Liverpool face journey into Un-known

Among the eight clubs that joined the Europa League in December were some of European football's more famous names.

Juventus, Marseille, Atletico Madrid and, of course, Liverpool had all dropped out of the Champions League and were ones to look out for in the last 32 draw.

With all due respect, Unirea Urziceni weren't.

Sounding a little like something nasty that might take a course of antibiotics and a couple of weeks to clear up, success has suddenly become infectious for the Romanian minnows.

Their rise from relative obscurity has been rapid.

Urziceni only won promotion to the third division for the first time in 2003, with promotion to the top flight coming three years later.

Indeed, when Liverpool last won the UEFA Cup, Unirea were a semi-professional outfit, struggling to make ends meet in the lower reaches of Romanian football.

Nine years on and they are reeling from the departure of the manager who guided them to an historic first ever Liga 1 title with which came passage into the Champions League.

Dan Petrescu is better known in England as the marauding right-back who won an FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup with Chelsea in the mid to late nineties.

In Romania, he is a national hero. He was one of their most celebrated players and was fast becoming one of his country's most sought after managers.

That's why his sudden departure just a week after Urziceni had been handed a dream tie against Liverpool in the knockout stages of the Europa League was greeted with shock and derision.

Derision at the club's board for not backing Petrescu, and shock at his chosen destination.

After guiding the unfashionable provincial club to a Romanian cup final and league title in the space of just three years, Petrescu handed in his notice to take the reins at Russian second division club, Kuban Krasnodar.

Despite finishing third in Champions League group G, just a point behind Stuttgart, who pipped Unirea to the last 16 courtesy of a 3-1 win over the Romanian's in the final group game, Petrescu was powerless to prevent the release of two of his best players, Tiberiu Balan and Dacian Varga.

Although the pair had only been loaned to Urziceni from FC Sportul Studentesc, the failure of the club to retain their services, or at least bring in ample replacements, angered Petrescu who saw his position as untenable.

Leading Urziceni out at Anfield instead next week will be a man who, like Petrescu, has been there before.

Roni Levy was manager of the Maccabi Haifa side that met Liverpool in the third qualifying round of the Champions League in 2006/07.

He will take heart from a narrow 2-1 defeat at Anfield ahead of an admirable 1-1 draw played at a neutral venue in Kiev due to political problems in Israel at the time.

Levy was handed an 18-month contract at Unirea in January worth a reported $600,000 and knows he has a job on his hands to maintain the momentum of the most successful era in the club's short history - they were only formed in 1954.

"It's a very big moment in my career and I know how big this challenge is and how difficult it will be because everyone will compare me to Dan Petrescu," said the Israeli.

"I hope we will be top at the end of the season."

Levy will be grateful that Petrescu left Urziceni in good shape.

After 17 games, the defending champions are second in the Liga 1 table, level on points with leaders CFR Cluj and third placed Steaua Bucharest.

With the three Bucharest clubs, Steaua, Rapid and Dinamo, traditionally the leading lights of Romanian football, Urziceni and Cluj are threatening the established order.

The title rivals meet today as the Liga 1 commences following a two-month winter break.

It is a meeting that symbolizes a power shift away from the tripartite of Bucharest clubs who between them had won 25 of the 26 league titles on offer since 1981 until Cluj muscled in the season before last.

The reason for the sudden change is quite simple. Money.

Like Cluj, Urziceni were taken over by a new sponsor eight years ago. What has followed has been a logical progression.

After entrepreneur and now club owner, Dumitru Bacsaru, gained ownership of the club in 2002 through his company Valahorum, it took just a year for Urziceni to gain promotion to the second division.

As well as attracting better quality and, of course, higher paid players, the club's Tineretului Stadium was developed and its capacity increased to 7,000 seats.

Although the venue is more than sufficient for a town of just 17,000 inhabitants it doesn't meet UEFA requirements.

As a result, Unirea play their European home games 15 miles away at the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest, which nomadic Reds fans will be pleased to know has a more accommodating 27,000 capacity.

Urziceni remain unbeaten there in Europe this season.

An impressive maiden Champions League campaign included a 4-1 win over Rangers at Ibrox but also a couple of 1-1 draws with Stuttgart and Rangers in Bucharest prior to a 1-0 win over Seville there, suggesting Unirea are no pushovers on home soil.

Of their most notable players, former Alaves wing-back Pablo Brandan was linked with a move to the Bundesliga in January but nothing transpired.

The Argentine is one of a clutch of South Americans at the club, another being holding midfielder, Ricardo Gomes of Brazil.

Urziceni captain George Galamaz joined from Dinamo Bucharest three years ago for a fee in the region of £1.5 million

It may not compare to the kind of figures we see in the Premier League but that won't prevent Urziceni believing they can prove their worth against Liverpool.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.