Visiting Rapid look to turn tables on Legia
Friday, October 21, 2011
Article summary
Legia Warszawa won at FC Rapid Bucureşti on matchday three and now the Romanian club will be eager to get their own back in UEFA Europa League Group C.
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FC Rapid Bucureşti will be eager to turn the tables on Legia Warszawa after the Polish side's 1-0 away win on matchday three in UEFA Europa League Group C.
• Miroslav Radović headed the winner in the 73rd minute to put Legia three points clear of Rapid in second place in the section.
Previous meetings
• Bazil Marian's Rapid beat Tadeusz Chruściński's Legia 4-2 on aggregate in the second round of the 1971/72 UEFA Cup in the sides' only previous UEFA meeting. Rapid won 4-0 at home then lost 2-0 in Warsaw.
• The teams for their encounter in Poland on 3 November 1971 – 40 years to the day before this contest – were:
Legia: Mowlik, Stachurski, Z Blaut, Trzaskowski, Zygmunt, B Blaut, Nowak, Cmikiewicz, Brychczy, Deyna, Cypka.
Rapid: Rică Raducănu, Pop, Lupescu, Codrea, Dinu, Boc, Năsturescu (Rămureanu 46), Ene, Neagu, Dumitru, Codreanu.
• Lucjan Brychczy, now 77, played in both games and is still on the coaching staff at Legia. He is the club's second highest scorer of all time with 182 top-flight goals.
Match background
• Legia's record against Romanian clubs reads W4 D0 L1 (W2 D0 L0 at home). They beat FCM UTA Arad 8-0 at home in the 1969/70 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round to record their second biggest continental victory.
• Rapid's six games against Polish sides – including their previous meetings with Legia – ended W3 D1 L2 (W2 D0 L1 in Poland). They eliminated WKS Śląsk Wroclaw in the play-offs to reach this season's group stage.
• In a run that stretches back to 14 September 2006, Legia have lost only one of their last eight European home fixtures. They are unbeaten in their last five matches at home, though that run of results featured just two wins.
• Back in Europe after a two-season absence, Rapid had not won in four away games (or scored a goal in three) when they beat Śląsk Wrocław in this season's UEFA Europa League play-offs. They followed that up with a 1-0 matchday one win at Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC.
Team facts
• All four of Legia's group stage goals this season have come in the second half, three of them between the 61st and 75th minutes.
• Legia goalkeeper Dušan Kuciak spent the past three seasons in Romania with FC Vaslui; his five games against Rapid ended W2 D2 L1 with Kuciak keeping two clean sheets.
• Legia's Artur Jędrzejczyk turns 23 the day after the game.
• Rapid boss Razvăn Lucescu played in goal for a number of Romanian clubs, including Rapid, and briefly played in Italy for Crema Calcio in 1992/93, while his father Mircea was coaching Serie A side Brescia Calcio. In a previous spell as Rapid coach, he won two Romanian Cups and led them to the 2005/06 UEFA Cup quarter-finals and into the group stage once more the following season. He then coached Romania from 2009 to 2011.
• Legia midfielder Maciej Rybus made his first appearance for Poland in a 1-0 defeat by a Romania side coached by Lucescu in November 2009. Team-mate Michał Żewłakow also featured.
• Legia coach Maciej Skorża had abandoned his playing career as a defender by his early 20s, but became a successful coach with KS Amica Wronki, Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski and Wisła Kraków, where he won two Polish league titles.