Basel seek Steaua boost

FC Basel 1893 lost 1-0 to FC Schalke 04 in their last home fixture in Group E and will be looking for a better result when they play host to FC Steaua Bucureşti, with whom they drew 1-1 on matchday three.

• The Schalke defeat meant that Basel could not build on their surprise 2-1 matchday one victory at Chelsea FC while Steaua lost both opening fixtures, conceding seven goals. The matchday three point at least got them off the mark, although the Romanian champions trail third-placed Basel by three points.

Previous meetings
• This is the fourth successive season that Basel have been paired with Romanian opponents.

• In the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-off they lost 2-1 at home to CFR 1907 Cluj and with a 1-0 defeat in the away leg a week later – Pantelis Kapetanos scoring the only goal – it meant they missed out on a place in the group stage. They faced the same team in the 2010/11 group stage, losing 2-1 away and winning 1-0 at home.

• Basel fared better in 2011/12 when they were paired with FC Oţelul Galaţi in the group stage, winning 2-1 at home and 3-2 in Bucharest.

• Steaua drew on their first two visits to Switzerland, losing on their last two trips.

• Their last encounter was the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-off with Grasshopper Club. Both legs ended 1-0 to the home team with Steaua going through 4-3 on penalties. Ciprian Tătărușanu was the hero, saving two penalty kicks. Kay Voser and Endogan Adili were in the Grasshoppers team.

• After a 2-1 away loss against FC St Gallen in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup first round their aggregate defeat was confirmed in a 1-1 draw in Bucharest.

• The away draws came with resounding home wins which enabled Steaua to go through 8-2 on aggregate against BSC Young Boys in the 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup first round and 5-2 against Servette FC in the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League qualifying round.

Match background
• Basel won both their home games to reach the group stage for the fifth time, defeating Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC 1-0 in the third qualifying round (4-3 on aggregate) and PFC Ludogorets Razgrad 2-0 in the play-offs (6-2 on aggregate).

• Last season Basel narrowly failed to become the first Swiss side to make it to the final of a major UEFA club tournament, losing 5-2 on aggregate to Chelsea in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. The 2-1 first-leg reverse ended a six-game unbeaten home run in Europe.

• Two years ago Basel, apart from the win over Oţelul, also beat Manchester United FC 2-1 and lost 2-0 against SL Benfica at St. Jakob-Park.

• Steaua are the only Romanian club to have triumphed in Europe, winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1985/86 by defeating FC Barcelona in a penalty shoot-out.

• In their first participation in the group stage since 2008/09, the Bucharest club have won just four of their 39 group matches over seven campaigns. Their last victory came at FC Dynamo Kyiv on 13 September 2006, since when they have recorded 15 defeats and five draws.

• Their away form served Laurenţiu Reghecampf's team well in the qualifying rounds, a 2-2 draw at Legia Warszawa taking them through the play-offs on away goals after a 1-1 home draw.

• In the third qualifying round teenager Gabriel Iancu scored twice to earn the Romanian champions a 2-0 win at FC Dinamo Tbilisi, a 1-1 draw at the Arena Națională ensuring their passage. They beat FK Vardar 2-1 away in the second qualifying round and went through 5-1 overall.

Team ties
• Basel vice president Adrian Knup, who played for VfB Stuttgart, scored twice in Switzerland's 4-1 win against Romania in Detroit on 22 June in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

• Marco Streller scored twice in Stuttgart's 4-2 win against Reghecampf's Alemannia Aachen on 4 November 2006.

• The pair faced each other once more on 31 March 2007 when Streller scored again in Stuttgart's 3-1 win.

• Both coaches spent time as players in the Bundesliga; Reghecampf had nine years there and Murat Yakin two. For both, their last German club was 1. FC Kaiserslautern: Yakin in the second half of 2000/01 and Reghecampf in 2008/09.

• Romania and Switzerland last met on 30 May 2012 for a friendly international in Luzern with Romania winning 1-0. Alexandru Bourceanu, Alexandru Chipciu and Cristian Tănase featured for the visitors while the hosts included Yann Sommer and Valentin Stocker.

• Daniel Georgievski's Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were 2-0 winners in a Skopje friendly against Ivan Ivanov's Bulgaria on 14 August 2013.