New threat rises on the eastern front

No matter what Luiz Felipe Scolari may say, it will be a major shock if Chelsea, with players like Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and John Terry in their line-up, do not leave Transylvania tonight with another European victory.

But make no mistake, Cluj are an emerging force. They were expected to be outclassed in a group also containing Roma and Bordeaux, but their surprise 2-1 win in the Italian capital two weeks ago suggested they not just here to make up the numbers.

Indeed, so ambitious are the plans of their owner, Transylvanian construction magnate Arpad Paszkany, that Cluj and Chelsea could conceivably contest the Champions League final in five years' time.

Paszkany has spent about £31million this year — a remarkable amount for the Romanian game — on bringing the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium up to Champions League standard, as well as improving the team.

His investment means that Transylvania, a region known best for Dracula and pop's twin-sister act The Cheeky Girls, could soon be home to one of Europe's strongest clubs.

And the number of cash-rich tycoons in central and eastern Europe who are willing to invest in football surely means that the western European stranglehold on the trophy will soon be broken.

Scolari, for one, is convinced that Cluj can follow in the footsteps of Zenit St Petersburg and Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk by providing a major challenge to the top clubs in western Europe.

The Brazilian coach also knows that a win over his team tonight would help the Romanians considerably in their aim of joining the Champions League elite.

He said: "In the future, Cluj are definitely a club we will hear about. It was a challenge for them to arrive here, but they have managed it.

"I know that they want to get as far as possible in the competition, and to do that, they need to win [against Chelsea], or to finish second in the group.

"We are a fantastic club, so it is normal that for this match, the attention of the world is on Chelsea. But in the future, Cluj will hope to change this."

Although Paszkany is no Roman Abramovich, his wealth has been just as crucial to the success of Cluj, who were playing in the Romanian third division six years ago, as the Russian billionaire's has been to that at Stamford Bridge.

By upsetting the traditional power base of the Romanian game in Steaua Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest, Cluj have ruffled as many feathers as the Blues did when Mourinho swept them to back-to-back domestic titles in 2005 and 2006.

And Cluj have shown they mean business by bringing players to the club from around the world.

Italian coach Maurizio Trombetta is likely tonight to include three Portuguese players, two Argentinians and one player each from Brazil and Burkina Faso — a departure from the status quo of Romanian football.

Lucky as he is, Trombetta would still rather be in Scolari's shoes.

The 59-year-old has yet to taste defeat in his eight competitive matches in charge at Stamford Bridge, although his situation will be even better if striker Didier Drogba can find top form tonight.

Drogba has failed to score or shine in the four games he has played since returning from a knee injury, but Scolari said: "When Didier has played more games, he will arrive at the same level that he reached before. But he is just back after three months out, so it is difficult.

"Didier is not 100 per cent right. He needs more time. If he plays tonight and on Sunday, he will improve and it will be better for us.

"But we have to wait. Perhaps it will be eight or 10 more games for Didier to be at his best. He has to be given a chance to get his rhythm back."