14 Unbeaten: Cluj Bring Their Run to Nantes

Fourteen. That's the number CFR Cluj carry into Wednesday's Champions League night at FC Nantes: fourteen league games without defeat. No loss since the domestic season began. It is the kind of run that turns a trip to France into a test of nerve for the hosts — and a test of patience for a Nantes crowd that expects its team to dictate.

Nantes will not be at full strength. Nathan Mbemba is out with pulled ankle ligaments, Júlio César with a torn thigh muscle. And the legs are heavy: Eduardo Teixeira is tired, Adama Doukar and Antonio Mba are both jaded, Andrei Coman is tired too. Sebastian Weber's side have been top of Ligue 1 and unbeaten in Europe, but this is the week the squad gets squeezed.

There is a story in the dugout, too. Weber managed Cluj from 2055 to 2061 — seven league titles and ten cups in that time — before coming to Nantes. He knows exactly what the Ceferiștii will do: sit in, break fast, hit the left side. Against stronger sides they have gone 4-3-3 DM Wide in both games this season, and that is the shape expected on Wednesday, with Cornel Furdui in goal behind Wilson, Jorge Ramos, Rafael and Romeo Matei.

Nantes are expected to keep their 5-2-3 DM Wide — the shape they have used in every one of their last twelve. Fifteen games in it over the past year: eight wins, six draws, one defeat, and only seven goals conceded. Samba Diarra in goal, Antônio Brandão Pereira, Marcos San Martín and Antonio Mba at the back, Cristian Armengol and Andrei Coman wide, Eduardo Teixeira and Adebayo Ali in the middle, Raul López and Abdallah Falah supporting Adama Doukar.

The duels? Watch the left. Cosmin Lupu has four goals and an assist in his last five, averaging 7.56, and he runs at Cristian Armengol (7.01). On the other flank, Abdallah Falah is averaging 7.44 over his last four and meets Wilson, who is 71% and jaded. Up top, Éverton against Antonio Mba in the air is a contest the Nantes centre-back should win — heading 15 to 10, strength 17 to 13 — but Éverton is quick enough to make that irrelevant if the ball goes in behind.

Cluj's danger is not only Lupu. Dionysis Margaris has six assists in his last four and an average of 8.22 — a winger playing like a playmaker. Furdui, in goal, has been steady at 7.52 across five games. For Nantes, Omer Mish'an has three goals in his last four and Kristof Vanneste has made four clear-cut chances in four games without scoring himself. The chances will come.

The history is one-sided and recent: Nantes won 3-1 at home a year ago this week, 4-0 in Cluj in 2052, 8-0 at home in 2051. But history does not play. Cluj come with a run, a shape and a point to prove. Nantes come with tired legs and a manager who knows the enemy's mind. Fourteen is the number on the board. By Wednesday night we will know what it means.