Sports Weekend

This weekend is packed with football action

Florin Orban, 08.08.2025, 13:45

Three Romanian football teams played in European competitions on Thursday. In the third preliminary round of Europa League, in Bucharest, FCSB beat the Kosovo champions, Drita, 3-2. The visiting side led 2-0, following goals scored by Veton Tusha, on minute 7, and by Arb Manaj, on minute 49. However, the Romanian champions came back in the last half hour and scored through Daniel Bîrligea, on minute 64, and Bosnian Danijel Graovac, eight minutes later. The final score was set by Bîrligea, who converted a penalty kick in extra time awarded following a foul on Dennis Politic. The return match will take place next Thursday, in Prishtina. If they get past Drita, FCSB will play in the play-offs against Scottish team Aberdeen. If they are eliminated from Europa League, the Romanian champion will play in the Conference League play-offs with the winner of the match pitting Differdange from Luxembourg against Levadia Tallinn from Estonia, the Baltics being favorites after winning the first leg 3-2 away from home.

Also in Europa League, CFR Cluj lost the home match against the Portuguese side Sporting Braga 1-2. The visiting side scored first on minute 17 through Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gorby. The Romanian vice-champions evened the odds on minute 29, thanks to a goal scored by Gambian Sheriff Sinyan. Gorby also scored the winning goal on minute 50. The return leg is scheduled for next week in Portugal. If they eliminate the Portuguese side, CFR will play in the play-offs against the winner of the match pitting Lincoln from Gibraltar against Noah from Armenia. If they are eliminated from Europa League, CFR will play in the play-off of the Conference League with the winner of the match pitting Haecken of Sweden and the Norwegian club Brann Bergen. In the first round, the Norwegians won 2-0 away from home.

In the third preliminary round of the Conference League, Universitatea Craiova beat Spartak Trnava from Slovakia, 3-0 at home. Scoring for Universitatea were Ştefan Baiaram on minute 51, then Palestinian Assad Al Hamlawi three minutes later, and finally Costa Rican Carlos Mora on minute 81. The return leg will take place next Thursday in Trnava. If they qualify, Universitatea Craiova will play in the play-off against the winner of the match pitting Viking Stavanger of Norway against Istanbul Başakşehir. In the first leg, the Turkish club won 3-1 away from home.

This weekend will see matches part of the fifth round of the Romanian Super League. On Friday, Metaloglobus will take on Dinamo Bucharest. On Saturday, Farul Constanţa will play UTA in Arad, and Universitatea Cluj will face Petrolul Ploieşti in Sibiu. On Sunday, Universitatea Craiova is playing FC Hermannstadt at home, whereas FCSB will take on Unirea Slobozia at in Bucharest. The last two matches are scheduled for Monday: FC Botoşani vs