Virtus are set to host FCSB at Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle in the first leg of the first round of the Champions League qualification playoffs on Tuesday.
In the 2023-24 season, the home side finished first in San Marino's Campionato with 79 points out of a possible 90, while Romanian champions FCSB topped their regular season standings and earned qualification to the Champions League first round by winning their championship playoff group.
Match preview
The hosts will have been thrilled by their showings last term considering they accumulated 22 more points than they did in the 2022-23 campaign, in which they failed to qualify for the Champions League playoffs.
To add to this, during their 2023-24 title winning campaign they scored 60 goals in the top flight and conceded on 20 occasions, whereas they had netted 53 and conceded 25 times in the previous season.
Manager Luigi Bizzotto has been in charge since July 2019, and his time at Virtus can be considered extremely successful given last term marked the club's first league title win.
There was some uncertainty about whether Bizzotto would continue in his role, but it was announced in May that he had signed a contract extension until the end of the 2024-25 season and will lead the black-and-greens when they embark on their Champions League debut.
Virtus won their last seven league games as well as 13 of their last 15, keeping nine clean sheets in that period.
However, it should be noted that they did lose 4-2 on penalties most recently in the Coppa Titano against La Fiorita on May 25 after the game ended in 0-0 draw.
Opponents FCSB also came first in their regular season, accumulating 64 points from a possible 90.
They ended the regular season having scored 53 goals and conceded 28, the division's third-best offensive and best defensive records respectively.
Unlike Virtus, in order to qualify for the first round of the Champions League, the Romanian title winners also had to participate in and win an end of season championship playoff group against the rest of the league's top six sides.
The Red and Blues topped their playoff group, but their initial six-point advantage over CFR Cluj was reduced to just three by the end of the group's 10 games.
FCSB manager Elias Charalambous has been in charge since March 2023 and led his side to their first championship win since the 2014-15 season.
Including friendlies, Charalambous's team come into the clash having won their last three games in all competitions, and in that period they won Romania's Supercupa final 3-0 against Corvinul Hunedoara last Thursday in their most recent match.
Team News
The hosts come into Tuesday's clash as underdogs but will hope that top scorer Simone Benincasa can boost their chances of victory.
Veteran midfielder Ivan Buonocunto played 108 minutes in his side's penalty shootout defeat against La Fiorita and could be in line for another start.
As for the visitors, they will be without right-back Alexandru Pantea due to a ligament injury he suffered in February.
Elsewhere, FCSB will also have to contend with the absence of left-winger Octavian Popescu, who underwent foot surgery in early June.
Top scorer Florinel Coman had been away with the Romanian national team at Euro 2024, but given they were eliminated from the competition on July 2, his appearance in Tuesday's match is in doubt.
Virtus possible starting lineup:
Passaniti; Battistini, Sabato, Lucia, Piscaglia; Golinucci, Montanari, Buonocunto; Pecci, Benincasa, Tortori
FCSB possible starting lineup:
Vlad; Antwi, Dawa, Chiriches, Radunovic; Alhassan, Lixandru; Stefanescu, Baluta, Radaslavescu; Miculescu
We say: Virtus 0-3 FCSB
Although Virtus come into Tuesday's clash after a strong domestic campaign, it will be difficult for them to compete against their more established opponents.
As such, it would not be surprising to see FCSB dominate possession and have prolonged spells in the final third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
