2008–09 Liga I

The 2008–09 Liga I was the ninety-first season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. Season began on 26 July 2008 and ended on 10 June 2009. CFR Cluj were the defending champions.

Liga I

Season	2008–09
Champions	Unirea Urziceni
Relegated	Argeș Pitești Farul Constanța Otopeni Gloria Buzău
Champions League	Unirea Urziceni Timișoara
Europa League	Dinamo București CFR Cluj Vaslui Steaua București
Matches played	306
Goals scored	707 (2.31 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gheorghe Bucur, Florin Costea (17)
Biggest home win	Otopeni 6–0 Farul
Biggest away win	Pandurii 1–5 Unirea Buzău 1–5 Unirea Otopeni 0–4 CFR
Highest scoring	Argeș 5–2 Dinamo Vaslui 4–3 Timișoara Gaz Metan 2–5 Universitatea
Longest winning run	Timișoara (7)
Longest unbeaten run	Urziceni (13)
Longest winless run	Buzău (19)
Longest losing run	Otopeni, Buzău (7)
Highest attendance	Timișoara–Steaua (30,000)[1]
Lowest attendance	Otopeni–Bistrița (100)[2]
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Teams

Promoted

Teams promoted from Liga II at the beginning of the season.

• Serie 1 Champions: Brașov
• Serie 2 Champions: Argeș Pitești
• Serie 1 Runners-up: Otopeni
• Serie 2 Runners-up: Gaz Metan Mediaș

Relegated

Teams relegated to Liga II at the end of season.

• Argeș Pitești
• Farul Constanța
• Otopeni
• Gloria Buzău

Venues

FC Timișoara	Steaua București	FC U Craiova	CFR Cluj
Dan Păltinișanu	Steaua	Ion Oblemenco	Dr. Constantin Rădulescu
Capacity: 32,972	Capacity: 28,365	Capacity: 25,252	Capacity: 23,500
Gloria Buzău	Farul Constanța	Dinamo București	Argeș Pitești
Municipal	Farul	Dinamo	Nicolae Dobrin
Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 15,520	Capacity: 15,032	Capacity: 15,000
Oțelul Galați	Bucharest Argeș Brașov Buzău CFR Craiova Farul Gaz Metan Gloria Otopeni Oțelul Pandurii Poli Iași Timișoara Urziceni Vaslui Bucharest teams Dinamo Rapid Steaua 2008–09 Liga I (Romania) Dinamo Rapid Steaua Location of Bucharest teams.		Rapid București
Oțelul			Giulești-Valentin Stănescu
Capacity: 13,500			Capacity: 11,704[i]
Politehnica Iași			FC Vaslui
Emil Alexandrescu			Municipal
Capacity: 11,390			Capacity: 9,240
Pandurii Târgu Jiu			FC Brașov
Tudor Vladimirescu			Silviu Ploeșteanu
Capacity: 9,200			Capacity: 8,800
Gloria Bistrița	CS Otopeni[ii]	Unirea Urziceni	Gaz Metan Mediaș
Gloria	Astra	Tineretului	Gaz Metan
Capacity: 7,800	Capacity: 7,000	Capacity: 7,000	Capacity: 5,300

1. Capacity of Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Stadium has been reduced from 19,100 to 11,704 due to advanced degradation of the resistance structure of the South End.
2. CS Otopeni was relocated to Astra Stadium from Ploiești because Otopeni Stadium from Otopeni does not meet the standards for Liga I.

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
Argeș Pitești	Ionuț Badea	Daniel Bălașa	Adidas	Pic
Brașov	Răzvan Lucescu	Robert Ilyeș	Diadora	Roman
CFR Cluj	António Conceição	Cadú	Nike	DOMO Group, Sigma Towers
Dinamo București	Mircea Rednic	Marius Niculae	Nike	Orange
Farul Constanța	Lucian Marinof	George Curcă	Umbro	SNC
FC U Craiova	Ionel Gane	Dorel Stoica	Adidas	editie.ro
Gaz Metan Mediaș	Cristian Pustai	Claudiu Boaru	Joma	RomGaz
Gloria Bistrița	Ioan Sabău	Adrian Nalați	Puma	Teraplast, Aldis, Darimex
Gloria Buzău	Constantin Cârstea	Mansour Gueye	Hummel	—
Otopeni	Liviu Ciobotariu	Florin Pârvu	Kappa	Urban
Oțelul Galați	Petre Grigoraș	Gabriel Paraschiv	Hummel	ArcelorMittal
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Sorin Cârțu	Florin Stângă	Umbro	USMO
Politehnica Iași	Cristiano Bergodi	Bogdan Onuț	Nike	Iulius Mall
Rapid București	Viorel Hizo	Vasile Maftei	Lotto	Arsis
Steaua București	Massimo Pedrazzini	Sorin Ghionea	Nike	CitiFinancial
Timișoara	Valentin Velcea	Artavazd Karamyan	Lotto	Balkan Petroleum
Unirea Urziceni	Dan Petrescu	George Galamaz	Givova	Alexandrion
Vaslui	Cristian Dulca	Gabriel Cânu	Umbro	Kia Motors

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Dinamo București	Cornel Țălnar[3]	Contract not renewed	17 April 2008	Mircea Rednic[3]	17 April 2008
Rapid București	Marian Rada	Contract not renewed	3 June 2008	José Peseiro[4]	3 June 2008
Vaslui	Emil Săndoi[5]	Contract not renewed	10 June 2008	Viorel Hizo[5]	10 June 2008
Otopeni	Liviu Ciobotariu[6]	Contract not renewed	18 June 2008	Miodrag Ješić[7]	21 June 2008
Gloria Buzău	Ștefan Stoica[8]	Sacked	11 August 2008	Álvaro Magalhães[9]	12 August 2008
Otopeni	Miodrag Ješić[10]	Caretaker	18 August 2008	Gabriel Mărgărit[11]	18 August 2008
CFR Cluj	Ioan Andone[12]	Sacked	30 August 2008	Maurizio Trombetta[13]	1 September 2008
Otopeni	Gabriel Mărgărit[14]	Sacked	8 September 2008	Marian Bucurescu[14]	8 September 2008
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Eugen Neagoe[15]	Sacked	21 September 2008	Sorin Cârțu[16]	21 September 2008
Rapid București	José Peseiro[17]	Sacked	2 October 2008	Nicolae Manea[18]	3 October 2008
Gloria Buzău	Álvaro Magalhães[19]	Sacked	3 October 2008	Mario Marinică[20]	9 October 2008
Rapid București	Nicolae Manea[21]	Caretaker	9 October 2008	José Peseiro[21]	9 October 2008
Steaua București	Marius Lăcătuș[22]	Resigned	22 October 2008	Dorinel Munteanu[23]	26 October 2008
Vaslui	Viorel Hizo[24]	Sacked	1 November 2008	Viorel Moldovan[25]	1 November 2008
Otopeni	Marian Bucurescu[26]	Resigned	24 November 2008	Liviu Ciobotariu[26]	24 November 2008
Timișoara	Dušan Uhrin, Jr.[27]	Sacked	2 December 2008	Gavril Balint[28]	29 December 2008
Gloria Buzău	Mario Marinică[29]	Sacked	17 December 2008	Constantin Cârstea[30]	28 January 2009
Steaua București	Dorinel Munteanu[31]	Sacked	31 December 2008	Marius Lăcătuș[31]	1 January 2009
CFR Cluj	Maurizio Trombetta[32]	Sacked	6 January 2009	Ales Jindra and Dušan Uhrin, Jr.[33]	8 January 2009
Politehnica Iași	Ionuț Popa[34]	Resigned	11 January 2009	Cristiano Bergodi[35]	18 January 2009
Rapid București	José Peseiro[citation needed]	Sacked	12 January 2009	Marian Rada[36]	14 January 2009
CFR Cluj	Ales Jindra and Dušan Uhrin, Jr.[37]	Sacked	5 April 2009	Toni[38]	6 April 2009
Farul Constanța	Ion Marin[39]	Resigned	13 April 2009	Lucian Marinof[40]	13 April 2009
Rapid București	Marian Rada[41]	Resigned	17 April 2009	Viorel Hizo[42]	3 May 2009
Universitatea Craiova	Nicolo Napoli[43]	Sacked	15 May 2009	Ionel Gane[44]	15 May 2009
Steaua București	Marius Lăcătuș[45]	Resigned	17 May 2009	Massimo Pedrazzini[46]	18 May 2009
Vaslui	Viorel Moldovan[47]	Resigned	26 May 2009	Cristian Dulca[48]	26 May 2009
Timișoara	Gavril Balint[49]	Sacked	31 May 2009	Valentin Velcea[50]	1 June 2009

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Unirea Urziceni (C)	34	21	7	6	51	20	+31	70	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	FC Timișoara	34	20	7	7	58	38	+20	67[a]	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3	Dinamo București	34	20	5	9	56	30	+26	65	Qualification to Europa League play-off round[b]
4	CFR Cluj	34	16	11	7	44	26	+18	59
5	Vaslui	34	17	6	11	44	37	+7	57	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
6	Steaua București	34	14	14	6	44	27	+17	56[c]	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
7	Universitatea Craiova	34	15	11	8	44	25	+19	56[c]
8	Rapid București	34	16	7	11	44	34	+10	55[d]
9	Brașov	34	14	13	7	35	25	+10	55[d]
10	Argeș Pitești (R)	34	12	8	14	41	47	−6	44	Relegation to Liga II[e]
11	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	34	11	10	13	27	36	−9	43
12	Oțelul Galați	34	11	7	16	37	48	−11	40
13	Gloria Bistrița	34	11	5	18	32	44	−12	38
14	Politehnica Iași	34	10	7	17	32	47	−15	37
15	Gaz Metan Mediaș	34	10	6	18	36	51	−15	36	Spared from relegation[e]
16	Farul Constanța (R)	34	8	6	20	27	56	−29	30	Relegation to Liga II
17	Otopeni (R)	34	5	7	22	32	54	−22	22
18	Gloria Buzău (R)	34	4	5	25	23	62	−39	17

Source: LPF (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Timișoara were docked 6 points after not respecting a ruling from CAS.^[51] However, this decision was revoked by the CAS on 11 June 2009.^[52]
2. CFR Cluj as the 2008–09 Cupa României winners qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
3. STE 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 STE
4. RAP 3–1 BRA; BRA 0–0 RAP
5. Argeș Pitești were relegated to the Liga II due to allegations of referee bribery. Gaz Metan as best-placed relegated team were therefore spared from relegation.^[53]

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Argeș Pitești	9	13	10	14	14	13	11	12	9	9	7	5	8	6	7	4	8	8	10	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Brașov	4	8	12	11	11	8	5	6	6	6	9	10	10	9	11	10	11	11	11	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9
CFR Cluj	1	1	5	7	8	10	8	5	5	5	5	7	5	7	3	6	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	6	4	4	4	4
Universitatea Craiova	3	8	8	9	9	9	12	10	10	10	8	5	6	3	4	3	6	7	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	6	5	5	7
Dinamo București	9	6	4	1	4	3	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	3
Farul Constanța	4	12	13	12	12	6	7	11	12	14	14	12	13	15	15	14	14	12	13	13	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Gaz Metan Mediaș	7	14	9	13	13	14	13	13	14	13	13	14	14	13	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	13	14	15	15	15	15	15
Gloria Bistrița	17	11	14	10	10	12	14	14	15	16	17	15	16	14	13	13	12	13	12	12	12	13	12	13	13	13	13	14	13	13	13	13	13	13
Gloria Buzău	13	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
Otopeni	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	16	17	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17
Oțelul Galați	7	5	3	1	5	7	10	9	8	8	6	9	9	11	10	11	10	9	8	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	11	12
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	9	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	12	12	13	12	12	12	12	13	14	14	14	13	14	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	12	11
Politehnica Iași	16	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	17	15	15	17	15	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	12	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	14	14	14	14	14
Rapid București	2	2	1	4	2	5	6	8	11	11	10	8	7	8	8	8	7	5	5	5	3	6	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	5	6	7	8
Steaua București	13	8	7	5	6	4	2	1	3	2	3	4	4	4	5	5	4	6	6	6	8	7	8	7	7	6	6	4	4	4	7	7	6	6
Timișoara	9	4	11	8	7	11	9	7	4	4	4	3	3	5	6	7	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2
Unirea Urziceni	13	7	6	3	1	1	1	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
Vaslui	4	3	2	6	3	2	4	4	7	7	11	11	11	10	9	9	9	10	9	8	7	8	6	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	5

Source: kicker.de (in German)
  = Leaders; Liga I;   = 2nd place; Liga I;   = 3rd place; Liga I

Results

Home \ Away	ARG	BRA	CFR	UCR	DIN	FAR	GAZ	GBI	GBU	OTO	OȚE	PAN	PIA	RAP	STE	TIM	URZ	VAS
Argeș Pitești	—	1–0	0–2	1–1	5–2	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–0
Brașov	1–0	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0
CFR Cluj	2–0	2–0	—	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	3–0
Universitatea Craiova	1–0	0–0	4–1	—	2–0	3–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	0–0	0–1
Dinamo București	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	—	1–0	1–0	5–0	4–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–1	4–1
Farul Constanța	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–4	—	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–2	1–4	1–1	0–1	1–0
Gaz Metan Mediaș	2–2	0–0	2–0	2–5	1–1	0–1	—	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	5–1	1–0	1–2
Gloria Bistrița	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	—	2–0	3–1	3–0	1–0	3–1	1–3	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–3
Gloria Buzău	3–1	0–2	0–1	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–2	2–1	—	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–5	4–1
Otopeni	1–2	2–2	0–4	0–1	2–3	6–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	—	0–1	0–1	4–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	0–2
Oțelul Galați	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	3–1	—	0–0	3–2	2–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–1
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–5	1–0
Politehnica Iași	4–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	—	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3
Rapid București	1–3	3–1	1–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	4–2	3–0	1–0	3–0	4–0	2–0	2–2	—	0–0	0–2	1–2	2–2
Steaua București	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	5–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	—	2–2	1–0	1–1
Timișoara	2–1	4–0	2–1	1–0	0–3	3–2	0–0	1–0	4–1	3–1	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	—	1–2	3–1
Unirea Urziceni	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	4–0	3–0	2–1	1–0	3–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–0
Vaslui	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–2	4–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	4–3	0–2	—

Source: LPF (in Romanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank[54][55]	Player	Club	Goals
1	Florin Costea	Universitatea Craiova	17
	Gheorghe Bucur	Timișoara
3	Spadacio	Rapid București	16
4	Ionel Dănciulescu	Dinamo București	12
	Marius Niculae
6	Pantelis Kapetanos	Steaua București	11
	Bogdan Stancu
8	Yssouf Koné	CFR Cluj	10
9	Gabriel Paraschiv	Oțelul Galați	9
10	Alexandru Curtean	Gaz Metan Mediaș / Timișoara	8
	Mike Temwanjera	Vaslui
	Chico	Farul Constanța
	Marius Onofraș	Unirea Urziceni
	Marius Bilașco
	Romeo Surdu	Brașov
	Cristian Bud	Gaz Metan Mediaș

Source: Liga1.ro (in Romanian)

Champion squad

Unirea Urziceni[56]

Goalkeepers: Giedrius Arlauskis (30 / 0); Cătălin Grigore (2 / 0); Daniel Tudor (2 / 0). Defenders: Valeriu Bordeanu (30 / 0); Pablo Brandán (26 / 1); George Galamaz (32 / 4); Ersin Mehmedović (18 / 0); Bruno Fernandes (19 / 0); Epaminonda Nicu (30 / 0). Midfielders: Iulian Apostol (28 / 2); Tiberiu Bălan (25 / 4); George Bârlădeanu (2 / 0); Jacob Burns (10 / 0); Sorin Frunză (25 / 1); Răzvan Pădurețu (31 / 3); Ricardo Vilana (20 / 1); Dinu Todoran (22 / 2); Dacian Varga (14 / 4). Forwards: Bogdan Aldea (1 / 0); Marius Bilașco (27 / 8); Cristian Dănălache (20 / 3); Bogdan Mara (17 / 5); Marius Onofraș (22 / 8); Raul Rusescu (23 / 5). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Manager: Dan Petrescu.

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Andrei Prepeliță for Craiova against Iași, 64 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)^[57]
• Last goal of the season: Claudiu Niculescu for Dinamo against Argeș, 90+3 minutes (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)^[58]
• Fastest goal in a match: Andrei Cristea for Iași against Pandurii, 10 seconds (Round 30 – 9 May 2009)^[59]
• Fastest two goals in a match: Pandurii 1–1 Bistrița, minutes 2 and 4 seconds (Round 14 – 8 November 2008)^[60]
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: Cristian Oroș for Brașov against Unirea, 90+4 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)^[61]
• First own goal of the season: Zhivko Zhelev (Oțelul) for Gaz Metan, 31 minutes (Round 1 – 27 July 2008)^[62]
• Two own goals by the same team in a match: Diogo and Alexandru Tudose (both Buzău) for CFR, minutes 14 and 79 (Round 2 – 3 August 2008)^[63]
• Two goals in one minute and one second: Farul 1–1 Brașov, between 5:53 and 6:54 (Round 13 – 1 November 2008)^[64]
• Three goals in three minutes: Farul 1–4 Steaua, minutes 89, 90 and 90+2 (Round 7 – 13 September 2008)^[65]
• Six goals in 30 minutes: Gaz Metan 5–1 Timișoara, minutes 60 through 90 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)^[66]
• Most goals in one half: Gaz Metan 0–0 at half time, 5–1 final Timișoara (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)^[66]
• Widest winning margin: Otopeni 6–0 Farul (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)^[67]
• Hattricks scored: 4
  • Alexandru Curtean for Gaz Metan against Timișoara, minutes 65, 75 and 81 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)^[66]
  • Marius Niculae for Dinamo against Vaslui, minutes 24, 78 and 90 (Round 24 – 11 April 2009)^[68]
  • Marius Niculae for Dinamo against Bistrița, minutes 20, 56 and 72 (Round 26 – 21 April 2009)^[69]
  • Victoraș Iacob for Otopeni against Farul, minutes 4, 34 and 50 (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)^[67]

Cards

• First yellow card: Attila Hadnagy for Brașov against Unirea, 19 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)^[70]
• First red card: Rafael Pereira for Gaz Metan against Dinamo, 22 minutes (Round 2 – 3 August 2008)^[71]
• Most red cards in a single match: 3
  • Dinamo 1–0 Craiova – 2 for Dinamo (Júlio César, Adrian Ropotan) and 1 for Craiova (Josh Mitchell) (Round 6 – 30 August 2008)^[72]
  • Argeș 1–1 Craiova – 2 for Craiova (Mircea Bornescu, Michael Baird) and 1 for Argeș (Daniel Bălașa) (Round 10 – 3 October 2008)^[73]
• Match without any cards: Unirea 1–1 Steaua (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)^[74]