Bayern record gives CFR cause for concern

CFR 1907 Cluj will look to revive their hopes of progress from Group E when they welcome FC Bayern München to the Stadionul Dr Constantin Rădulescu on Matchday 4.

• Sorin Cârţu's men won their opening home game against FC Basel 1893 but will need another big performance as they look to avenge their unfortunate 3-2 defeat by Bayern in Bavaria on 19 October. That result, achieved by two own goals and a deflection, put Bayern six points clear at the section summit but CFR remain in contention for second place, lying level on three points with Basel and AS Roma.

• To avoid losing further ground, CFR must find a way of stopping a Bayern side with a strong recent away record in the UEFA Champions League. The Bundesliga titleholders' Matchday 2 victory at Basel, secured by Bastian Schweinsteiger's 89th-minute goal, was their fourth in seven UEFA Champions League away games since the start of last season.

Match background
• This is the first time CFR have welcomed German opposition while Bayern have visited Romania three times previously. The German side's most recent trip to the country came in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage when Daniel Van Buyten earned them a 1-0 win at FC Steaua Bucureşti.

• That was their first visit since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now chairman of Bayern's board, scored in a 2-0 first-leg victory at FC Universitatea Craiova in the 1981/82 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final, setting up a 3-1 aggregate success.

• Bayern's maiden trip to Romania was to face Steaua in the 1971/72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final and it yielded a 1-1 draw, Gerd Müller's goal proving pivotal as the Bundesliga club eventually advanced on away goals after a home stalemate.

Team ties
• As a young player at AFC Ajax, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal worked under Romanian coach Ştefan Kovács. Kovács, who played for CFR in the late 1940s, died in Cluj-Napoca 12 days before Van Gaal led Ajax to their fourth European crown in May 1995.

• CFR owner Árpád Pászkány lived in Munich for several years and still has a house there.

• Philipp Lahm scored Germany's 88th-minute goal in a 5-1 friendly defeat by Romania in Bucharest in April 2004.

• Christian Nerlinger, Bayern's sporting director, struck an 86th-minute equaliser for Germany in a 1-1 friendly draw with Romania in Malta in September 1998.

• Franck Ribéry played under one of Romania's greatest footballers, Gheorghe Hagi, after signing for Galatasaray AŞ in 2005. He scored for France in a 2-2 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw in Romania in October 2008, which featured Gabriel Mureşan in the home lineup.

• Arjen Robben played in the Netherlands' 2-0 defeat of Romania at UEFA EURO 2008. He had earlier scored in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win against the same opponents in June 2005.

• Hugo Alcântara was in the CF Os Belenenses side that lost away (0-1) and home (0-2) to Bayern in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round.

• Dominique Kivuvu was part of the NEC Nijmegen team that suffered home (0-3) and away (0-1) defeats by Ivica Olić's old side Hamburger SV in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32 – the Croatia forward scoring in both legs.