Roma out to stop history repeating itself as CFR return

AS Roma will be determined to stop lightning striking twice when Group E rivals CFR 1907 Cluj visit the Italian capital on Matchday 2.

• CFR stunned the Stadio Olimpico by beating the Giallorossi 2-1 in their first ever outing in the UEFA Champions League in September 2008.

• The Romanian side also enjoyed a winning start to this campaign with a 2-1 home victory against FC Basel 1893 on Matchday 1, only their second win in the competition. Roma, meanwhile, conceded two late goals to lose 2-0 at FC Bayern München.

Previous meetings
• CFR came from behind to win when the clubs met on Matchday 1 of the 2008/09 group stage. Christian Panucci (17) put the hosts in front but Juan Culio's double (27, 49) earned CFR the sole victory of their debut campaign.

• The lineups for that fixture on 16 September 2008 were:
Roma: Doni, Cicinho, Cassetti, Panucci (Loria 47), Riise (Totti 52), De Rossi, Aquilani, Taddei (Montella 77), Júlio Baptista, Tonetto, Vučinić.
CFR: Stancioiu, Tony, Cadu, Viera, Pereira, Dani, Muresan, Dubarbier (Panin 89), Trica (Peralta 67), Culio, Koné.

• Roma gained revenge with a 3-1 win in Romania on 26 November 2008. Matteo Brighi (11) and Francesco Totti (23) struck early goals and although Yssouf Koné (30) halved the deficit, Brighi (64) made sure with his second of the night.

• The identity of the two coaches has changed since with Luciano Spalletti then in the Roma dugout and Maurizio Trombetta at CFR.

Match background
• Roma recorded five straight home victories in last season's UEFA Europa League up to the round of 32 when they lost 3-2 in each leg against Panathinaikos FC.

• Roma have only faced Romanian opposition on one other occasion, meeting FC Steaua Bucureşti in the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round. Francesco Graziani's 73rd-minute strike in the first leg in Rome was the only goal of the tie.

• CFR's September 2008 victory in Rome remains their only away success in UEFA competition, aside from the UEFA Intertoto Cup. They lost their remaining two away games in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League and on the road in last term's UEFA Europa League recorded one draw and three defeats.

Team ties
• Roma coach Claudio Ranieri guided ACF Fiorentina to a 2-1 aggregate victory against ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, winning the second leg in Italy 1-0.

• In the 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round, he steered Valencia CF to home and away wins against Steaua, 4-3 in Romania and 3-0 in Spain. In his second spell at Valencia, Ranieri suffered UEFA Cup elimination at the hands of Steaua in 2004/05. Although Valencia, then holders, won the first leg of their round of 32 tie 2-0, they lost by the same score in Bucharest and went out 4-3 on penalties.

• CFR's squad includes the Italian trio of Felice Piccolo – who played for S.S. Lazio in 2005/06 – Roberto De Zerbi and Ferdinando Sforzini. Saša Bjelanović spent eight seasons in Italy before joining CFR this summer.

• Totti scored for Italy in a 2-0 quarter-final win against Romania at UEFA EURO 2000.

• Roma's Romanian international goalkeeper Bogdan Lobonţ played for FC Rapid Bucureşti and FC Dinamo Bucureşti in his homeland.

• Guillermo Burdisso began his career at the same club in Argentina, CA Rosario Central, as CFR midfielder Tomás Costa. Costa had already left for FC Porto when Burdisso made his senior debut in 2008/09.