We have reached the second qualifying round of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, with all of the matches to be played this week.
The ties will be one off games and on Wednesday the 26th of August we have a match between CFR Cluj of Romania and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia. The game will be played at the Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, home of CFR Cluj.
The hosts come into this match having defeated Floriana 2-0 away from home in the first qualifying round of the Champions League this season. With the score 0-0 at half time, CFR Cluj scored the first goal of the game after 53 minutes and secured the victory with a second goal in the 90th minute.
The current Romanian champions started their new domestic campaign on the weekend and picked up a 2-1 victory at Academica Clinceni.
Last season, CFR Cluj fell out of the Champions League at the play off stage, losing 2-0 to Slavia Prague on aggregate. However, the 1-0 defeat in the home leg of that tie is their only loss in their last 4 Champions League matches at the Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu. Last year, they defeated Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv at home in the competition plus held Scottish champions Celtic to a 1-1 draw.
Trends show CFR Cluj's most recent Champions League games have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals in their last 3 matches.
Dinamo Zagreb will enter the Champions League qualifying rounds for the first time this season at this stage of the competition. However, they have made a strong start to the defence of their domestic title having one each of their two league games. The first was a comprehensive 6-0 home victory against local rivals Lokomotiva Zagreb followed by a 1-0 win at Istra 1961.
Last season, Dinamo Zagreb qualified for the group stages of the Champions League. They were drawn in a group with Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk and Atalanta. Despite finishing bottom of the group, Dinamo Zagreb were only 2 adrift of second place Atalanta, who went on to reach the quarter-final of the competition.
Trend show Dinamo Zagreb have won just 1 of their 7 most recent Champions League clashes but 6 of those games came in the group stage last season. In addition, Dinamo Zagreb are undefeated in 7 of their last 9 away Champions League matches.
Team news and CFR Cluj should be at full strength for this game as they have no injury or suspension concerns.
Dinamo Zagreb are in the same position as the hosts and should be able to select their first choice starting XI.
2. pretkolo #UCLCFR Cluj vs Dinamo 💪🏻😎⏰ Srijeda, 26.8. 20:00h CET🏟 Dr. Constantin Radulescu, Cluj, Rumunjska#dinamozagreb pic.twitter.com/iFWuK7BhXt— GNK Dinamo (@gnkdinamo) August 19, 2020
2. pretkolo #UCLCFR Cluj vs Dinamo 💪🏻😎⏰ Srijeda, 26.8. 20:00h CET🏟 Dr. Constantin Radulescu, Cluj, Rumunjska#dinamozagreb pic.twitter.com/iFWuK7BhXt
This has the makings of being a tightly fought contest, with very few goals. It would not be a surprise to see the 90 minutes and level with under 2.5 goals and the possibility of penalties to separate the two teams.