Preview: Schalke 04 vs. Steaua Bucuresti

Schalke 04 will attempt to begin their Champions League Group E campaign with three points when they welcome Steaua Bucuresti on Wednesday.

The German outfit have been group winners in their last two Champions League campaigns, but they were surprisingly eliminated in the knockout round of the competition by Turkish side Galatasaray last season.

Steaua, meanwhile, are the only Romanian club to have won the European Cup, that success coming against Barcelona in 1986. This is the seventh time that they have made it into the group stages of the competition, but they have not appeared since 2008.

The Romanian club's record in the competition is disappointing, however, with just four wins from their 36 matches. Their last win came over Dynamo Kiev in September 2006.

Schalke have made a stuttering start to their league season with two wins, one draw and two defeats leaving them ninth in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Steaua currently occupy fourth spot in their domestic league, winning four and drawing one of their five matches.

The home team could line up with the same side that overcame Mainz in the Bundesliga at the weekend, with Kevin-Prince Boateng set to make his first Champions League appearance for the club.

The highly-rated Julian Draxler should also start in attack, but experienced USA international Jermaine Jones will hope to return to proceedings.

The away side, meanwhile, have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match and are expected to name their strongest XI. Federico Piovaccari should continue in attack, but Adrian Cristea is also pushing for a start.

Recent for:

Schalke: DLWWW

Steaua: WDDDW

Possible starting lineups

Schalke: Hildrebrand; Howedes, Aogo, Uchida, Matip; Boateng, Hoger, Neustadter, Draxler; Farfan, Szalai

Steaua: Tatarusanu; Latovlevici, Szukala, Georgievski, Filip; Gardos, Tanase, Bourceanu, Stanciu; Popa, Piovaccari

Sports Mole says: 2-0