Champions League Venue: Ibrox Date: Tuesday, 20 Oct Kick-off: 1945 BST Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio Scotland MW
By David McDaid
When Don Revie managed Leeds United in the 1960s and 70s he used to make his team walk the final 100 yards to the stadium on matchdays.
Dan Petrescu made his Unirea Urziceni players walk the last mile to Morton's Cappielow Stadium when they visited Scotland in July.
Revie's practice was triggered by superstition, while Petrescu's was because their team bus had broken down.
It's difficult to imagine Rangers or Celtic players in a similar situation, but the Romanian champions are still getting used to the glamorous side of football.
The club from a town of fewer than 20,000 people - about half an hour's drive from Bucharest - have had a meteoric rise in recent seasons since Petrescu's appointment in 2006.
I wouldn't say there were any stand-out players, but collectively they were good, and all very comfortable on the ball
Former Morton boss David Irons
Steering Unirea to their first-ever league title last season saw Petrescu secure qualification for the Champions League.
On Tuesday, his men are back in Scotland to take on Rangers in a Group G match that will be a far cry from their pre-season friendlies at Somerset Park and Cappielow.
The Romanians also played a bounce game with Celtic at their Lennoxtown training ground and had actually wanted to play Rangers during that tour.
But because of other fixture commitments Rangers manager Walter Smith was unable to get a sneak preview of their future Champions League opponents.
Instead, an agent contacted Morton, and Smith could do worse than ask the former Ton boss Davie Irons for a steer on what to expect.
Irons was impressed by the Romanians after watching them beat the First Division outfit 3-1.
"It was a decent game. The Morton players really enjoyed the experience as it's not often that a First Division club gets to test themselves against Champions League opposition," Irons told BBC Scotland.
"We conceded a couple of soft goals but in the second half I would say we were the better side for much of it.
"Unirea were very strong physically and very well organised.
Unirea drew with Stuttgart in their last Champions League outing
"Defensively they had a couple of big 6ft-plus centre backs and they kept the ball as you would expect from a team who are their national champions.
"Without being disrespectful, I wouldn't say there were any stand-out players, but collectively they were good, and they were all very comfortable on the ball."
Irons added: "They moved the ball quickly and used the full width of the park, and they liked to switch the play from one side to the other as quickly as possible."
Following that match Petrescu was keen to sign Morton's Jim McAllister who had impressed and set up their goal.
But the midfielder turned down the offer to move to Romania despite the opportunity to play Champions League football.
Unirea's rise to prominence has come about thanks to new sponsors making wholesale changes behind the scenes at the club, including the appointment of Petrescu.
The former Chelsea full-back took over the team as they struggled in their first season in the Romanian top division.
During his playing career he reached the highest level in Italy and England, was runner-up in the European Cup, earned nearly 100 caps for his country and competed at two World Cups.
But he is coaching a team which has only ever played two Uefa Cup matches and two Champions League games - and could not win any of them.
Other than a handful of low-profile foreigners the squad is made up of home-grown players, those who have represented their national teams have fewer than 10 caps to their names.
"They're technically as good as anything Scottish football has to offer," said Irons, who is now looking for work after leaving Morton last month following a poor start to the season.
"But Rangers have a distinct advantage in terms of their European experience. Unirea are also used to playing in front of very small crowds of up to 7,000 in their home ground.
"So I think a full house at Ibrox could perhaps be intimidating for them. Petrescu employed a 4-3-3 formation against Morton then changed to a 4-4-2.
"But I wouldn't imagine they'd be too offensive in Glasgow."
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