Ronny Deila has already encountered FC Astra Giurgiu this year, but he was unaware over recent developments at the Romanian club so as the days tick down to Thursday night's Europa League meeting, exhaustive research will no doubt be undertaken by Celtic's "boys upstairs".
The Parkhead boss came up against Astra in February when winning the Costa del Sol Cup friendly tournament against them with his former club Stromsgodset, courtesy of a 1-0 win in a match notable for the debut for 15-year-old Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard. However, it was news to him last week that the club had dispensed with the services of Romanian Cup-winning manager Daniel Isaila during the international break on the back of defeats in their first two Europa League meetings and installed the former Soviet Union player Oleg Protasov.
Protasov, behind only Oleg Blokhin in the list of the most prolific Soviet-era strikers, won a Greek title with Olympiacos in 2003 and had a spell with Steaua Bucharest in 2005. The Romanian league has opened up since the country became full members of the European Union so it is no surprise that he inherits a cosmopolitan squad with a sprinkling of Brazilians such as Junior Morais and William Amorim. Frenchman Elliot Grandin played under Barry Ferguson at Blackpool last season, while Silvio Lung Jnr - who has followed his father by becoming a fine goalkeeper - and defender Laurentiu Rus are mainstays for the international team.
How Celtic fare against these Romanian minnows could define their Europa League campaign. Unbeaten in their first two games, back-to-back victories could be sufficient to see the Scottish champions qualify for the knockout stages, but Astra took care of Slovan Liberec and French giants Olympique Lyon to reach the Europa League and have the capacity to put a spanner in the works. Followers of Scottish football with long memories may remember Unirea Urziceni stunning Rangers in the Champions League or Celtic's last encounter with Romanian opposition, an away goals defeat to FC Timisoara in the 1980-81 Cup-Winners' Cup.
"They are a good team," said Deila. "So far they have been a level down from the three others in the group [Celtic, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb] but it is always down to the small details in European football. They have some good players and they are wealthy, so there is nothing that is going to be easy. It will be a tough game. But I think we are looking better and better. We have had some good results in Europe. It is going to be huge game. If we win there we could find a very good position in the group."
At the age of 15 years, 300 days, Odegaard became the youngest player in the history of the European Championships last week when he made a substitute appearance in Norway's 2-1 win against Bulgaria, and Astra were there when it all got started. The first assist in the teenager's career helped Stromsgodset pocket the Costa del Sol Cup's prize purse of £40,000 but he is likely to earn the Norwegian club significantly bigger sums in the future, with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool credited with an interest.
"I don't take any of the credit that Martin is doing so well but it is very special to see it because it is unbelievable to see how quick things have happened," said Deila. "One year ago he didn't even train with the first team. I played him first time in January, against Astra, after I saw in training. We were playing five v five with three jokers and he was one of the jokers and he just dictated the game. So I saw there was something there. The Astra game was 0-0, with 15 minutes left and he came in and took three players away, got an assist and we scored and won. He began to start games when the league started up again, and he is just taking steps all the time. His technique and understanding of the game is fantastic."
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