrodite’s Island, where the Cypriots will have the advantage of the fans’ enthusiastic support.