2009–10 Liga I

The 2009–10 Liga I was the ninety-second season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. Unirea Urziceni were the defending champions.

Liga I

Season	2009–10
Champions	CFR Cluj
Relegated	Internațional Politehnica Iași Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Unirea Alba Iulia
Champions League	CFR Cluj Unirea Urziceni
Europa League	Vaslui Steaua București Timișoara Dinamo București
Matches played	306
Goals scored	711 (2.32 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andrei Cristea (16)
Biggest home win	Timișoara 6–0 Ceahlăul Timișoara 6–0 Unirea Brașov 6–0 Bistrița
Biggest away win	Gaz Metan 2–6 Timișoara Ceahlăul 0–4 Dinamo Ceahlăul 0–4 Rapid
Highest scoring	Urziceni 4–4 Dinamo Gaz Metan 2–6 Timișoara
Longest winning run	6 matches Vaslui
Longest unbeaten run	16 matches Urziceni
Longest winless run	14 matches Iași
Longest losing run	7 matches Alba Iulia
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

Teams

Farul Constanța, Otopeni and Gloria Buzău were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season. They were joined by Argeș Pitești, who were demoted upon a decision of the Professional Football League on 8 July 2009, after their owner, Cornel Penescu, was found guilty of corruption.^[1] As a consequence, 15th-placed Gaz Metan Mediaș were spared relegation.

The four relegated teams were replaced by the champions and runners-up from both 2008–09 Liga II divisions. Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Ploiești were promoted from Seria I while Unirea Alba Iulia and Internațional Curtea de Argeș were promoted from Seria II.

Promoted team FC Ploiești were renamed FC Astra Ploiești, effective to 1 July 2009.^[2]

Venues

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
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Dinamo București	Internațional Curtea de Argeș[i]	Oțelul Galați
Ceahlăul	Dinamo	Nicolae Dobrin	Oțelul
Capacity: 17,500	Capacity: 15,032	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 13,500
Rapid București	Bucharest Astra Brașov Ceahlăul CFR Craiova Gaz Metan Gloria Internațional Oțelul Pandurii Poli Iași Timișoara Unirea Urziceni Vaslui Bucharest teams Dinamo Rapid Steaua 2009–10 Liga I (Romania) Dinamo Rapid Steaua Location of Bucharest teams.		Politehnica Iași
Giulești-Valentin Stănescu			Emil Alexandrescu
Capacity: 11,704[ii]			Capacity: 11,390
FC Vaslui			Pandurii Târgu Jiu
Municipal			Tudor Vladimirescu
Capacity: 9,240			Capacity: 9,200
Astra Ploiești			FC Brașov
Astra			Silviu Ploeșteanu
Capacity: 9,000			Capacity: 8,800
Unirea Alba Iulia	Gloria Bistrița	Unirea Urziceni	Gaz Metan Mediaș
Cetate	Gloria	Tineretului	Gaz Metan
Capacity: 8,000[iii]	Capacity: 7,800	Capacity: 7,000	Capacity: 5,300

1. Internațional Curtea de Argeș was relocated to Orășenesc Stadium from Mioveni for the first half of the season and to Nicolae Dobrin Stadium from Pitești for the second half, because Ștrand Stadium from Pitești does not meet the standards for Liga I.
2. 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.
3. Capacity of Cetate Stadium has been reduced from 18,000 to 8,000 due to security reasons.

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
Astra Ploiești	Marin Barbu	Gheorghe Rohat	Adidas	InterAgro
Brașov	Viorel Moldovan	Robert Ilyeș	Puma	Roman
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Zoran Filipović	Eugeniu Cebotaru	Lotto	Altex
CFR Cluj	Andrea Mandorlini	Cadú	Nike	Sigma Towers
Dinamo București	Cornel Țălnar	Marius Niculae	Nike	Orange
FC U Craiova	Laurențiu Reghecampf	Andrei Prepeliță	Adidas	Ediție Specială
Gaz Metan Mediaș	Cristian Pustai	Cristian Todea	Joma	RomGaz
Gloria Bistrița	Marius Șumudică	Călin Albuț	Puma	Teraplast, Aldis, Darimex
Internațional	Ionuț Badea	Mihai Pintilii	Adidas	Lazăr Company
Oțelul Galați	Dorinel Munteanu	Gabriel Paraschiv	Masita	ArcelorMittal
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Florin Bejinaru	Alin Chibulcutean	Umbro	USMO
Politehnica Iași	Dumitru Dumitriu	Cristian Brăneț	Nike	—
Rapid București	Ioan Andone	Costin Lazăr	Lotto	Unibet
Steaua București	Mihai Stoichiță	Petre Marin	Nike	SportingBet
Timișoara	Ioan Sabău	Dan Alexa	Lotto	Balkan Petroleum
Unirea Alba Iulia	Blaž Slišković	Răzvan Dâlbea	Lotto	Elit
Unirea Urziceni	Ronny Levy	George Galamaz	Givova	GreenCity
Vaslui	Marius Lăcătuș	Wesley	Adidas	New Holland Agriculture

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Brașov	Nicolò Napoli[3]	Sacked	July 27, 2009	Viorel Moldovan[3]	July 27, 2009
Astra Ploiești	Ion Moldovan[4]	Sacked	August 20, 2009	Nicolò Napoli[5]	August 20, 2009
Steaua București	Cristiano Bergodi	Sacked	September 17, 2009	Mihai Stoichiță	September 18, 2009
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Mihai Ionescu			Florin Marin
FC U Craiova	Daniel Mogoșanu	Sacked	September 21, 2009	Eugen Neagoe	September 21, 2009
Vaslui	Cristian Dulca	Sacked	September 23, 2009	Dorin Zotincă
Vaslui	Dorin Zotincă	Interim		Marius Lăcătuș	September 28, 2009
Dinamo București	Dario Bonetti	Sacked	October 2, 2009	Marin Ion	October 2, 2009
Gloria Bistrița	Sandu Tăbârcă	Resigned	October 18, 2009	Florin Halagian
Gloria Bistrița	Florin Halagian	Interim		Marian Pană	October 20, 2009
Dinamo București	Marin Ion[6]	Resigned	October 23, 2009	Cornel Țălnar[7]	October 24, 2009
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Sorin Cârțu			Liviu Ciobotariu
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Florin Marin			Gheorghe Mulțescu
Rapid București	Viorel Hizo	Resigned	October 29, 2009	Nicolae Manea	November 1, 2009
CFR Cluj	António Conceição	Sacked	November 16, 2009	Andrea Mandorlini	November 18, 2009
FC U Craiova	Eugen Neagoe	Sacked	December 13, 2009	Mark Wotte	January 3, 2010
Internațional Curtea de Argeș	Ștefan Stoica	Sacked	December 2009	Ionuț Badea	December 2009
Unirea Urziceni	Dan Petrescu	Resigned	December 26, 2009	Ronny Levy	December 2009
Gloria Bistrița	Marian Pană	Sacked	January, 2010	Marius Șumudică	January 4, 2010
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Gheorghe Mulțescu	Sacked	February 27, 2010	Zoran Filipović	March 3, 2010
Unirea Alba Iulia	Adrian Falub	Sacked	March 8, 2010	Blaž Slišković	March 11, 2010
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Liviu Ciobotariu	Resigned	March 17, 2010	Sorin Cârțu	March 17, 2010
Rapid București	Nicolae Manea	Resigned	April 1, 2010	Ioan Andone	April 1, 2010
Politehnica Iasi	Petre Grigoraș	Resigned	April 15, 2010	Dumitru Dumitriu	April 15, 2010
Astra Ploiești	Nicolò Napoli	Sacked	April 20, 2010	Marin Barbu	April 20, 2010
FC U Craiova	Mark Wotte	Sacked		Florin Bejinaru	May 14, 2010

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	CFR Cluj (C)	34	20	9	5	46	23	+23	69	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Unirea Urziceni	34	18	12	4	53	26	+27	66	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3	Vaslui	34	18	8	8	44	28	+16	62[a]	Qualification to Europa League play-off round[b]
4	Steaua București	34	18	8	8	49	36	+13	62[a]
5	Timișoara	34	15	14	5	55	27	+28	59	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
6	Dinamo București	34	13	14	7	48	37	+11	53	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[b]
7	Rapid București	34	14	10	10	53	38	+15	52
8	Oțelul Galați	34	14	8	12	38	38	0	50
9	Brașov	34	12	10	12	40	30	+10	46
10	Gaz Metan Mediaș	34	9	15	10	33	37	−4	42
11	Gloria Bistrița	34	10	11	13	35	46	−11	41
12	Internațional Curtea de Argeș (R)	34	10	6	18	32	49	−17	36[c]	Relegation to Liga II[d]
13	FC U Craiova	34	11	3	20	44	52	−8	36[c]
14	Astra Ploiești	34	8	12	14	33	45	−12	36[c]
15	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	34	7	13	14	19	30	−11	34	Spared from relegation[d]
16	Politehnica Iași (R)	34	7	10	17	28	50	−22	31	Relegation to 2010–11 Liga II
17	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț (R)	34	6	10	18	28	57	−29	28
18	Unirea Alba Iulia (R)	34	7	5	22	33	62	−29	26

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. VAS 2–1 STE; STE 2–1 VAS
2. Since 2009–10 Cupa României winners CFR Cluj and runners-up Vaslui qualified for European competitions via their league placement, the allocation of UEFA Europa League spots effectively reverted to league placement as well, with the 6th-placed team Dinamo București also qualifying.
3. INT: 7 pts, 6–4; CRA: 6 pts, 4–6; AST: 4 pts, 5–5
4. Internațional were denied a licence for the 2010–11 season because they failed to meet the requirements. Pandurii Târgu Jiu as the best-placed relegated team were therefore spared from relegation.

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
Astra Ploiești	12	15	16	18	13	14	11	13	14	12	14	14	15	12	14	13	12	11	11	11	11	10	10	11	11	11	13	13	13	11	12	13	13	14
Brașov	4	5	6	1	1	1	1	4	5	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	16	17	18	16	17	17	16	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	17	17	17	17
CFR Cluj	2	2	1	5	3	6	4	2	2	2	2	2	1	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
FC U Craiova	8	12	9	12	8	11	14	15	12	14	15	15	13	10	11	12	14	14	15	15	15	15	14	13	13	13	11	10	11	13	13	14	14	13
Dinamo București	8	15	7	3	2	4	2	7	7	6	7	6	6	7	7	7	8	8	6	7	6	5	4	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Gaz Metan Mediaș	10	8	3	9	11	15	12	10	11	11	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	12	12	12	10	12	12	12	11	10	10	10
Gloria Bistrița	12	12	15	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	16	14	14	13	12	12	10	10	10	12	11	10	10	10	11	11	11
Internațional Curtea de Argeș	12	10	14	10	12	10	13	14	15	13	11	11	12	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	15	15	16	16	14	14	14	14	14	12	12	12
Oțelul Galați	4	5	12	13	16	13	15	12	13	15	12	12	11	14	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	8
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	4	1	4	11	7	3	8	9	10	10	9	10	10	13	12	14	11	13	13	13	14	14	16	16	15	14	15	16	15	15	15	16	16	15
Politehnica Iași	18	18	17	14	15	12	10	8	8	9	13	13	14	11	13	11	13	12	12	12	12	13	13	14	14	15	16	15	16	16	16	15	15	16
Rapid București	1	7	13	8	10	9	7	3	1	3	3	1	4	2	6	5	5	5	7	5	3	4	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7
Steaua București	2	2	8	5	9	5	3	5	6	4	4	3	2	4	3	4	3	3	4	3	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	5	4
Timișoara	4	4	2	2	6	8	6	6	4	1	1	5	5	3	1	1	4	4	2	4	5	2	2	4	4	4	3	3	4	3	3	4	3	5
Unirea Alba Iulia	12	12	11	15	14	16	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	18	18	18	18
Unirea Urziceni	16	11	4	7	5	2	5	1	2	5	6	7	7	6	3	3	2	2	3	2	4	6	5	6	6	5	5	4	2	2	2	2	2	2
Vaslui	10	9	10	4	4	7	9	11	9	8	5	4	3	1	5	6	6	6	5	6	7	7	6	2	2	3	4	5	5	4	4	3	4	3

Source: kicker.de (in German)

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BRA	CEA	CFR	UCR	DIN	GAZ	GBI	INT	OȚE	PAN	PIA	RAP	STE	TIM	UAI	URZ	VAS
Astra Ploiești	—	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–3	0–1	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	4–2	0–2	0–0
Brașov	0–0	—	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–1	3–2	6–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–1
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	0–0	2–1	—	2–4	2–1	0–4	0–0	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–1
CFR Cluj	1–0	2–1	2–0	—	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–2	2–0	0–0
FC U Craiova	1–0	3–0	3–2	2–3	—	0–0	1–2	5–1	1–3	3–0	2–0	2–1	3–4	1–2	1–2	3–1	1–4	1–2
Dinamo București	3–3	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	—	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–0	2–1	1–1
Gaz Metan Mediaș	0–0	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	—	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–4	2–6	5–0	0–0	0–0
Gloria Bistrița	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	3–2	1–1	—	0–1	2–1	1–0	5–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–3
Internațional Curtea de Argeș	2–1	0–3	2–0	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–4	2–1	—	0–1	0–0	0–2	1–2	0–2	0–3	2–1	1–2	1–2
Oțelul Galați	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–3	0–1	3–0	1–0	—	1–1	4–0	0–0	0–1	3–3	1–0	1–4	1–0
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–3	2–3	—	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–0
Politehnica Iași	2–0	0–0	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	—	2–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–3
Rapid București	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–4	0–1	2–2	4–1	2–1	4–0	3–0	1–0	4–1	—	5–1	0–3[a]	2–0	1–1	3–2
Steaua București	2–0	1–0	1–3	2–2	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	—	3–3	2–0	0–1	2–1
Timișoara	0–0	1–2	6–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	—	6–0	0–0	0–1
Unirea Alba Iulia	2–1	0–1	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–2	1–2	3–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–3	—	1–2	2–0
Unirea Urziceni	4–1	1–0	4–0	0–1	3–2	4–4	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	—	1–2
Vaslui	3–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	3–0	1–1	—

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

1. The original result (1–0) was annulled and Rapid were awarded a 0–3 loss because they used ineligible players in the match against Timișoara.^[8]

Top goalscorers

Rank[9][10]	Player	Club	Goals
1	Andrei Cristea	Dinamo București	16
2	Pantelis Kapetanos	Steaua București	15
3	Dorin Goga	Timișoara	12
	Wesley	Vaslui
	Marius Bilașco	Unirea Urziceni
6	Liviu Ganea	Astra Ploiești	11
7	Cristian Bud	CFR Cluj	10
	Júnior Moraes	Gloria Bistrița
	Alexandru Ioniță	Rapid București
10	Lukáš Magera	Timișoara	9

Source: RomanianSoccer

Champion squad

CFR Cluj[11]

Goalkeepers: Nuno Claro (26 / 0); Boris Peškovič (5 / 0); Eduard Stăncioiu (4 / 0). Defenders: Hugo Alcântara (22 / 3); Nelson Cabrera (5 / 0); Ricardo Cadú (28 / 5); Edimar (16 / 0); Léo Veloso (10 / 0); Gabriel Mureșan (28 / 2); Cristian Panin (29 / 0); Felice Piccolo (10 / 0); Tony (19 / 0). Midfielders: Andrei Boroștean (1 / 0); Davide Bottone (7 / 0); Emmanuel Culio (28 / 1); Dani (21 / 0); Ciprian Deac (24 / 2); Roberto De Zerbi (4 / 0); Emil Dică (14 / 1); Nicolae Dică (13 / 0); Sebastián Dubarbier (16 / 3); Darío Flores (5 / 1); André Leão (5 / 0); Sixto Peralta (26 / 3); Eugen Trică (1 / 0). Forwards: Cristian Bud (15 / 7); Sergiu Buș (1 / 0); Didi (7 / 0); Yssouf Koné (21 / 6); Bogdan Mara (16 / 1); Nei (20 / 5); Diego Ruíz (1 / 0); Lacina Traoré (25 / 6). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Manager: Toni Conceição / Andrea Mandorlini .

Season statistics

Scoring

• Hattricks scored: 4
  • Florin Costea for Craiova against Unirea, minutes 15, 31 and 79 (Round 9 – 3 October 2009)
  • Gheorghe Bucur for Timișoara against Gaz Metan, minutes 45, 72 and 85 (Round 15 – 29 November 2009)
  • Wesley Lopes da Silva for Vaslui against Unirea, minutes 47, 61 and 90 (Round 25 – 3 April 2010)
  • Cristian Bud for CFR against Unirea (Round 29 – 24 April 2009)