Twente counting on success against Steaua

FC Steaua Bucureşti are out of the running for the UEFA Europa League round of 32, but they could take one-time Group H pacesetters FC Twente down with them if they manage to win or draw on Matchday 6.

• Twente need a victory to be sure of qualifying as they would bow out with a draw if FC Sheriff triumph at section winners Fenerbahçe SK, their Moldovan rivals crucially enjoying a superior head-to-head record.

Previous meetings
• The sides drew 0-0 on Matchday 2 in Twente's first game against a Romanian side. Steaua have lost two of their three home contests with Dutch opponents, winning the other.

Match background
• Twente reached the first knockout round in their only UEFA Cup group stage campaign last season, losing 7-6 on penalties to Olympique de Marseille after trading 1-0 home defeats. Steaua competed successfully in two UEFA Cup group-stage competitions, reaching the round of 16 in 2004/05 and then making it to the semi-finals the following year, when they lost out to Steve McClaren's Middlesbrough FC.

• Steaua have not won in eleven UEFA club competition group-stage home games since beating Halmstads BK 3-0 in a UEFA Cup tie on 30 November 2005. They have not scored at home in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Twente have won just two of their last 13 European away games, but beat major European sides on both occasions – Marseille and, most recently, Fenerbahçe on Matchday 1.

Team facts
• Once Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United FC, McClaren's reputation was undermined by a disappointing spell as England manager when his team missed out on UEFA EURO 2008™. However, he demonstrated his coaching acumen when Twente finished second in the Eredivisie last season, his first in the Netherlands.

• McClaren faced Cosmin Olăroiu's Steaua with Middlesbrough in the semi-finals of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup. Boro lost 1-0 in Bucharest and were then trailing 2-0 at home in the return leg before recovering to win the match 4-2. Sorin Ghionea, Petre Marin, Bănel Nicoliţă and Eugen Baciu were involved in that match for Steaua.

• Mihai Neşu, who also played in the second leg of that game for Steaua, now plays in the Netherlands with FC Utrecht.

• Steaua became the first club to dismiss their coach after the start of the group stage, sacking Italian Cristiano Bergodi on the night of their 0-0 draw with Sheriff.

• His replacement, Mihai Stoichiţă, has returned to the side he led to the 1997/98 Romanian title. He has also coached PFC Litex Lovech, Panama, Armenia, Kuwait and most recently AEL Limassol FC in Cyprus. He said: "You can't say no to a team like Steaua. You can always negotiate a contract later: you just jump in and start working."

• Steaua midfielder Andrei Ionescu has prior experience of Dutch football, having played for PSV Eindhoven's reserves before returning home to join FC Universitatea Craiova in 2005.