FCSB — this is the necessary name for the once-famous Romanian football brand Steaua due to legal disputes. On Thursday, the Bucharest club will host Riga's RFS at the National Stadium.
The Romanian side has returned to European competitions for the first time since the 2017/18 season when they failed to advance to the main stage of the Champions League in the final qualification step. This time, they again missed out on it — they passed two rounds but couldn't overcome Sparta Prague in the third. To qualify for the Europa League, they just needed to defeat LASK (1:1, 1:0).
The Romanian champions had a very tough start to the season in the First League: after nine rounds, they sit 13th out of 16 with 10 points. The constant matches every third or fourth day took a toll. In their last two rounds, the team drew both games. The draw with vice-champions CFR Cluj can be seen positively, as they came back from 0:2 and scored more than expected (1.37 xG). However, the draw with Petrolul Ploiești (1:1) was the opposite: they conceded in the 94th minute.
To reach the main stage of the Europa League for the first time, the Riga side had to start their journey over two months ago. As champions, RFS initially competed in the Champions League qualifiers, but after comfortably defeating Northern Ireland’s Larne (3:0, 4:0), they stumbled painfully against Bodø/Glimt (0:4, 1:3). Qualifying for the Europa League in the playoff round wasn't easier: after cruising past Santa Coloma (2:0, 7:0), the Latvians only secured their place in the group stage by winning a penalty shootout against APOEL (2:1 at home, 1:2 (4:2 pens) away). This is a success because the Cypriots are stronger than the Latvians, having participated in the group stages of European competitions multiple times.
The balance of power is clear — FCSB could have achieved something even in the revamped Champions League. Their unbeaten run stretches to four matches, and against one of the main outsiders of the tournament, especially playing at home, they will comfortably collect three points.
