FC Petrocub Hîncești was founded 23 years ago, in 1999. The team won the Moldovan third division twice (in 2005 and 2014) and finished second in the second division in 2015, thus qualifying for the top flight. Since the 2015/2016 season, our Thursday opponents have been among the best in their country without interruption. Their biggest success came in 2020, when they won the Moldovan Cup - beating Sfîntul Gheorghe 5-3 on penalties in the final. 

In the last five seasons, FC Petrocub Hîncești have finished third three times and second twice in the Moldovan league. In the European competition - the Europa league qualifiers - the Moldovans have always lost in the first round (2018 to Osijek, 2019 to AEK Larnaca and 2020 to Topolya), but in the ECL they have done better, getting past Sileks of northern Macedonia in the first round last year, but losing twice to Turkey's Sivasspor in the second round.

FC Petrocub Hîncești also started this season's ECL season in the first qualifying round, taking on Floriana from Malta in the first round, winning 1-0 at home and drawing 0-0 away. In the second round, they faced Albania's KF Laçi, and after a 0-0 draw at home, the Moldovan side won 4-1 in Albania with the Albanians leading 1-0 at half-time. 

Like us, our Moldovan opponents started the 2022/2023 season with a 2-0 defeat last Sunday. They were defeated at home by last season's fourth-placed Sfîntul Gheorghe.

The starting line-up of FC Petrocub Hîncești on Sunday changed seven places compared to the starting line-up of the last ECL match in Albania. In Albania they played with a 5-3-2 line-up with Avram - Revenco, Mudrac, Jardan, Platica, Sandu - Bogaciuc, Turcan, Cotogoi - Iosiopi, Ambros.
And for the league opener, head coach Ivan Tabanov sent his team out in a 3-5-2 formation: Mostovei - Platica, Mudrac, Jardan - Revenco, Graur, Potirniche, Fedorov, Bejan - Cojocaru, Banzaru.

The squad for Thursday night's opponents has an estimated total value of €4.73 million, with the most valuable player being 28-year-old captain Vladimir Ambros, who is valued at €750,000 by Transfermarkt. Interestingly, there is only one foreign player in the squad, Ukrainian Artem Fedorov, and all the other players are of local origin.