UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2012/13 SEASON MATCH PRESS KIT SC Braga CFR 1907 Cluj Group H - Matchday 1 Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Wednesday 19 September 2012 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Contents Previous meetings.............................................................................................................2 Match background.............................................................................................................3 Match facts........................................................................................................................4 Squad list...........................................................................................................................6 Head coach.......................................................................................................................8 Match officials....................................................................................................................9 Fixtures and results.........................................................................................................10 Match-by-match lineups..................................................................................................12 Group Standings.............................................................................................................14 Competition facts.............................................................................................................16 Team facts.......................................................................................................................17 Legend............................................................................................................................19 SC Braga - CFR 1907 Cluj Wednesday 19 September 2012 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Previous meetings Head to Head None SC Braga - Record versus clubs from opponents' country None CFR 1907 Cluj - Record versus clubs from opponents' country None Last updated 18/09/12 9:55:51CET 2 Previous meetings SC Braga - CFR 1907 Cluj Wednesday 19 September 2012 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Match background SC Braga begin their second UEFA Champions League campaign with a Group H home fixture against CFR 1907 Cluj. • This is Braga's first meeting with a Romanian club and likewise CFR's first with Portuguese opposition but the ties between the two sides should ensure few surprises – Ioan Andone's CFR squad includes six Portuguese players and three Braga old boys. Match background • Braga will hope to avoid the kind of false start they suffered on their debut UEFA Champions League campaign in 2010/11, when they lost 6-0 at Arsenal FC and 3-0 at home to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their first two fixtures. They recovered to finish third in their section – winning their two remaining home games – and went on to reach the final of that season's UEFA Europa League. • Third in Portugal last term, José Peseiro's team reached the group stage by beating Udinese Calcio on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw in the play-offs. Including their 1-1 first-leg draw with Udinese they have won just two of their last six home fixtures in UEFA competition. • For Romanian title holders CFR this is a third UEFA Champions League campaign in five seasons, after appearances in 2008/09 and 2010/11. In both instances they finished bottom of their group with four points. • After winning their first UEFA Champions League away fixture at AS Roma in 2008/09, CFR lost the following five. However, they can take confidence from their two away successes in this season's qualifying rounds – winning 2-1 at both FC Slovan Liberec and FC Basel 1893. The latter was the first victory by a Romanian club in Switzerland. Team ties • Peseiro was in charge of FC Rapid Bucureşti between July 2008 and January 2009, working with Vasile Maftei. He earned a 1-0 home win against CFR in his third league match as Rapid coach. • Beto spent 2011/12 on loan at CFR from FC Porto, making 27 league appearances and winning the Romanian title. His successor at CFR, Mário Felgueiras, was Braga's reserve goalkeeper in 2008/09, playing once alongside Alan as a substitute in a league fixture against Porto. In between loan spells elsewhere, Felgueiras started Braga's two UEFA Champions League qualifying ties against Celtic FC in 2010/11. • Felgueiras was Sporting Clube de Portugal's third-choice goalkeeper under Peseiro in 2004/05, sharing a dressing room with Custódio and Hugo Viana. He also played with Nuno André Coelho at Portimonense SC in 2007/08 and with Hélder Barbosa in the Portugal team that won the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. • Diogo Valente made eight league appearances for Braga in 2009/10. He played with Alan at Porto in 2006/07. • CFR's other Braga old boy is Rafael Bastos, who made eight league outings in 2009/10. • CFR's connections with Braga extend to their recent coaches. António 'Toni' Conceição, a former Braga player and assistant coach, held the CFR reins between April and November 2009 and won the Romanian Cup. Jorge Costa, Braga coach in 2007, was in charge at the Cluj-Napoca club for most of last season. • Cadú was sent off playing for Boavista FC against Braga in a 0-0 home draw in 2005/06. • Ivo Pinto played with Hélder Barbosa on loan at Vitória FC in 2009/10. He was once a colleague of Cristiano Pereira in Portugal's U21 team. • Five other CFR squad members have played in Portugal: Camora, Rui Pedro, Nicolas Godemèche, László Sepsi and Modou Sougou, taking the total to ten. • Braga's assistant coach Fernando Couto helped Portugal beat Romania 1-0 in the UEFA EURO 2000 group stage. • Quim was in the SL Benfica side that eliminated FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the UEFA Cup round of 32 in 2006/07. Last updated 18/09/12 9:55:51CET 3 Match background SC Braga - CFR 1907 Cluj Wednesday 19 September 2012 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Match facts Braga UEFA Champions League statistics • Braga have lost just one of their six home games in the UEFA Champions League, qualifying included – going down 3-0 to FC Shakhtar Donetsk two years ago. They have drawn once and claimed wins against Arsenal FC, FK Partizan, Sevilla FC and Celtic FC. International duty • Braga had a club record six players in the Portugal squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan: Beto, Nuno André Coelho, Custódio, Rúben Micael, Ruben Amorim and Éder. • Éder made his international debut on 11 September as a late substitute in the 3-0 win against Azerbaijan at Braga's Estádio Municipal. • Djamal (Libya), Elderson (Nigeria) and José Luis (Cape Verde) were also on senior international duty, while Cristiano was in action for Portugal Under-21s. Summer transfers • In Beto (CFR 1907 Cluj) Cristiano (Valencia CF) Ismaily (SC Olhanense) Éder (A. Académica de Coimbra) Rúben Micael (Club Atlético de Madrid, loan) Michel (SL Benfica, loan) • Out Tommaso Berni (UC Sampdoria) Emmanuel Imourou (Clermont Foot Auvergne 63) Ewerton (FC Anzhi Makhachkala) Nuno Gomes (Blackburn Rovers FC) Rodrigo Galo (A. Académica de Coimbra, loan) Vinicius (Moreirense FC, loan) Pizzi (RC Deportivo La Coruña, loan) Miscellaneous • None CFR Cluj UEFA Champions League statistics • Vasile Maftei serves a one-game ban on matchday one but Felice Piccolo is available after completing his three-match suspension. • This will be coach Ioan Andone's first group stage match in charge. International duty • Matías Aguirregaray was the only CFR player called up for international duty at the start of the month but he did not feature in Uruguay's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Ecuador. Summer transfers • In Mário Felgueiras (SC Braga) Ivo Pinto (UD Leiria, loan) László Sepsi (FCM Târgu Mureş) Diogo Valente (A. Académica de Coimbra) Matías Aguirregaray (CA Peñarol) Saša Bjelanović (Hellas Verona FC) Luís Alberto (SC Braga) Solomon Enow (Parma FC, loan)* Adam Vass (Brescia Calcio)* Ciprian Deac (FC Schalke 04)* Last updated 18/09/12 9:55:51CET 4 Match facts SC Braga - CFR 1907 Cluj Wednesday 19 September 2012 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Jorge Martínez (Juventus, loan)* Matteo Lignani (AS Livorno Calcio)* Adofo Godfred (Parma FC)* *not in UEFA Champions League squad • Out Renan (UC Sampdoria) Beto (SC Braga) Sixto Peralta (CD Universidad Católica) Paul Stefan Batin (FC Braşov) Roberto De Zerbi (released) Edimar (Rio Ave FC, loan) Lionn (Rio Ave FC, loan) Miscellaneous • CFR lost to Romanian Cup holders FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the Super Cup on 14 July, succumbing 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. • Deac (knee ligaments), Vass (broken foot), Bakary Sare (broken leg) and Ronny (ligaments) have all been left out of CFR's UEFA Champions League squad after picking up major injuries in the opening month of the season. Last updated 18/09/12 9:55:51CET 5 Match facts SC Braga - CFR 1907 Cluj Wednesday 19 September 2012 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Squad list SC Braga Current season All-time QUAL UCL League UCL UEFA No. Player Nat. DoB Age D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Quim POR 13/11/75 36 - - - - - 1 - 15 - 50 - 23 Cristiano POR 29/11/90 21 - - - - - - - - - - - 33 Beto POR 01/05/82 30 - 2 - - - 2 - 1 - 4 - 71 Bruno Martins POR 11/12/93 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 72 Tiago Sá POR 11/01/95 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 81 Pedro