The Israeli, whose Maccabi Haifa team were defeated by Liverpool in a Champions League qualifier in 2007, takes charge of his first European game for the club after replacing Dan Petrescu on New Year's Eve.

"It is a very important game for us," said the 43-year-old.

"We hope to defend well, maybe counter-attack, maybe expose them on the pitch and maybe score, that would be great."

Unirea are in only their second season of European football, having failed to get past the first round of the UEFA Cup last season.

However, the Romanians surprised many by almost qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League in a campaign which saw them beat group winners Sevilla, thrash Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox and draw with Stuttgart.

Unirea's last competitive match was on December 14 as the Romanian League took a two-month winter break so Levy's side have been training in the north west for the last week and played a friendly against Conference North side Northwich Victoria on Monday, which they won 1-0.

Levy will not use their lack of competitive action as an excuse but admits there are varying degrees of success to be considered.

"We have had a break in the Romanian league of two and a half months so it will be difficult for us as this is our first official match," he added.

"We have done the maximum to get ready for this game. Liverpool are a big club but we hope for a good result as the game back in Bucharest is important to us.

"Sometimes a good result in Europe is 0-0 or even a 1-0 defeat."