AFC Rapid Bucuresti V Stade Rennais FC PRESS KIT
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AFC Rapid Bucuresti v Stade Rennais FC PRESS KIT Giulesti, Bucharest Thursday, 3 November 2005 - 20:00 local time Group G - Matchday 2 Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais FC visit AFC Rapid Bucuresti with both sides looking for their first points in UEFA Cup Group G. The fixture in the Romanian capital is Rapid's first in the section, while the French visitors are determined to impress having lost 2-0 at home to VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 1. •Rennes lost out to a pair of goals in the last three minutes against Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart, and now travel to Bucharest to play a Rapid side who have won all three of their previous home games in this season's UEFA Cup. •The clubs are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition, although Rapid have previously twice been drawn against French clubs. On the first occasion, in 1997, Rapid lost 2-1 at home against Olympique Lyonnais in the group stage of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. •Then in the first round of the 2001/02 UEFA Cup, Rapid were paired with Paris Saint- Germain FC and did well in the first leg at the Parc des Princes, holding the Parisian side to a 0-0 draw. But the return leg was to end in disappointment for the Romanian side. •The tie was still goalless after 90 minutes of the return leg, so moved into extra time. The visitors finally made the breakthrough three minutes into the additional period as Jose Aloisio Da Silva scored the first goal of the contest, which ended prematurely when the floodlights in the Giulesti stadium failed after 113 minutes. PSG were subsequently awarded a 3-0 victory as Rapid did not have emergency lighting, thereby failing to meet UEFA regulations. •Rennes, meanwhile, are coming up against Romanian opposition for the first time. The club made their European debut in 1965/66 but only had two seasons in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - both campaigns ending in first-round defeats - in 31 years before the mid-1990s. They then appeared in the Intertoto Cup in 1996, 1999 - when they reached the final only to lose to Juventus - and 2001. •Rennes began the current campaign - their first in the UEFA Cup - in convincing fashion with a solid victory against Primera División side CA Osasuna. Two goals from Swiss international striker Alexander Frei helped the French side to a 3-1 home win, and a fine defensive display in Pamplona ensured a scoreless draw in the return leg and a place in the group stage. Team facts: Rapid •Rapid are making their ninth appearance in ten seasons of UEFA club competitions having failed to qualify last season. uefa.com 1/15 AFC Rapid Bucuresti v Stade Rennais FC PRESS KIT •Overall, Rapid have participated in 15 seasons of UEFA club competition football having made their first appearance in the first round of the 1967/68 European Champion Clubs’ Cup. •Rapid are one of three Bucharest-based clubs involved in this season’s UEFA Cup group stage – the others being FC Steaua Bucuresti and FC Dinamo Bucuresti. •Rapid ’s participation in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League, their last involvement in European club competitions before this season, was short-lived as they entered and exited the competition at the second qualifying round stage. The Romanian side lost 3-2 on aggregate to Belgian side RSC Anderlecht despite having a two-goal lead at the interval of the second leg in Brussels after the first leg had ended goalless in the Romanian capital. Robert Ilyes (42) and Florin Bratu (45) put the visitors ahead only for Anderlecht to hit back through Nenad Ještrović (50), Pär Zetterberg (52) and Ki Hyeon Seol (75). • Last season, Rapid finished third behind crosscity rivals FC Steaua Bucuresti and FC Dinamo Bucuresti in the Romanian Divizia A. They finished on the same points as fourthplaced FC National Bucuresti but had a better headtohead record in the two matches they played against each other. • They entered the 2005/06 UEFA Cup at the first qualifying round stage of the competition, defeating Andorran side UE Sant Julià 100 on aggregate with Daniel Niculae netting a hattrick in the first leg before Mugurel Buga added four more in the return match at Bucharest’s Giulesti stadium. • FK Vardar provided the opposition in the second qualifying round, but Rapid built the foundations of the win at home in the opening leg thanks to goals from Daniel Niculae (44, 50) and Constantin Maldarasanu (67) in a 30 victory. The return leg ended in a 11 draw with Ciprian Vasilache (59) canceling out Riste Naumov’s 40thminute opener for the Skopjebased club. • Finally, Feyenoord blocked Rapid’s path to the group stage, but the Romanians were not to be denied. Feyenoord, the 2001/02 UEFA Cup winners, went in front in the 40th minute of the opening leg in Rotterdam after a fine strike from their star man, Dirk Kuijt, only to see a 74thminute penalty from Rapid substitute Ciprian Vasilache give the visitors a crucial away goal ahead of the return leg. Mugurel Buga proved Rapid’s hero as he headed the decisive goal after 29 minutes of the second leg in the Romanian capital. • Their best performance in UEFA club competitions to date came in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup when they advanced to the last eight of the competition before losing 81 on aggregate to Leeds United AFC. Earlier in the competition, Rapid had accounted for Landskrona BoIS and SK Rapid Wien. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Rapid had played 60 matches in UEFA club competitions. uefa.com 2/15 AFC Rapid Bucuresti v Stade Rennais FC PRESS KIT Team facts: Rennes • Rennes are involved in UEFA club competition action for the first time since their elimination at the semifinal stage of the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup. • This season marks their sixth participation in UEFA competition following their first appearance in the 1965/66 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup at the preliminary round stage. • Rennes' most recent appearance in UEFA competition came in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup where they entered the competition at the third round stage. The French side defeated 1. FC Synot of the Czech Republic 74 over two legs, winning 50 at home in the opening leg in a match in which Olivier Monterrubio and Frédéric Piquionne both scored twice. Drawn against Aston Villa FC in the semifinals, Rennes won 21 at home with Severino Lucas (19) and Cyril Chapuis (66) on target. However, Darius Vassell's secondhalf stoppage time goal gave Villa hope for the return leg in Birmingham, and the English side recorded the requisite 10 win thanks to Dion Dublin's early goal to advance on away goals. • This season's qualification for the UEFA Cup group stage will mark Rennes best record to date in UEFA club competitions. Their most telling performance until this point came in the 1999 Intertoto Cup, when they reached the final only to lose 42 on aggregate to Juventus FC having earlier defeated SC Austria Lustenau and FK Austria Wien. • Rennes entered the competition following their fourthplaced finish in French Ligue 1 last season. • The French side defeated CA Osasuna 31 on aggregate in the first round of this season's UEFA Cup to book their place in the group stage. Having won the opening leg 31 at home thanks to two goals from Alexander Frei (27, 74) and another from Youssouf Hadji (84), Rennes secured a goalless draw in Spain in the return to qualify. • Late goals from Jon Dahl Tomasson (87) and Danijel Ljuboja (90pen) ensured VfB Stuttgart made a successful start to their 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage campaign with a 20 win at Rennes in France. Rennes paid for missing their best chances in the final ten minutes of the game with two goals in the last three minutes giving Stuttgart victory. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Rennes had played 21 matches in UEFA club competitions with six wins, six draws and nine defeats. To date, the French side have scored 26 goals with 26 also conceded. uefa.com 3/15 AFC Rapid Bucuresti v Stade Rennais FC PRESS KIT All-time statistics Head-to-head record No matches have been played between the two clubs Home team's record versus clubs from the away team's country Date Comp. Stage Match Res Venue 19.07.1997 UIC GS AFC Rapid Bucuresti - Olympique Lyonnais 1-2 Bucharest 18.09.2001 UCUP R1 Paris Saint-Germain FC - AFC Rapid Bucuresti 0-0 Paris 25.09.2001 UCUP R1 AFC Rapid Bucuresti - Paris Saint-Germain FC 0-3 Bucharest Overall record Pld W D L GF GA AFC Rapid Bucuresti 3 0 1 2 1 5 Away team's record versus clubs from the home team's country Away club has never played against clubs of the country of the home team UEFA club competition record AFC Rapid Bucuresti Pld W D L GF GA European Champions Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League 8 1 3 4 9 11 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 12 5 3 4 19 17 UEFA Cup 35 17 6 12 60 35 UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Intertoto Cup 4 2 1 1 8 5 Total 59 25 13 21 96 68 Stade Rennais FC Pld W D L GF GA European Champions Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 4 0 2 2 1 4 UEFA Cup 3 1 1 1 3 3 UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Intertoto Cup 14 5 3 6 22 19 Total 21 6 6 9 26 26 KEY: All-time statistics Comp.