AS Roma - CFR 1907 Cluj MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group a - Matchday 1
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AS Roma - CFR 1907 Cluj MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group A - Matchday 1 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background AS Roma have extra incentive to do well as a new UEFA Champions League campaign gets under way. Their first match pits them against Romanian debutants CFR 1907 Cluj and the Italian team would like nothing more than to still be involved in the competition's last match, with the final to be staged in their own Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday 27 May. • Two successive quarter-final appearances have set a target for Roma to try and surpass, and they will be looking to start on a high. At least the draw for the group stage spared the Italian league runners-up another confrontation with Manchester United FC after the sides met four times last season. The English champions and reigning UEFA Champions League holders have dismissed Roma from the last eight in each of the last two years and also took four points off them in the 2007/08 group stage. • Roma's confidence rocketed after beating Real Madrid CF home and away in last season's first knockout round, but United's 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico in the quarter-final first leg was a bitter blow from which they could not recover and they lost the away leg by a single goal. It was the first defeat the Giallorossi had suffered in ten home games in the competition; before that, they had won six and drawn three of nine home games stretching back to the beginning of the 2006/07 campaign. • The 1-0 Old Trafford defeat was at least a big improvement on the 7-1 drubbing they suffered on the same ground at the same stage 12 months previously – their heaviest defeat in UEFA club competition. Now mounting their sixth UEFA Champions League bid in eight years, the Italian club will be hoping to at least advance to the last four for the first time. • Two of Roma's wins in the nine-match unbeaten home sequence were registered in the first match of a new campaign, and Luciano Spalletti's team will be looking to make it three on the trot as they launch their challenge in Group A. In 2007/08 they started with a 2-0 win at home to FC Dynamo Kyiv; 12 months earlier, Matchday 1 brought a 4-0 success against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. • So, for the third season running, Roma begin with a game against opposition from eastern Europe at the Stadio Olimpico, which is set to play host to European football's biggest club fixture for the fourth time. The home side have faced a team from Romania just once before, in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, when they beat FC Steaua Bucureşti 1-0 in the Italian capital before a 0-0 away draw. Last updated 14.09.2008 22:41:22CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 AS Roma - CFR 1907 Cluj Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome • It will be an occasion for CFR Cluj to remember as they mark their first appearance on Europe's grandest stage under their new Italian coach Maurizio Trombetta, who replaced Ioan Andone at the start of September and gets an immediate opportunity to cross swords with a club from his homeland. Trombetta will be hoping his team can reproduce the form that took them to their first ever Liga 1 triumph in May. They finished one point ahead of Steaua to become the first team from outside Bucharest to be crowned Romania's champions in 17 years, and they followed that success by claiming the Romanian Cup for the first time as well. • It is the third time CFR Cluj have competed in Europe. In 2005, they took part in the UEFA Intertoto Cup and became the first Romanian side to reach the final stage after knocking out Athletic Club Bilbao and AS Saint-Etienne, however they went on to lose to RC Lens. They then fell 3-1 on aggregate to Anorthosis Famagusta FC – who are also making their UEFA Champions League debut in 2008/09 – in last season's UEFA Cup second qualifying round. • The other Group A fixture pits last season's runners-up Chelsea FC against FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Match facts Roma UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • None Disciplinary information • Roma have no players suspended or within a booking of a ban. Latest domestic information • Saturday 13 September: US Città di Palermo 3-1 AS Roma (Miccoli 20 56, Cavani 73; Baptista 8) Roma are without a win after two matches of the Serie A season following defeat in Sicily. The Giallorossi dominated the early stages and opened the scoring when Julio Baptista struck his first goal for the club after a one-two between Alberto Aquilani and Stefano Okaka Chuka, the latter teeing up the Brazilian to score into an empty net. Palermo soon replied through Fabrizio Miccoli, who added another after half-time before Edison Cavani sealed the points. • "We played below our usual standards," said coach Luciano Spalletti. "We created a lot of chances to score, as many as Palermo, but they were more clinical. It's good to play immediately in the UEFA Champions League as we want to forget about this game as quickly as possible." • Already without the injured Francesco Totti and Simone Perrotta, Spalletti had to contend without the jet-lagged Juan, while Philippe Mexès (knee) and Mirko Vučinić (back) were both rested as a precaution after returning from international duty with minor knocks. With Mexès and Juan unavailable, new signing Simone Loria made his debut while Okaka Chuka started in place of Vučinić. Daniele De Rossi was replaced at half-time by Matteo Brighi after suffering a neck injury. • September is traditionally the worst month of the season for Spalletti, who has earned 15 victories, 13 draws and as many defeats in this time during his coaching career. • The Palermo fixture was the 17th successive Serie A game in which Roma have scored, a run that has yielded 33 goals. • Roma had started their Serie A campaign with a 1-1 home draw against SSC Napoli on 31 August. Aquilani gave Roma the lead but Marek Hamšik equalised and the Giallorossi failed to regain the advantage, despite playing against ten men for the final 37 minutes. • New signing Jérémy Menez made his debut as a second-half substitute against Napoli. • Coppa Italia winners Roma lost 6-5 on penalties to Serie A champions FC Internazionale Milano in the Italian Super Cup on 24 August. In a match in which summer signings John Arne Riise and Baptista made their competitive debuts, De Rossi and Vučinić twice brought the Giallorossi level to force penalties at San Siro, but spot-kick failures from Totti and Juan proved costly. Last updated 14.09.2008 22:41:22CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 AS Roma - CFR 1907 Cluj Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome • Totti, who was introduced as a late substitute against the Nerazzurri, made his first appearance since suffering a knee injury on 19 April. Injury news • Francesco Totti – out 16 April to 24 August (knee) • Rodrigo Taddei – out 2 May to 13 September (thigh) • Simone Perrotta – out since 24 August (achilles) • Mirko Vučinić – out since 10 September (back) • Philippe Mexès – out since 10 September (knee) • Daniele De Rossi – out since 13 September (neck) • Having returned from his knee injury to play as a substitute in the Italian Super Cup against Inter, Totti then missed the Serie A opener against Napoli in order to regain full fitness. "He will play only when he is 100 per cent ready," said Roma doctor Mario Brozzi. "We are not taking any risks with him." Summer transfers •In John Arne Riise (Liverpool FC) Simone Loria (AC Siena) Arthur (AC Siena) Julio Baptista (Real Madrid CF) Jérémy Menez (AS Monaco FC) •Out Matteo Ferrari (Genoa CFC) Ahmed Barusso (AC Siena, loan) Gianluca Curci (AC Siena) Mancini (FC Internazionale Milano) Antunes (US Lecce, loan) Ludovic Giuly (Paris Saint-Germain FC, loan) Alessio Cerci (Atalanta BC, loan) Mauro Esposito (AC Chievo Verona, loan) Marco Andreolli (S.S. Sassuolo, loan) International news • De Rossi played 90 minutes as Italy defeated Cyprus 2-1 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 8 game on 6 September in Larnaca. Marco Cassetti replaced the injured Fabio Grosso after 18 minutes while Alberto Aquilani was an unused substitute. • Four days later, De Rossi was Italy's match-winner, scoring both goals in the 2-0 home defeat of Georgia. Aquilani also started and finished the match but Cassetti remained on the bench. • Riise played 90 minutes for Norway in their 2-2 draw at home against Iceland in Group 9 on 6 September and Mexès was in the France side that lost 3-1 to Austria on the same day, but remained on the bench as Les Bleus overcame Serbia 2-1 at home.