Sports Weekend
This week saw matches in European football competitions, with good and bad results for the Romanian teams.
Florin Orban, 01.08.2025, 13:55
A new stage of the Romanian Super League is taking place from Friday to Monday. After the second preliminary round of the continental football competitions, three teams from Romania continue their European journey. FCSB, eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday by the North Macedonian team Shkendija after 0-1 away and 1-2 at home, goes to the Europa League. The Romanian team’s opponent in the third preliminary round of the competition will be the champion of Kosovo, Drita. The first leg of the double confrontation will be played next Thursday, in Bucharest.
Romania’s vice-champion, CFR Cluj, also qualified for the same phase of the Europa League. Coach Dan Petrescu’s students defeated the Swiss team Lugano, on Thursday, at home, 1-nil, after two periods of extra time. In the round, in Switzerland, no goal was scored. Further, CFR will face Sporting Braga, from Portugal, with the first game on home turf. In the Conference League, Universitatea Craiova advances to the third preliminary round. On Wednesday, the Romanian team beat FK Sarajevo, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4-nil at home. In the round, the score was 2-1 for the Bosnians. The team from Craiova will next face the Slovak group Spartak Trnava, with the first match, next Thursday, at home.
Universitatea Cluj, that returned to the European cups after an absence of 53 years, stopped in the second preliminary round of the Conference League. The Transylvanians were defeated at home, 1 to 2, after extra time, by Ararat – Armenia. In the round, in Yerevan, none of the teams managed to score. This weekend, matches counting for the Romanian Football Super League championship, stage four, are scheduled. On Friday, two matches: Farul Constanța vs. Metaloglobus Bucharest and Petrolul Ploiești vs. UTA. The first match of the day on Saturday will take place in Mioveni, between FC Argeș and Csikszereda, both newly promoted to the first echelon.
The historic Romanian derby between the Bucharest teams Dinamo and FCSB, scheduled for the National Arena, will follow. On Sunday, Hermannstadt will face Universitatea Cluj in Sibiu, on the same field where the Cluj students were defeated, on Thursday, by the vice-champions of Armenia. The European clash of the round will follow in Cluj, between CFR and Universitatea Craiova. On Monday, the last two matches: Unirea Slobozia vs. Oțelul Galați, in Clinceni, and Rapid – FC Botoșani, in Bucharest. After three rounds, Rapid, Craiova and Farul lead the standings, with seven points each. (EE)
