Thursday 002 | Cluj vs Braga

At 00:30 on August 8, 2025, Cluj will face Braga at home in the first leg of the third round of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.

1. Basic situation:

Cluj is the defending champion of Luo Jia. Luo Jia started the new season with 2 wins and 1 draw, scoring 5 goals and conceding 1 goal, and was in good condition.

Braga is a strong team in the Portuguese Super League. It won the third place in the Portuguese Super League last season. The Portuguese Super League has not yet started, but it has won three consecutive victories in the warm-up match, including a 2-1 victory over Benfica, and its competitive state is stable. Braga’s entire team is worth 210 million euros, much higher than Cluj’s 37 million euros.

2. Tactical execution

Kluj focuses on the 5-4-1 formation, adopting a double-chain defense line, three central defenders shrink the middle lane, and two back midfielders cover the top of the penalty area, forcing the opponent to turn to an inefficient cross, and at the same time relying on lightning to counterattack the Trident to quickly complete the offensive and defensive conversion.

Braga uses a 4-3-3 offensive football to break through the opponent's defense through rib scalpel cutting, sideline saturation strikes and set ball dimensionality reduction strikes.

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3. Historical Confrontation

The two sides have played in the last 2 matches, Cluj has 2 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses, scoring 5 goals, and conceding 1 goal. Among them, in the 2012 Champions League match, Cluj defeated Braga at home and away.

4. For the main players

Cluj, Pitricha was reimbursed for the season, and Alab's finger broke in the second goal, and No. 3 goalkeeper Vlad Popa will show his career first. Forward Flaku has 2 goals and 1 assist in the new season. Forward Denis Alam has scored 4 goals in his last 3 games and is in excellent form, but midfield core Petrov is absent, which may affect the team's efficiency from defense to offense.

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Braga, the team assisted King Piqi's thigh muscles are stiff and the possibility of playing is small. The Spanish wing Avel Ruiz burst into shape and scored 5 goals + 3 assists in 4 warm-up matches. Midfielder Carvalho has high straight pass accuracy, Ricardo Holta has a fast sprint and strong finishing ability, but the main center back Niacarte and new goalkeeper Marco Pereira have not yet formed a tacit understanding.

5 Conclusion Summary

Kluj is strong at home defense and has the advantages of plateau climate and artificial turf. Although Braga has the advantage of overall strength, his short pass cooperation error rate on artificial turf is high, and his away defense fluctuates. Overall, the game may be more stalemate and the probability of a draw is high. If Cluj can limit Horta's finishing efficiency, he is also expected to win a small victory.