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.
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.
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.
Rapid Bucureşti coach is Razvan Lucescu, ex-Romania manager. His ambition is to reach the EUROPA LEAGUE Final.