FC Steaua Bucuresti v RC Lens PRESS KIT Ghencea, Bucharest Thursday, 20 October 2005 - 20:00 local time Group C - Matchday 1 FC Steaua Bucuresti, a team overcoming an unsuccessful attempt at qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League will face a team coming from the opposite spectrum of UEFA club competition on the opening matchday of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. For RC Lens, this will be their eleventh match in European action this season as the French side advanced from the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round, which started in the first weekend in July, to play in the UEFA Cup group stage for the first time. Steaua key facts •Prior to Matchday 1 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Steaua had played 178 matches in UEFA club competition. PFC CSKA Sofia have also played 178 matches, but both clubs trail FK Crvena Zvezda who have played 222 matches in UEFA club competition, the highest amount of matches played by any club participating in this season’s UEFA Cup group stage. •This is Steaua’s third consecutive appearance in UEFA club competition. •They are one of ten clubs featuring in the UEFA Cup group stage for the second consecutive season. The full list is: Steaua, Middlesbrough FC, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, AZ Alkmaar, FC Basel 1893, SC Heerenveen, VfB Stuttgart, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Beşiktaş JK and Sevilla FC. • This is their 20th appearance in UEFA club competition in the past 22 seasons having missed out in 2000/01 and 2002/03. • It is also their 36th overall appearance in UEFA club competition since debuting as CCA Bucuresti in the first round of the 1957/58 European Champion Clubs' Cup. • Steaua are one of three Bucharest­based clubs involved in this season’s UEFA Cup group stage – the others being FC Dinamo Bucuresti and AFC Rapid Bucuresti. • Having won last season’s Romanian Divizia A by a point from cross­city rivals FC Dinamo Bucuresti, Steaua took their place in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round where they overcame Dublin­based Shelbourne FC 4­1 on aggregate. All of the goals came in the second leg in the Romanian capital which also witnessed three red cards being issued. Steaua broke the deadlock after 18 minutes through Banel Nicolita before adding a second nine minutes later from Constantin Iacob. Although Jason Byrne reduced the deficit after 38 minutes, second­half substitute Laurentiu Dinita put the game beyond the Irish side after 61 minutes before he was sent off in the last minute. With nine playing ten, Steaua still added to their tally as Daniel Oprita scored from the penalty spot four minutes into stoppage time. uefa.com 1/15 FC Steaua Bucuresti v RC Lens PRESS KIT • Next up were Norway’s champions, Rosenborg BK, in the third qualifying round. The two sides shared a 1­1 draw in Bucharest with Constantin Iacob putting the home side ahead after 30 minutes only for Norwegian international striker Thorstein Helstad to equalise five minutes from time. Rosenborg took control in the return leg in Trondheim as they raced to a three­goal lead thanks to the efforts of Jan Gunnar Solli (38), Alexander Ødegaard (57) and the misfortune of Mirel Radoi (60) who put through his own net. But Radoi (74) atoned for his error and when Iacob (76) added a second for the visitors, Rosenborg had to dig deep to keep the hopes of taking a group stage berth alive. But deep they dug to advance to the group stage while Steaua consoled themselves with a place in the UEFA Cup first round. • Steaua faced Norwegian opposition once more as Vålerenga IF, the team that had finished second on goal difference to Rosenborg in the 2004 Tippeligaen, attempted to block their passage to the group stage. The Romanian side returned to Norway for the first leg and effectively put the tie beyond doubt with a 3­0 win thanks to goals from Mirel Radoi (24), Constantin Iacob (35) and Dorin Goian (74). The return leg was equally one­sided as Steaua once more scored three through Nicolae Dica (30), Gabriel Bostina (41) and Iacob (48) before Vålerenga grabbed a consolation goal from Bernt Hulsker (55). • Steaua also featured in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, advancing past the group stage before being eliminated in the Round of 16 by Villarreal CF 2­0 on aggregate. • The Romanian side’s greatest moment to date in UEFA club competition came on 7 May 1986 when they defeated FC Barcelona 2­0 on penalties after the sides remained scoreless during 120 minutes of the 1985/86 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final. For the record, Marius Lacatus and Gavril Pelé Balint were the only scorers in the shoot­ out. • They would qualify once more for the final three years later but found AC Milan too strong as they were on the receiving end of a 4­0 defeat at Barcelona’s Camp Nou. • Steaua have endured a difficult time against French sides in UEFA club competition with four wins, one draw and nine defeats in 14 games. The only tie to date which the Romanian side won came in their last meeting with a French team as they won on away goals against SC Bastia in the second round of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup after they shared six goals. It was also a season in which Steaua were denied qualification for the UEFA Champions League by another French side, Paris Saint­Germain FC. PSG overcame a 3­0 forfeit in the opening leg to run out 5­0 winners in Paris in the return, with Rai grabbing a hat­trick. Lens key facts • Prior to Matchday 1 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Lens had played 70 matches in UEFA club competition. • Lens are making their seventh appearance in UEFA club competition in the last ten seasons. uefa.com 2/15 FC Steaua Bucuresti v RC Lens PRESS KIT • Overall it is their 12th appearance in UEFA club competition since debuting in the first round of the 1975/76 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. • Lens entered the UEFA Intertoto Cup at the second round stage following their seventh­place finish in last season’s Ligue 1, meaning that they have participated in ten UEFA club competition matches to advance to the group stage of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup. • Their European adventure began on 3 July 2005 at home to Polish side Lech Poznan and culminated in a 2­1 victory thanks to goals from Brazilian striker Jussie (19) and Nicolas Gillet (44). The former scored the only goal of the return leg after eleven minutes to set up a tie against NK Varteks which Lens won 5­2 on aggregate. The French side then defeated German rivals VfL Wolfsburg 4­0 on aggregate with all the goals coming at home in the second leg when Aruna Dindane (42), Seydou Keita (48) and Issam Jemaa (89, 90) were on target. The result gave Lens their third successive home victory in the competition, a sequence they would extend against Romanian side CFR Cluj in the final. • Lens' first meeting against Romanian opposition in UEFA club competition ended in a 1­1 draw. Yoann Lachor put the French side ahead after 24 minutes at the Ion Moina stadium in Cluj before the home side equalised through Cristian Turcu in the 57th minute. But Lens were not to be denied and took a three­goal lead in the return leg with goals from Vitorino Hilton (38), Adama Coulibaly (76) and Daniel Cousin (78pen). Cluj’s consolation came from Dorinel Munteanu two minutes from time as Lens booked their spot in the first round of the UEFA Cup by winning 4­2 on aggregate. • A UEFA Cup first­round tie against Polish side Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski saw Lens surrender their 100 per cent record at home in European action this season. Hilton gave the home side the lead after 13 minutes, but within a minute the visitors were level when Lachor put through his own net. But Lens have shown an ability to get among the goals this season and added four more in Poland to take their tally to 21 from ten outings and book their place in the group stage of the competition. Groclin offered little in terms of resistance for the opening 57 minutes as Lens built a three­goal cushion thanks to goals from Daniel Cousin (23, 54) and Aruna Dindane (30). The Polish side then contested the remainder of the match thanks to goals from Lumír Cedlácek (57) and Radim Sablik (78), only for Lens to score one minute into stoppage time through Lachor. • Previously, Lens featured in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup where they overcame FC Torpedo Kutaisi and FK Cementarnica 55 before losing 6­1 on aggregate to Turkish side Gaziantepspor in the second round of the competition. • Although they featured in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League on two occasions, namely during the 1998/99 and 2002/03 seasons, Lens’ most exciting venture in UEFA club competition came in the 1999/00 season when they advanced to the UEFA Cup semi­finals. Having defeated Maccabi Tel­Aviv FC, SBV Vitesse, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Club Atlético de Madrid and RC Celta de Vigo, Lens fell at the last hurdle to their first appearance in a UEFA club competition final to Arsenal FC. The London club won 3­1 on aggregate by winning both legs with Lens’ consolation coming uefa.com 3/15 FC Steaua Bucuresti v RC Lens PRESS KIT in the second leg at home from Pascal Nouma (72).