Fink calls for cool heads from Basel

Thorsten Fink has promised a safety-first approach from his FC Basel 1893 team as they bid to engineer a victory against CFR 1907 Cluj which would keep the Swiss club in contention for a place in the UEFA Champions League's last 16. Level on points with their opponents at the foot of section, Basel will be out if they lose, while a draw would spell the end for both teams should AS Roma defeat FC Bayern München in the other Group E fixture.

Thorsten Fink, Basel coach
We want to carry on in Europe and so we have got to win this game. We have seen that Cluj are very well organised and we have got to be patient. They played well against Bayern and had opportunities to score, and we are going to have to prevent them as much as possible from getting chances on the counterattack.

We won't go hell for leather and fall into a trap but will rather start the game calmly and try to score if we can, but we are still going to have to be organised and just play our game. They only need a draw to be ahead of us on head-to-head record, but we also have a chance of going through.

Sorin Cârţu, CFR coach
I'm not thinking of the [2-1] win in the first match. The most important game of the season for us is this one. It's an all-or-nothing game; an in-or-out game you could say. We want to get a positive result, that's all. We haven't had much luck this season and we could have been in a better position had we done so, both in Munich and in Rome.

With a bit more luck in those games we may not have had this pressure here tomorrow, but we know what to expect and that is how we have to approach the game. They have many good players. I could mention Alexander Frei or [Xherdan] Shakiri, but their true strength is more their team, which is a strong unit, and they are very well organised.

Team news
• Basel
Fink confirmed that Scott Chipperfield and Jacques Zoua would play no part because of muscular problems, while Marco Streller is out until the new year with a torn left ankle ligament. Genséric Kusunga has not played since being forced off with a knee tendon problem against AC Bellinzona last month.

• CFR
Gabriel Mureşan has not played since sustaining a right leg injury in September. Yssouf Koné is not in the UEFA Champions League squad having suffered knee ligament damage in August.

Weekend results
20/11/10 Servette FC 1-1 Basel (aet, Basel win 4-3 on penalties)
(De Avezedo 47pen; Chipperfield 18pen)
Holders Basel booked their place in the Swiss Cup quarter-finals with a shoot-out victory at second-tier Servette, Samuel Inkoom scoring the winning penalty.

19/11/10 CFR 1-1 CS Gaz Metan Mediaş
(De Zerbi 1; Eric Pereira 12)
Roberto De Zerbi found the net after 26 seconds, the fastest goal in the Romanian First Division this season. Eric Pereira's equaliser was the first CFR have conceded in the league at the Stadionul Dr Constantin Rădulescu in 287 minutes.

Did you know?
Since winning their first UEFA Champions League group stage match at Roma in September 2008 CFR have recorded seven defeats and one draw on the road. The Romanian titleholders could point to some bad luck on their Matchday 3 visit to Munich, though, Cadú and CFR captain Cristian Panin both scoring own goals in a 3-2 loss.

See the match background for more information.