RRI Sports Club: A preview of the match FCSB vs. Fenerbahce
Romanian football champions FCSB hold only mathematical chances of reaching the Europa League knockout stages.
Florin Orban, 28.01.2026, 13:45
The main group stage of Europa League, the second-tier continental club football competition, has reached its final stages. The final matches are scheduled for Thursday, which will determine the final standings and the teams that will advance to the knockout phase. The top 8 teams qualify directly to the round of 16, while those from 9th to 24th proceed to the playoffs, which will send another 8 teams into the last 16.
Romania’s representative in the competition, FCSB, sits 29th before the final group matchday with just six points. Out of the seven games played so far, Romania’s champions have won only two and lost five. On Thursday, in the final round, FCSB faces Turkish side Fenerbahce Istanbul at home. The Turkish club sits in 18th place in the standings and cannot miss out on the playoff spot for the round of 16, regardless of the result in Bucharest.
The team has enjoyed a strong European campaign after their elimination from the Champions League playoffs. In Europa League, they overcame top sides like Nice, Stuttgart and Brann Bergen. They conceded defeats only against Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa, while drawing against Ferencvaros and Viktoria Plzen. In the Turkish league, they grabbed a 2-0 victory in the derby against league leaders Galatasaray just three weeks ago, and across 19 matchdays this season, they remain undefeated. FCSB thus faces a formidable opponent.
For FCSB, a win over Fenerbahce would primarily boost team morale, as the competitive stakes are minimal. Qualification to the Europa League playoffs is theoretically possible only with a victory coupled with defeats for all the teams separating the Bucharest side from 24th place, namely Celtic, Ludogorets, Feyenoord, Basel and Salzburg.
FCSB’s issues, however, have to do rather not as much with how the other teams perform, as rather with their own gameplay, as reflected in recent results. The Romanian champions have lost all three official matches in 2026: 0-1 to FC Arges and 1-4 to CFR Cluj in the domestic championship, and 1-4 to Dinamo Zagreb in Europa League. (VP)
