Cluj surprise serves warning to Chelsea

CFR 1907 Cluj have already registered what seems sure to be remembered as one of the surprise results of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League and the debutants' 2-1 victory at AS Roma in Group A will have served as a warning to their next opponents, Chelsea FC, of the capabilities of the Romanian champions.

• For CFR and their new Italian coach Maurizio Trombetta it was certainly a night to savour in Rome on Matchday 1 as they recovered from conceding an early goal to Christian Panucci in the 17th minute to stun the home crowd with the force of their comeback. Argentinian midfielder Juan Culio equalised on 27 minutes before volleying the winner early in the second half. With only a UEFA Intertoto Cup final and a UEFA Cup second qualifying round appearance to their name in Europe previously, it was an outcome few had predicted.

• So limited is their experience against teams from outside Romania that this will be CFR's first competitive fixture against English opposition. Indeed they have never before met a side from the British Isles. Similarly, this is the first occasion Chelsea have tackled Romanian opponents.

• The London club made their customary assured return to Europe's premier club stage with a 4-0 defeat of FC Girondins de Bordeaux at Stamford Bridge on 16 September. It was the fifth time in their seven UEFA Champions League campaigns that last season's runners-up have made a winning start.

• In Luiz Felipe Scolari's introduction to the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea gave early notice of their intention to go a long way in the tournament again as Frank Lampard headed them into a 14th-minute lead. It was his fifth goal in seven appearances as he had also found the net in three successive knockout round ties last term and again in the Moscow final in which Chelsea lost to their Premier League rivals Manchester United FC on penalties.

• Joe Cole added a second goal to put the hosts well in front at the break. They could afford to relax after that and Scolari took the opportunity to give Deco a breather as Michael Ballack returned to action after a foot injury. Inside the last ten minutes Florent Malouda added a third and there was still time for Nicolas Anelka to make it 4-0.

• Disregarding the final penalty shoot-out defeat, Chelsea went through 2007/08 with only one loss, going down 2-1 at Fenerbahçe SK in the quarter-final first leg. Chelsea won two of their away games in the group stage – at Valencia CF (2-1) and Rosenborg BK (4-0) – with the other match, at FC Schalke 04, ending 0-0. That was also the outcome when they faced Olympiacos CFP in the away leg of the first knockout round tie while the semi-final away leg against Liverpool FC, as well as the final in Moscow, finished 1-1.

• CFR midfielder Emmanuel Koné is an international team-mate of Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou with the Ivory Coast.

• Bordeaux and Roma meet in the group's other fixture on Matchday 2.