Lincoln Red Imps vs CFR Cluj

Lincoln Red Imps and CFR Cluj go head-to-head at the Victoria Stadium in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifying quarter-final tie.

After eking out a 2-2 draw in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 qualifying tie against Fola, Lincoln swept the Luxembourg side 5-0 in the return leg at home to seal a place in the quarter-finals. 2020/21 Gibraltar National League runners-up head into proceedings on the back of a resounding nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W6, D3), notably scoring 2+ goals in each of their last six competitive outings. Additionally, five of Lincoln’s six triumphs during the abovementioned nine-game sequence yielded a winning margin of over 1.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a miracle here. Since UEFA acceptance in 2013, Mick McElwee’s men have never managed to get past the Champions League second qualifying round. However, a run of four straight home victories should give them enough confidence to create a precedent here.

On the other hand, Cluj needed second-leg extra time to squeeze past Bosnian outfit Borac Banja Luka last time out (3-1 H, 1-2 A), with both legs featuring an hour-mark strike. Before going down 2-0 in regulation time of their return-leg clash against Borac, Cluj had been on a seven-game unbeaten streak on the road, friendlies included (W5, D2). Defensively robust, the Romanian heavyweights have kept six clean sheets across their last ten road trips in all competitions, conceding precisely once per game in three of the other four. Since reaching the Champions League group stages back in 2012/13, the ‘Railwaymen’ have failed to negotiate their Europe’s top-competition qualifying campaign in their subsequent three attempts, bowing out in this exact round twice in that period. Yet, they are odds-on favorites to overcome the Gibraltar minnows here.

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