Lennon wary of ‘miracle’ men
● Celtic manager dismisses Petrescu claims that Cluj are huge underdogs
Neil Lennon has dismissed claims by C FR Cluj that it would take a “miracle” for the Romanian champions to knock Celtic out of the Champions League.
Cluj coach Dan Pet re s cu claimed his side would be at a major financial disadvantage when they come up against their Scottish counterparts in the third qualifying round, the first leg of which takes place in Transylvania tonight.
The former Chelsea player believes his side upset the odds against Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the opening two round sand will need to punch above their financial weight again.
However, Celtic manager Lennon told a media conference in Romania: “I don’t really buy into Dan’s comments that it would be a miracle. I don’t know the budgets of both teams, but I do know it will be competitive.”
Lennon, who has seen rightback Hatem Abd Elhamed shake off the dead leg he suffered in Saturday’ s 7-0 thrashing of St John stone, added: “We have got a bit of momentum, we had a great result at the weekend.
“All that will give us is a bit of impetus going into the weekend. It will have no real relevance on Wednesday night, but psychologically it’s good for the players to have a win and a performance like that going into such an important game.
“This is a totally different animal. This is Europe, away from home, against the Romanian champions. We are very motivated, obviously, but we are very wary and respectful of the opposition. We come here in good form, Cluj are in good form, so I think the tie is pretty even.”
Pet re sc uh as had success against Scottish opposition before, guiding Unirea Urziceni to a 4-1 Champions League win over Rangers at Ibrox in 2009 after outfoxing Walter Smith.
The 51- year-old has since managed in Russia, Qatar, China and the United Arab Emirates.
Lennon said :“He’ s had a very varied career as a coach. I remember him when he was a player in the Premier League, I played against him when he was at Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday, a very intelligent player and he’s a very exp erienced coach. So wear every respectful of Dan.”
Pet re scu’ sp referred style of play is direct and Lennon admits they will need to stand up to the pressure.
“They cross the ball early, I think they will be a threat at set plays as well,” Lennon said. “We have to be mentally strong and have good concentration.”
Goalkeeper Scott Bain is expecting to be tested by the home side’s tactics. “It’s going to be a real difficult game ,” Ba in said .“From watching them, they look strong and powerful. They like to work hard and put pressure on teams and put balls in the box.
“We need to be really strong defensively and work hard for each other, and every man on the pitch needs to work extremely hard to get anything from the game.”
Until the interv enti on of businessman Marian Bagacean in February 2017, the fall of CFR Cluj threatened to be even more spectacular than their remarkable rise to prominence on the European football stage.
Having emerged from obscurity to mix it with the Champions League elite three times from 2008 to 2012 – their group stage appearances included a shock victory over Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at Old Trafford – Cluj joined a raft of Romanian clubs forced to file for insolvency.
A 24- point deduction from the Romanian FA for failure to pay several players threatened Cluj with relegation and potential oblivion. It was staved off by a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and under financial services guru Bagacean, who purchased a majority stake in Cluj, they have re-established
themselves as the country’ s leading side.
They are now seeking a return to the Champions League group stage for the first time in seven years at Celtic’s expense, their path through the qualifiers guided by manager and national hero Dan Petrescu.
The former Chelsea defender has past experience of the highs and lows which can befall Romanian clubs with ambitious owners who overstretch financially in a bid to dine at Europe’s top table.
Pet re scuw as previously in charge of Unirea Urziceni, an even more unheralded outfit, when they reached the Champions League group stage in 2008 and enjoyed stunning victories over both Rangers, beating Walter Smith’s men 4-1 at Ibrox, and Sevilla.
Uni rea’ s flame burned brightly but briefly. They were unable to recover from their own financial collapse two years later and the club was dissolved completely the following year.
Petrescu has continued his own peripatetic managerial career which has now seen service in Poland, Russia, Qatar, China and the United Arab Emirates.
The 51-year-old took charge of Cluj in the summer of 2017, shortly after Bagacean’s takeover of the club, and guided them to the Liga 1 title at the first attempt. Petrescu left Cluj in June last year, tempted by the riches of the Chinese Sup er League at Guizhou Hengfeng, only to return once more in March this year.
He steered Cluj to the retention of their domestic crown, finishing two points clear of Steaua Bucharest. The onus is now on Petrescu to hit the jackpot in the Champions League as Cluj continue to address underlying financial issues.
This summer they reached a settlement with Uefa’s Independent Club Financial Control Body, having earlier been found in breach of Financial Fair Play break-even regu lations. Fined €200,000, which will be withheld from their Uefa prize money this season, Cluj must prove compliance with break-even rules by the end of this season. They have also been restricted to registering a squad of 23 players in Europe this season, rather than the full complement of 25.
It hasn’t had an adverse effect on Pet re scu’ s sides of ar.Theyh ave
enjoyed tense but merited 3-2 aggregate wins in both of their Champi - ons League qualifiers so far, beating Kazakh champions Astana and then Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel. They are unbeaten and joint top of Liga 1, which is four games into the new season already, so match sharpness won’t be an issue against Celtic. While Cluj boast no household names in Euro - pean football terms, they pose a threat to Neil Lennon’s men through players such as former Marseille striker Billel Omrani who grabbed a hat-trick against Astana and was also on target against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Romanian international winger Ciprian Deac, pictured left, who scored twice as Cluj came from behind to win 4-1 at Chindia Targoviste on Saturday, had a spell in the Bundesliga with Schalke 04 and is another one to watch from the Scottish champions’ perspective.
“We believe we can overcome Celtic and get to the play-off round against Slavia Prague,” said 33-year-old Deac.
“It’s not easy to reach the group stage – we have already beaten two difficult opponents in the previous rounds and we know Celtic are favourites in this one. But we do not go into it thinking we have no chance. We have shown we
“It’s not easy to reach the group stage – we have already beaten two difficult opponents in the previous rounds and we know Celtic are favourites in this one. But we do not go into it thinking we have no chance. We have shown we can get past anyone” CIPRIAN DEAC
can get past anyone. If we play our best on Wednesday, we will get a positive result. It is important to play our own style against Celtic, not to concede at home and then we will see in Scotland next week how it will be.”
Having been absent from European competition for four years following their insolvency, Cluj suffered an embarrassing 5-2 aggregate defeat against Dudelange of Luxembourg in the Europa League play-off round when they made their return last season. They appear better equipped this time around and midfielder Mihai Bordeianu believes they can defy their critics in Romania who questioned their ability to return to the Champions League group stage.
“Many were skeptical about us, but we saw ourselves doing the job this season ,” said the 27- year-old .“We believe in ourselves and believe we are on our way. We will have to play better against Celtic than we did against Astana and Maccabi. We have to play with a different pace against Celtic who are more aggressive and have a game based on strength. The difficult work begins now in the Champions League for us – we have taken two important steps, but the road is still long.”