Knowledge is power for Petrescu

The Rangers FC club crest states simply and proudly 'Ready'. It is a claim which Dan Petrescu and his FC Unirea Urziceni side expect to counter on Matchday 3 with their current motto – "Well prepared".

Definitive test
Rangers and Unirea are keeping each other company, both sitting on one point, at the foot of Group G. Experienced UEFA Champions League analysts know that this makes the impending double-header between Scottish and Romanian champions potentially definitive if either side expects to be playing knockout football in this competition or the UEFA Europa League after the turn of the year. With the first of the two meetings at Ibrox it should be Walter Smith's side who have the initial edge, but Unirea's ambitious young coach, former FC Steaua Bucureşti and Chelsea FC star Petrescu, reckons experience could pay dividends for his side.

Scottish experience
"We've been in Scotland for the last couple of years to do our pre-season," he explained. "I don't know how we ended up there – I think I just thought it was good to be in Scotland and now we've drawn Rangers. My players know what to expect, more or less, because we played Celtic twice, we played Motherwell, we played teams from the second and third division, and we understand that football in Scotland is played really fast. We've also visited Celtic and Rangers' stadiums so we'll have a good idea what it means to play a big game in Glasgow. We won't have time to think because the fans and the opposition will put us under so much pressure. They will not let us play and that makes the experience we've had in Scotland the last two years really valuable."

Previous meetings
The pressure on Rangers was cranked up by their home defeat by Sevilla FC on Matchday 2. That 4-1 loss was only the second reverse in 21 home UEFA fixtures and with Unirea managing a creditable draw against VfB Stuttgart, whichever of the two sides fares best over the next two head-to-head meetings will take a strong advantage into the crucial last two Group G games. Rangers' three previous home ties with Romanian opposition (each time against Steaua) have brought a draw and two wins, with Petrescu playing in one of them – a 2-1 loss in the 1987/88 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals – where he found facing the Ibrox faithful a remarkable test.

Incredible noise
"Despite Unirea's experience in Scotland which I think has been helpful, it's possible that it will be a little different when we actually go on the pitch on Tuesday," he admitted. "You can tell everything you know to your players but going there and doing well is about how they adapt. I remember playing Rangers in the European Cup quarter-finals. We beat them 2-0 at our place and really thought that the second leg would be easy, but when we came out on to the pitch it was unbelievable; the fans, the pressure, Graeme Souness tackling everyone. We were just lucky that Marius Lăcătuş scored the first goal. We lost but we qualified. I just remember you couldn't hear yourself think, you couldn't hear your team-mates, so it's going to be a very tough experience for us."