Neil Lennon's team will hope there's no nightmare about to unfold in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca as the Scottish champions bid to surmount another obstacle en-route to the group stages of European football's premier tournament.

But these Champions League qualifiers get tougher in every round and Celtic are well aware that the quality of the opposition this time around bears little relation to previous opponents Nomme Kalju of Estonia or Bosnian team Sarajevo.

Although the Romanian champions and current joint league leaders lost to Malmo in last season's second round of qualifying, Cluj have qualified for the group phase three times in the last 12 seasons.

Managed by a national hero, the former Chelsea full-back, Dan Petrescu, they have beaten Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv to earn this head-to-head with Celtic.

And what's clear from watching them in action is their very direct style of play. Cluj do not tend to build play patiently through the midfield. They go back to front very quickly and look to get on the ball in the attacking areas.

They are a hard-working side who will scrap for everything. Creativity isn't a big priority for Petrescu's team. You would not describe them as silky. But they certainly will not be pushed around.

If it comes down to pure quality, Celtic, fresh from a 7-0 win against St Johnstone in Saturday's Premiership opener, should have more than enough to win this over the two legs. But Cluj have other assets of which Lennon and his team are well aware.

Ones to watch

French left winger Billel Omrani will have been picked out as an obvious danger to Celtic's chances in Romania. He is not all about tricks and flicks. Omrani has a more direct, bustling style of play. Cluj will hope the very left-footed player's driving runs down the flank are a feature of the match.

Central striker Mario Rondon is a penalty-box predator. The 33-year-old Venezuelan, who wears the number 99 on his back, is constantly looking to sniff out chances. Rondon is not the most technically-blessed front man you will ever see, but his work rate is impressive and he is happy to feed off any scraps that come his way in front of goal.

Veteran Argentinian midfielder Emmanuel Culio has apparently been ruled out because of injury, but there's another man in the Cluj engine room who catches the eye. Croatian Damjan Djokovic has the work ethic of the tennis champion who shares his surname - and a lot more besides. He will be the one of the midfield three who gets into the box and tries to add to the Cluj cutting edge.

Cluj 'must press Celtic'

Former Hearts and Dundee United manager Csaba Laszlo, now Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe coach

Dan Petrescu tries to play very simple, very direct, very stable, but on the other side, they score a lot of goals in the Romanian league from free-kicks, from corners. You can tell he has specialised in set-pieces.

He asked me how to play against Celtic and I said they are a little bit similar to Cluj. They have the same style, only Celtic have more experienced and expensive players.

Experience and quality is very important and, for me and everybody, Celtic are the favourites.

But, if Cluj play a short, passing game and go out to attack Celtic, it could be a problem for Neil Lennon's team.

I told their players, if you defend against Celtic, you don't have a chance. But, if you come out and press against the ball, Celtic have a problem.