2012–13 Liga I

The 2012–13 Liga I was the ninety-fifth season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. The season began on 21 July 2012 and ended on 30 May 2013.^[2] CFR Cluj were the defending champions.

Liga I

Season	2012–13
Champions	Steaua București
Relegated	Rapid București Turnu Severin CSMS Iași Gloria Bistrița
Champions League	Steaua București
Europa League	Pandurii Târgu Jiu Petrolul Ploiești Astra Giurgiu
Matches played	306
Goals scored	816 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorer	Raul Rusescu (21)
Biggest home win	Petrolul 5–0 Ceahlăul CFR 5–0 Brașov
Biggest away win	Concordia 0–6 Steaua
Highest scoring	Petrolul 6–4 Brașov
Longest winning run	Steaua (6)
Longest unbeaten run	Petrolul (16)
Longest losing run	Gloria (8)
Highest attendance	Steaua 4–0 Brașov (50,224)[1]
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

Since Romania dropped from 14th to 22nd place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of the 2011–12 season,^[3] the league has lost its second UEFA Champions League berth. Further, all teams who will qualify for a European competition via league placement at the end of this season will have to enter these a round earlier as in the season before. The champions will enter the second qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, while the second- and third-placed teams will begin at the second and first qualifying rounds, respectively, of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. In addition, the winners of the 2012–13 Cupa României will also start in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, two rounds earlier than before.

Teams

Four teams from the 2011–12 season were relegated to their respective 2012–13 Liga II division, Târgu Mureș, Mioveni, Voința Sibiu, and Sportul Studențesc București.

Four teams, two from each division, were promoted from 2011–12 Liga II. From the Seria I, CSMS Iași and Viitorul Constanța gained the access because they finished first and second in the standings. From Seria II, the promoted teams where Gloria Bistrița and Turnu Severin. Politehnica Timișoara won their promotion place in the field, but they did not receive their licence for the first league, so the Romanian Football Federation decided that the third team in the division, Turnu Severin, should promote instead.^[4]

Team FC Astra Ploiești were renamed FC Astra Giurgiu, effective to 1 July 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Venues

Steaua București	Universitatea Cluj	CFR Cluj	Turnu Severin
Arena Națională	Cluj Arena	Dr. Constantin Rădulescu	Municipal
Capacity: 55,634	Capacity: 30,201	Capacity: 23,500	Capacity: 20,054
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Viitorul Constanța[i]	Petrolul Ploiești	Dinamo București
Ceahlăul	Farul	Ilie Oană	Dinamo
Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 15,520	Capacity: 15,073	Capacity: 15,032
Oțelul Galați	Bucharest Astra Brașov Ceahlăul CFR Concordia CSMS Gaz Metan Gloria Oțelul Pandurii Petrolul Turnu Severin Universitatea Vaslui Viitorul Bucharest teams Dinamo Rapid Steaua 2012–13 Liga I (Romania) Dinamo Rapid Steaua Location of Bucharest teams.		Rapid București
Oțelul			Giulești-Valentin Stănescu
Capacity: 13,500			Capacity: 11,704[ii]
Politehnica Iași			Vaslui
Emil Alexandrescu			Municipal
Capacity: 11,390			Capacity: 9,240
Pandurii Târgu Jiu			Brașov
Tudor Vladimirescu			Silviu Ploeșteanu
Capacity: 9,200			Capacity: 8,800
Astra Giurgiu	Gaz Metan Mediaș	Gloria Bistrița	Concordia Chiajna
Marin Anastasovici	Gaz Metan	Gloria	Concordia
Capacity: 8,500	Capacity: 7,814	Capacity: 7,800	Capacity: 5,123

1. Viitorul Constanța was relocated to Farul Stadium from Constanța for this season, because Orășenesc Stadium from Ovidiu didn't meet the licensing rules.
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.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Astra Giurgiu	Daniel Isăilă	Valerică Găman	Puma	InterAgro
Brașov	Adrian Szabo	Cristian Munteanu	Puma	Roman
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	Viorel Hizo	Marian Constantinescu	Masita	SuperBet
CFR Cluj	Eugen Trică	Cadú	Joma	EnergoBit
Concordia Chiajna	Ilie Stan	Sorin Ghionea	Nike	—
CSMS Iași	Sorin Cârțu	Răzvan Tincu	Legea	—
Dinamo București	Cornel Țălnar	Cătălin Munteanu	Nike	Orange
Gaz Metan Mediaș	Gheorghe Mulțescu	Cristian Todea	Joma	RomGaz
Gloria Bistrița	Nicolae Manea	Cornel Predescu	Puma	Gomar
Oțelul Galați	Petre Grigoraș	Sergiu Costin	Masita	ArcelorMittal
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Cristian Pustai	Ousmane Viera	Nike	USMO
Petrolul Ploiești	Cosmin Contra	Sony Mustivar	Macron	Romprest
Rapid București	Marian Rada	Daniel Pancu	Puma	—
Steaua București	Laurențiu Reghecampf	Alexandru Bourceanu	Nike	Mihai Nesu Foundation
Turnu Severin	Ionel Gane	Marius Bălău	Puma	Primăria Severin
Universitatea Cluj	Ionel Ganea	Zsolt Szilágyi	Nike	Romprest
Vaslui	Gavril Balint	Lucian Sânmărtean	Adidas	New Holland Agriculture
Viitorul Constanța	Cătălin Anghel	Nicolae Dică	Puma	—

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Steaua București	Mihai Stoichiță	Contract terminated	21 May 2012[5]	Pre-season	Laurențiu Reghecampf	21 May 2012[6]
Concordia Chiajna	Laurențiu Reghecampf	Signed by Steaua București	21 May 2012[6]		Ilie Stan	8 June 2012[7]
Rapid București	Răzvan Lucescu	Signed by El Jaish	21 May 2012[8]		Ioan Sabău	18 June 2012[9]
Astra Giurgiu	Mircea Rednic	Resigned	23 May 2012[10]		Bogdan Stelea	14 June 2012[11]
Petrolul Ploiești	Gheorghe Mulțescu	Sacked	24 May 2012[12]		Mircea Rednic	29 May 2012[13]
Vaslui	Augusto Inácio	Resigned	4 July 2012[14]		Marius Șumudică	5 July 2012[15]
Universitatea Cluj	Claudiu Niculescu	Resigned	23 July 2012[16]	17th	Cristian Dulca	26 July 2012[17]
Astra Giurgiu	Bogdan Stelea	Sacked	10 August 2012[18]	10th	Gheorghe Mulțescu	13 August 2012[19]
Turnu Severin	Marian Bondrea	Sacked	27 August 2012[20]	16th	Nicolò Napoli	27 August 2012
CSMS Iași	Ionuț Popa	Resigned	29 August 2012[21]	17th	Liviu Ciobotariu	29 August 2012[21]
Oțelul Galați	Dorinel Munteanu	Resigned	30 August 2012[22]	15th	Viorel Tănase	30 August 2012[22]
Brașov	Ionuț Badea	Sacked	23 September 2012[23]	11th	Sorin Cârțu	10 October 2012[24]
Vaslui	Marius Șumudică	Resigned	24 September 2012[25]	4th	Viorel Hizo	28 September 2012[26]
Universitatea Cluj	Cristian Dulca	Resigned	1 October 2012[27]	13th	Marius Șumudică	10 November 2012[28]
Rapid București	Ioan Sabău	Sacked	20 October 2012[29]	8th	Marian Rada	20 October 2012[29]
CFR Cluj	Ioan Andone	Mutual consent	24 October 2012[30]	10th	Paulo Sérgio	30 October 2012[31]
Petrolul Ploiești	Mircea Rednic	Signed by Standard Liège	26 October 2012[32]	6th	Cosmin Contra	29 October 2012[33]
Astra Giurgiu	Gheorghe Mulțescu	Sacked	29 October 2012[34]	3rd	Valentin Sinescu	29 October 2012[35]
Brașov	Sorin Cârțu	Resigned	11 November 2012[36]	10th	Adrian Szabo	13 November 2012[36]
Dinamo București	Dario Bonetti	Sacked	15 November 2012[37]	7th	Dorinel Munteanu	15 November 2012[37]
Universitatea Cluj	Marius Șumudică	Resigned	15 November 2012[38]	14th	Marius Popescu	16 November 2012[39]
Turnu Severin	Nicolò Napoli	End of contract	21 December 2012[40]	17th	Ionel Gane	9 January 2013[41]
Dinamo București	Dorinel Munteanu	Resigned	27 December 2012[42]	7th	Cornel Țălnar	28 December 2012[43]
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Petre Grigoraș	Resigned	17 January 2013[44]	4th	Cristian Pustai	19 January 2013[45]
Gaz Metan Mediaș	Cristian Pustai	Signed by Pandurii Târgu Jiu	19 January 2013[45]	12th	Gheorghe Mulțescu	21 January 2013[46]
Oțelul Galați	Viorel Tănase	Mutual consent	30 January 2013[47]	13th	Petre Grigoraș	30 January 2013[47]
Universitatea Cluj	Marius Popescu	End of caretaker spell	31 January 2013[48]	16th	Ionel Ganea	31 January 2013[48]
Astra Giurgiu	Valentin Sinescu	Sacked	6 April 2013[49]	2nd	Marin Barbu	6 April 2013[49]
Vaslui	Viorel Hizo	Resigned	7 April 2013[50]	6th	Gavril Balint	9 April 2013[51]
CFR Cluj	Paulo Sérgio	Sacked	13 April 2013[52]	8th	Eugen Trică	13 April 2013[52]
Astra Giurgiu	Marin Barbu	Sacked	13 April 2013[53]	2nd	Daniel Isăilă	13 April 2013[53]
CSMS Iași	Liviu Ciobotariu	Sacked	20 April 2013[54]	17th	Sorin Cârțu	22 April 2013[55]
Ceahlăul	Costel Enache	Sacked	12 May 2013[56]	13th	Viorel Hizo	12 May 2013[56]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Steaua București (C)	34	24	7	3	74	29	+45	79	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	34	19	6	9	57	43	+14	63	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
3	Petrolul Ploiești	34	16	14	4	60	34	+26	62
4	Astra Giurgiu	34	17	9	8	64	37	+27	60	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[a]
5	Vaslui	34	16	10	8	50	34	+16	58
6	Dinamo București	34	16	8	10	48	40	+8	56
7	Brașov	34	14	9	11	50	51	−1	51
8	Rapid București (R)	34	13	10	11	35	35	0	49[b]	Relegation to Liga II[c]
9	CFR Cluj	34	12	13	9	56	39	+17	49[b]
10	Gaz Metan Mediaș	34	12	10	12	42	46	−4	46
11	Oțelul Galați[d]	34	11	10	13	38	42	−4	41
12	Universitatea Cluj	34	10	8	16	39	55	−16	38
13	Viitorul Constanța	34	8	12	14	45	57	−12	36
14	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	34	9	7	18	41	59	−18	34
15	Concordia Chiajna	34	7	12	15	29	49	−20	33	Spared from relegation[c]
16	Turnu Severin (R)	34	7	11	16	36	47	−11	32	Relegation to Liga II
17	CSMS Iași (R)	34	7	5	22	31	50	−19	26
18	Gloria Bistrița (R)	34	3	9	22	21	69	−48	18

Source: Liga I (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. Astra Giurgiu qualified for the first qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa as Petrolul won the 2012–13 Cupa României and secured a place in the second qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa.
2. CFR 0-0 RAP; RAP 3-2 CFR
3. Rapid did not obtain a licence for the 2013–14 season, therefore Concordia Chiajna were spared from relegation.
4. Oțelul Galați were deducted two points because of debts owed to agent Codoban Tătar Ionel.

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
Steaua București	5	3	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	5	4	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2
Petrolul Ploiești	1	6	4	5	5	9	8	6	7	9	8	6	4	5	6	5	6	5	6	5	4	5	4	4	3	2	4	3	2	2	4	4	3	3
Astra Giurgiu	3	7	8	10	7	5	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	4	5	4	3	3	4	4
Vaslui	7	4	8	11	6	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5
Dinamo București	3	2	3	4	4	3	5	8	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	8	7	7	7	7	6	4	5	5	4	5	5	5	4	5	5	5	6	6
Brașov	7	5	6	9	12	13	9	11	9	10	9	7	8	10	10	9	9	8	8	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	7
Rapid București	7	10	6	8	10	7	10	7	10	7	6	8	9	9	8	7	8	9	9	8	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	9	9	8
CFR Cluj	11	10	5	3	3	6	7	5	8	6	7	10	7	6	5	6	5	6	5	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	8	8	9
Gaz Metan Mediaș	11	14	14	14	11	8	11	12	13	11	12	14	12	12	13	14	12	12	12	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Oțelul Galați	6	9	13	15	15	15	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	14	14	13	13	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Universitatea Cluj	17	8	12	7	9	11	6	10	12	13	11	12	13	14	14	15	15	16	16	16	16	14	14	12	12	12	12	13	12	12	12	12	12	12
Viitorul Constanța	7	10	11	13	14	12	13	13	11	12	13	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	13	13	13	15	14	13	13	14	14	16	14	13	13	13
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	18	15	16	12	13	14	15	14	14	14	14	13	14	13	12	12	13	13	14	14	14	15	15	14	15	14	14	12	13	13	13	14	14	14
Concordia Chiajna	16	13	8	6	8	10	12	9	6	8	10	9	10	8	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	13	13	15	15	15	15	14	15	15	15	15
Turnu Severin	13	16	17	16	16	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	15	16	16	16	16
CSMS Iași	13	18	18	18	17	16	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17
Gloria Bistrița	13	16	15	17	18	18	14	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18

	Leader
	2013–14 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
	2013–14 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
	Relegation to 2013–14 Liga II

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BRA	CEA	CFR	CON	IAȘ	DIN	GAZ	GBI	OȚE	PAN	PET	RAP	STE	TUR	UCL	VAS	VII
Astra Giurgiu		3–0	4–2	3–3	6–3	1–0	1–0	4–0	4–0	0–0	4–1	1–1	3–2	3–4	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0
Brașov	1–2		1–0	0–0	3–2	1–0	2–2	3–1	4–1	3–2	0–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–1
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	3–2	2–1		2–2	3–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	4–1	0–1	0–2	0–0	3–4	1–0	2–1	0–2	0–3
CFR Cluj	0–2	5–0	3–2		1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	5–1	0–1	2–3	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–3	3–1	3–0	0–1
Concordia Chiajna	0–2	2–1	2–1	1–2		1–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–6	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1
CSMS Iași	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–1		1–1	0–2	2–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	0–1	0–3	1–0	4–0	1–2	1–2
Dinamo București	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	5–2		2–0	1–2	2–1	3–0	2–1	2–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	0–1	2–3
Gaz Metan Mediaș	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	2–2		3–1	1–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	4–1
Gloria Bistrița	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–5	1–3	1–0	1–2	1–1		2–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–1
Oțelul Galați	2–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	2–1	0–3	0–1	2–0	1–1		1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	3–2		1–3	2–0	0–0	2–2	6–2	2–1	4–1
Petrolul Ploiești	1–1	6–4	5–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	4–0	2–1	4–0		0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	0–0	3–0
Rapid București	0–2	1–2	2–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	3–1	2–3	2–0	0–0		1–1	1–0	1–4	2–2	2–1
Steaua București	2–0	4–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	3–1	3–0	4–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0		2–1	5–1	1–0	2–5
Turnu Severin	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	2–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	0–1	1–1		1–1	2–0	2–2
Universitatea Cluj	1–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–2	1–2	3–4	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–2	0–1	1–0		2–1	2–1
Vaslui	2–1	1–1	4–3	0–0	3–0	3–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0		3–2
Viitorul Constanța	0–0	2–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–2	0–4	3–4	1–1	2–2

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

Top goalscorers

Rank[57][58]	Player	Club	Goals
1	Raul Rusescu	Steaua București	21
2	Jeremy Bokila	Petrolul Ploiești	16
3	Marius Alexe	Dinamo București	15
4	Kehinde Fatai	Astra Giurgiu	14
5	Hamza Younés	Petrolul Ploiești	13
6	Constantin Budescu	Astra Giurgiu	12
7	Marius Niculae1	Vaslui	11
	Mugurel Buga	Brașov
	Bojan Golubović	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț
10	Tha'er Bawab	Gaz Metan Mediaș	10
	Deivydas Matulevičius	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
	Nicolae Dică	Viitorul Constanța
	Victoraș Astafei	Gaz Metan Mediaș / Oțelul Galați

¹ Marius Niculae was transferred to Shandong Luneng during the winter transfer window.

Champion squad

Steaua București[59][60]

Goalkeepers: Valentin Cojocaru (3 / 0); Răzvan Stanca (4 / 0); Ciprian Tătărușanu (28 / 0). Defenders: Doru Bratu (2 / 0); Vlad Chiricheș (26 / 1); Andrei Dumitraș (5 / 0); Florin Gardoș (21 / 1); Daniel Georgievski (19 / 0); Iasmin Latovlevici (24 / 2); Valeriu Lupu (2 / 0); Novak Martinović (5 / 1); Gabriel Matei (1 / 0); Paul Pârvulescu (12 / 0); Cornel Râpă (8 / 0); Łukasz Szukała (20 / 4). Midfielders: Tiberiu Bălan (5 / 0); Alexandru Bourceanu (32 / 3); Alexandru Chipciu (27 / 6); Lucian Filip (17 / 0); Ionuț Năstăsie (2 / 0); Mihai Pintilii (30 / 5); Adrian Popa (30 / 1); Andrei Prepeliță (18 / 1); Cristian Tănase (29 / 8). Forwards: Florin Costea (1 / 0); Mihai Costea (12 / 2); Gabriel Iancu (10 / 2); Adi Rocha (16 / 9); Leandro Tatu (9 / 2); Stefan Nikolić (24 / 5); Raul Rusescu (34 / 21). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Manager: Laurențiu Reghecampf.

Statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: John Ibeh (Pandurii Târgu Jiu) against Universitatea Cluj
• Hat-tricks of the season:
  • Hamza Younés (Petrolul Ploiești) against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț (stage 1)
  • George Țucudean (Dinamo București) against CSMS Iași (4 goals, stage 2)
  • Mirko Ivanovski (Astra Giurgiu) against Concordia Chiajna (stage 6)
  • Marius Niculae (Vaslui) against Concordia Chiajna (stage 10)
  • Marius Onofraș (CSMS Iași) against Oțelul Galați (stage 18)
  • Marius Pena (Oțelul Galați) against Rapid București (stage 19)
  • Robert Maah (CFR Cluj) against Universitatea Cluj (stage 34)