FCSB vs Sparta Praha

In the third round of Champions League qualification, FCSB and Sparta Prague will play a rematch on Tuesday night at the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest, following a fiercely contested and tense first leg.

The two teams vying for a spot in the league phase met last week in Prague to play to a 1-1 draw; this week's visitors to Romania had to earn their place the hard way.

In the third round of Champions League qualification, FCSB and Sparta Prague will play a rematch on Tuesday night at the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest, following a fiercely contested and tense first leg.

The two teams vying for a spot in the league phase met last week in Prague to play to a 1-1 draw; this week's visitors to Romania had to earn their place the hard way.

Formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, FCSB was the European champions in the 1985–86 season. However, their recent continental record has been far more modest, as evidenced by their inability to qualify for the Champions League proper since 2013–14.

The 27-time Romanian champions have also seen a number of brief runs in the Europa League, a group-stage exit in the 2022–23 Europa Conference League, and an unsatisfactory beginning to their defense of the top division title.

But in Liga I action on Friday, Charalampous's team struck gold twice, winning 3-2 despite needing a penalty from Darius Olaru in the 94th minute to cross the finish line. It was their first top-flight victory of the season.

Although Sparta Prague's Europa League 2024 campaign will likely be most remembered for their embarrassing 11-2 loss to Liverpool in the previous season's Europa League last 16, they have their sights set firmly on making their first Champions League proper appearance since 2005–06.

After defeating fierce rivals Slavia Prague to win the 2023–24 Czech First League, Lars Friis's team advanced to the Champions League qualification round in the second round. They faced Shamrock Rovers in their opening match and easily defeated them, scoring six goals over the course of two legs.

The Czech titans had won five straight games before last week's opening encounter against FCSB ended their winning run. However, they bounced back over the weekend, defeating Bohemians 1905 2-1 in the league.

With 12 points from a possible 12 in top-flight activity thus far, Sparta has established a razor-thin lead over Slavia at the top of the Czech First League standings. Since that humiliating 6-1 loss at Anfield back in March, Sparta has gone undefeated in an incredible 20 competitive games.

The winners of Tuesday's meeting in the penultimate round of Champions League qualification will face either Greek powerhouse PAOK or Swedish behemoths Malmo, while the losers will face Austria's LASK Linz in a Europa League playoff.