Last season, FCSB broke CFR Cluj’s stronghold on the Romanian league by winning the championship for the first time since the 2014/15 season. However, this season has been a nightmare for the “Army Men.” In their first six matches of Liga 1, they have only accumulated five points, losing their last two games: a 0-2 defeat to Hermannstadt and a 0-1 loss to Politehnica Iași. As a result, FCSB currently sits in 15th place, just above the bottom of the table.
In the Champions League qualifiers, FCSB cruised past Virtus, a modest team from San Marino, in the first round and then eliminated Maccabi Tel Aviv. After a 1-1 draw at home, they clinched a 1-0 victory away with a last-minute goal. However, in the third round, the Romanian champions were eliminated by Sparta Prague following a 1-1 draw away and a 2-3 defeat at home.
**LASK**
LASK has become a regular in the later stages of European competitions in recent years, even facing Manchester United in the Europa League Round of 16 not long ago. Last season, they competed in the group stage but finished at the bottom. In the 2023/24 Austrian Bundesliga, the team from Linz secured third place.
Like FCSB, LASK’s start to the new season has been disappointing. In their first four matches of the Austrian Bundesliga, the black-and-whites have only earned three points, with their only victory being a 2-1 win over Hartberg. In the most recent match, LASK suffered a 1-2 loss to Austria Vienna.
