Preview: Universitatea Craiova vs Levski Sofia - prediction, team news, lineups

Universitatea Craiova welcome Levski Sofia to the Ion Oblemenco Stadium in Craiova, Romania, for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round on Wednesday.

The winners of the tie will advance to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, while the losers will drop into the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

Match preview

Universitatea Craiova are 90 minutes away from one of the most important matches of their season as the Romanian champions welcome Levski Sofia on Wednesday in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie, looking to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat in Bulgaria.

Filipe Coelho's side began their Champions League qualifying campaign in the first round, where they defeated Belarusian outfit ML Vitebsk 5-1 on aggregate after recording a 4-1 away victory before sealing progression with a 1-0 home win.

Victory on Wednesday would send the Romanian champions into the third qualifying round of the competition and also guarantee them a minimum place in the later stages of the UEFA Europa League, regardless of their results in the remaining Champions League qualifying rounds.

Defeat, however, would see Universitatea Craiova drop into the Europa League qualifiers, where they would face Sabah FC, who eliminated KuPS Kuopio 3-0 on aggregate after winning the second leg 2-0, for a place in the competition's playoff round.

Craiova head into the contest after a heavy 5-1 domestic defeat to Dinamo Bucuresti last weekend, although the result came after Coelho rotated several key players and saw his side reduced to 10 men during the first half.

The two clubs have met only once before, with Levski Sofia claiming a narrow victory in last week's first leg.

Levski Sofia arrive in excellent form after opening the new Bulgarian Parva Liga season with two wins from two matches and adding another two victories in Champions League qualifying.

The Blues started their European campaign in the first qualifying round, where they eased past Bosnian side Borac 5-1 on aggregate to book their place in the second round.

Julio Velazquez's men are unbeaten in their last 12 matches across all competitions, recording eight victories and four draws, including a run of five wins and three draws in eight competitive fixtures, while their last defeat came in a 1-0 home loss to Ludogorets on May 9.

Levski will also be without their travelling supporters in Romania after disciplinary action prevented away fans from attending the second leg following incidents during the first-round trip to Banja Luka.

The absence of their away support removes what would normally be a significant backing as the visitors attempt to protect their slender first-leg advantage.

Universitatea Craiova Champions League form:

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Universitatea Craiova form (all competitions):

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Levski Sofia Champions League form:

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Levski Sofia form (all competitions):

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Team News

Coelho rotated his squad during last weekend's defeat to Dinamo București and is expected to restore several first-team regulars, with Stefan Baiaram likely to return to the starting lineup, while Simon Elisor, who featured in the first leg, is pushing to retain his place.

Universitatea Craiova will remain without goalkeeper Pavlo Isenko and Alexandru Iamandache as both players continue their recoveries from injury.

For the visitors, Serginho and Reinaldo inspired a comeback victory over Lokomotiv Sofia last weekend, with substitute Reinaldo equalising before setting up Serginho for the winner.

The trio of Stipe Vulikic, Asen Mitkov and Radoslav Kirilov remain unavailable due to fitness issues.

Universitatea Craiova possible starting lineup:

Popescu; Romanchuk, Rus, Screciu; Mora, Mekvabishvili, Cicaldau, Bancu; Monday, Elisor, Baiaram

Levski Sofia possible starting lineup:

Vutsov; Aldair, Dimitrov, Serafimov, Maicon; Bouras, Serginho, Moubarik, Reinaldo; Oko-Flex, Bala

We say: Universitatea Craiova 0-0 Levski Sofia

This is expected to be a very keenly contested fixture with both sides hoping to make it through to the next round of qualification.

Levski Sofia are defensively resilient, and they will be hoping to keep out the hosts with a compact, disciplined block, while aiming to cause damage with their counterattacks, while Universitatea will push for a win in front of their supporters, it looks like a game that will end in a draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.