Preview: Universitatea Craiova vs. Vitebsk - prediction, team news, lineups

Universitatea Craiova hold a comfortable lead over Vitebsk heading into the second leg of their first qualifying round contest in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Vitebsk were on the end of a 4-1 loss to Universitatea Craiova in their first meeting last week, meaning that the visitors have it all to do in this contest.

Match preview

Universitatea Craiova were excellent in the first half of the first leg last week, scoring three times, including two penalties from Assad Al-Hamlawi, to lead 3-1 at the interval, before Steven Nsimba struck a late fourth for the reigning Romanian champions.

The White-Blues won Romania's top flight for the fifth time in 2025-26, and it actually proved to be their first success since 1990-91.

Filipe Coelho's team opened their new domestic campaign against U. Cluj in the Romanian Super Cup on July 12, winning 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw, so it has been a successful start to the season - two wins from two matches.

Universitatea Craiova incredibly made the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1981-82, while they were semi-finalists in the UEFA Cup in 1982-83, so the Romanian team know what it takes to compete at the highest level.

In truth, it would be one of the biggest shocks of all time if they were unable to progress to the second qualifying round of the Champions League from such a strong position.

As for Vitebsk, this is the team's debut appearance in European competition, having won the Belarusian Premier League for the first time in their history in 2025.

The Belarusian outfit were promoted from Belarus' second tier in 2024 and then won the title in 2025, so it has been an incredible period in their history.

Magomed Adiyev's side are 14 games into their league campaign, with 31 points leaving them in second, two points behind leaders Dinamo Minsk.

Vitebsk were 4-2 winners over Slavia Mozyr in their last domestic match, but they have it all do in this European fixture following a 4-1 reverse last time out.

Universitatea Craiova Champions League form:

Universitatea Craiova form (all competitions):

Vitebsk Champions League form:

Vitebsk form (all competitions):

LWDWWL

Team News

Universitatea Craiova could be unchanged from the first leg last week, with no fresh injuries being reported ahead of the second clash with Vitebsk.

However, Pavlo Isenko will again miss the contest.

Al-Hamlawi scored twice in the first leg and will continue in the final third of the field, while there should also be another start for Stefan Baiaram.

As for Vitebsk, Aleksey Nosko will miss the match through injury, but the visitors are otherwise in strong shape for the European contest.

Head coach Adiyev is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack despite the disappointment of the first-leg result, with Bassekou Diabate, who has scored eight times this season, again leading the line.

Meanwhile, there should be another start for Aleksandar Mesarovic, who has come up with six goals in 16 matches from midfield this season.

Universitatea Craiova possible starting lineup:

Popescu; Romanchuk, Stevanovic, Rus; Teles, Cicaldau, Mekvabishvili, Bancu; Etim, Al Hamlawi, Baiaram

Vitebsk possible starting lineup:

Pavlyuchenko; Skibskiy, Volkov, Gomanov, Moskalenchik; Gromyko, Bocherov, Mesarovic; Kontsevoy, Diabate, Bosic

We say: Universitatea Craiova 2-1 Vitebsk (Universitatea Craiova win 6-2 on aggregate)

It is incredibly difficult to imagine Vitebsk turning this tie around considering what happened last time out - we are expecting it to be closer on Wednesday, but the hosts should comfortably secure a spot in the second qualifying round.