2020–21 Liga II

The 2020–21 Liga II (also known as 2020–21 Liga II Casa Pariurilor) was the 81st season of the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian football league system. A total of 21 teams contested the league, instead of 20, due to the no relegation rule imposed in the previous season by the suspension of the league due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was the fifth Liga II season with a single series.^[1] In the regular season each team played every other team once, followed by a promotion play-off and a relegation play-out. The first two teams promoted to Liga I at the end of the season and the third-placed and fourth-placed team played a play-off match against the 13th-placed and 14th-placed team from Liga I. The last six teams relegated to Liga III. The season began on 5 September 2020 and ended on 3 June 2021.^[2]

Liga II

Season	2020–21
Promoted	FC U Craiova Rapid București Mioveni
Relegated	Comuna Recea CSM Reșița Slatina Pandurii Targu Jiu Aerostar Bacău Turris Turnu Măgurele
Matches played	263
Goals scored	655 (2.49 per match)
Top goalscorer	Marius Coman (15 goals) (Comuna Recea)
Biggest home win	Recea 6–0 Reșița
Biggest away win	Călărași 1–5 Mioveni Aerostar 1–5 Viitorul
Highest scoring	Recea 3–4 Viitorul Viitorul 4–3 Pandurii Viitorul 4–3 Reșița Recea 5–2 Slatina
Longest winning run	5 matches: Rapid București
Longest unbeaten run	15 matches: FC U Craiova
Longest winless run	14 matches: Aerostar Bacău
Longest losing run	6 matches: Aerostar Bacău
Highest attendance	0 (behind closed doors)
Lowest attendance	0 (behind closed doors)
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 6 June 2021.

Team changes

To Liga II Promoted from Liga III Aerostar Bacău[3] (after 1 year of absence) FC U Craiova[3] (after 6 years of absence) Unirea Slobozia (after 5 years of absence) Slatina (after 7 years of absence) Comuna Recea (debut) Relegated from Liga I None

From Liga II Relegated to Liga III Sportul Snagov (ended 8-year stay) Daco-Getica București (ended 2-year stay) Promoted to Liga I UTA Arad (ended 5-year stay) Argeș Pitești (ended 3-year stay)

Stadiums by capacity

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Aerostar Bacău	Bacău	Aerostar	1,500
Comuna Recea	Recea	Central	600
Concordia Chiajna	Chiajna	Concordia	5,123
Dunărea Călărași	Călărași	Ion Comșa	10,400
Farul Constanța	Constanța	Farul	15,520
Gloria Buzău	Buzău	Municipal	18,000
Metaloglobus București	Bucharest	Metaloglobus	1,000
Miercurea Ciuc	Miercurea Ciuc	Municipal	1,200
Mioveni	Mioveni	Orășenesc	10,000
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Târgu Jiu	Tudor Vladimirescu	12,518
Petrolul Ploiești	Ploiești	Ilie Oană	15,073
Politehnica Timișoara	Timișoara	Știința	1,000
Rapid București	Bucharest	Regie	10,020
Reșița	Reșița	Mircea Chivu	12,500
Ripensia Timișoara	Timișoara	Electrica	5,000
Slatina	Slatina	1 Mai	10,000
Turris Turnu Măgurele	Turnu Măgurele	Municipal	2,000
U Craiova	Craiova	Ion Oblemenco	30,983
Unirea Slobozia	Slobozia	1 Mai	6,000
Universitatea Cluj	Cluj-Napoca	Cluj Arena	30,201
Viitorul Târgu Jiu	Târgu Jiu	Tudor Vladimirescu	12,518

Locations

Bucharest

Aerostar

Politehnica

Comuna Recea

Concordia

Dunărea

Gloria

Farul

U Craiova

Miercurea Ciuc

Mioveni

Pandurii

Petrolul

Reșița

Ripensia

Slatina

Turris

Unirea

Universitatea

Viitorul

Bucharest teams:
Metaloglobus
Rapid

Location of teams in 2020–21 Liga II

Metaloglobus

Rapid

Location of Bucharest teams.

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
Aerostar Bacău	Mihai Ionescu	Cătălin Vraciu	Nike	Aerostar S.A.
ASU Politehnica Timișoara	Dan Alexa	Ioan Mera	Westiment / Joma	De Construct Ind, Sika
Comuna Recea	Florin Fabian	Alin Bota	Hummel	DualStore
Concordia Chiajna	Claudiu Niculescu	Andrei Marc	Joma	—
CSM Reșița	Adrian Falub	Laurențiu Breșneni	Jako	Invest in Reșița
Dunărea Călărași	Cristian Pustai	Bogdan Șandru	Joma	Consiliul Județean Călărași
Farul Constanța	Ianis Zicu	Paul Antoche	Joma	NOI Cash&Carry
FC U Craiova 1948	Eugen Trică	Dragoș Albu	Adidas	Justice for Craiova
Metaloglobus București	Gabriel Manu	Ovidiu Herea	Jako	—
Miercurea Ciuc	Valentin Suciu	Attila Csürös	2Rule	Csíkszereda
Mioveni	Alexandru Pelici	Robert Gherghe	Macron	Mioveni
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	Călin Cojocaru	Marian Pleașcă	Cottontex	Winner
Petrolul Ploiești	Octavian Grigore	Pol Roigé	Joma	Veolia
Rapid București	Mihai Iosif	Ionuț Voicu	Macron	Greenfield, Superbet
Ripensia Timișoara	Cosmin Petruescu	Alexandru Popovici	Cottontex / Macron	Almira, La Migdali, ILA
SCM Gloria Buzău	Ilie Stan	Ciprian Petre	Joma	—
Slatina	Cristian Stănculețu	Vasile Gheorghe	Macron	Primăria Slatina
Turris Turnu Măgurele			Joma	Nutrelo
Unirea Slobozia	Adrian Mihalcea	Constantin Toma	Joma	Consiliul Județean Ialomița
Universitatea Cluj	Costel Enache	Srdjan Luchin	Adidas	Superbet, De'Longhi, Irum
Viitorul Târgu Jiu	Cristian Lupuț	Cristian Oroș	Nike	Grimex (h), Hotel Brâncuși(a), Vitalact(a)

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Ripensia	Alexandru Pelici	Signed by Reșița	30 May 2020[4]	Pre-season	Cosmin Petruescu	8 June 2020[5]
Reșița	Dorinel Munteanu	End of contract	31 May 2020[6]	Pre-season	Alexandru Pelici	4 June 2020[7]
Metaloglobus	Marius Măldărășanu	End of contract	31 May 2020[8]	Pre-season	Gabriel Manu	10 August 2020[9]
Viitorul	Cristian Lupuț	End of contract	30 June 2020[10]	Pre-season	Flavius Stoican	26 August 2020[11]
Aerostar	Daniel Munteanu	End of contract	30 June 2020[12]	Pre-season	Cristian Lupuț	3 August 2020[13]
Petrolul	Cătălin Munteanu	Mutual agreement	3 August 2020[14]	Pre-season	Viorel Moldovan	9 August 2020[15]
Rapid	Dan Alexa	Mutual agreement	9 August 2020[16]	Pre-season	Adrian Iencsi	10 August 2020[17]
FC U Craiova	Eugen Trică	Sacked	24 August 2020[18]	Pre-season	Nicolò Napoli	25 August 2020[19]
Universitatea Cluj	Adrian Falub	Resigned	14 September 2020[20]	14	Costel Enache	16 September 2020[21]
Aerostar	Cristian Lupuț	Resigned	20 September 2020[22]	19	Daniel Munteanu	20 September 2020[23]
Recea	Ciprian Danciu	Sacked	22 September 2020[24]	20	Nicolae Constantin	22 September 2020
FC U Craiova	Nicolò Napoli	Sacked	12 October 2020[25]	1	Dan Vasilică (caretaker)	13 October 2020[26]
CSM Reșița	Alexandru Pelici	Resigned	17 October 2020[27]	15	Alin Minteuan	4 November 2020[28]
Rapid	Adrian Iencsi	Sacked	27 October 2020[29]	11	Mihai Iosif (caretaker)	27 October 2020[29]
Mioveni	Claudiu Niculescu	Mutual agreement	27 October 2020[30]	10	Alexandru Pelici	28 October 2020[31]
Concordia	Florin Bratu	Sacked	6 November 2020[32]	18	Costel Orac (caretaker)	6 November 2020[33]
ASU Politehnica	Octavian Benga	Released	11 November 2020[34]	3	Dan Alexa	11 November 2020[35]
Turris	Erik Lincar	Sacked	7 November 2020[36]	10	Eugen Trică	10 November 2020[37]
Slatina	Mihai Ianovschi	Sacked	22 November 2020[38]	17	Mircea Voicu (caretaker)	22 November 2020[38]
Rapid	Mihai Iosif (caretaker)	End of tenure as a caretaker	1 December 2020[39]	5	Nicolae Grigore	1 December 2020[39]
Slobozia	Enache Costea	Mutual agreement	9 December 2020[40]	19	Adrian Mihalcea	9 December 2020[40]
Slatina	Mircea Voicu (caretaker)	End of tenure as a caretaker	10 December 2020[41]	16	Dinu Todoran	10 December 2020[41]
FC U Craiova	Dan Vasilică (caretaker)	End of tenure as a caretaker	23 December 2020[42]	1	Ovidiu Stîngă	24 December 2020[42]
Concordia	Costel Orac (caretaker)	End of tenure as a caretaker	8 January 2021[43]	18	Claudiu Niculescu	8 January 2021[43]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	FC U Craiova	19	9	8	2	30	15	+15	35	Qualification to Promotion play-off
2	Dunărea Călărași	19	10	4	5	25	22	+3	34
3	Mioveni	19	9	6	4	23	11	+12	33
4	Rapid București	19	10	3	6	33	28	+5	33
5	Miercurea Ciuc	19	9	5	5	23	15	+8	32
6	ASU Politehnica Timișoara	19	8	8	3	18	14	+4	32
7	Farul Constanța	19	9	5	5	24	18	+6	32	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group A
8	Viitorul Târgu Jiu	19	10	2	7	32	27	+5	32	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group B
9	Petrolul Ploiești	19	9	4	6	30	16	+14	31
10	Metaloglobus București	19	9	3	7	25	15	+10	30	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group A
11	Universitatea Cluj	19	9	2	8	20	19	+1	29
12	Gloria Buzău	19	6	8	5	21	20	+1	26	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group B
13	Concordia Chiajna	19	6	6	7	21	18	+3	24
14	Comuna Recea	19	6	5	8	29	29	0	23	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group A
15	Ripensia Timișoara	19	6	4	9	15	30	−15	22
16	Unirea Slobozia	19	5	4	10	15	26	−11	19	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group B
17	CSM Reșița	19	5	4	10	10	26	−16	19
18	Slatina	19	4	3	12	17	25	−8	15	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group A
19	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	19	3	4	12	18	37	−19	13
20	Aerostar Bacău	19	2	4	13	19	37	−18	10	Qualification to Relegation play-out Group B
21	Turris Turnu Măgurele (E)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0[a]	Excluded

Updated to match(es) played on 28 March 2021. Source: FRF (in Romanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6)Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; .^[44]
(E) Eliminated
Notes:

1. Turris Turnu Măgurele withdrew from Liga II after the 14th round and all its results were canceled.

Season results

Home \ Away	FCU	ASU	MIE	DUN	VTJ	PET	MIO	RAP	UCJ	SCM	FAR	MET	REC	REȘ	RIP	CON	USZ	SLA	AER	PAN
FC U Craiova				2–1			1–2	5–0		1–1	0–0	1–0			4–1			2–1	0–0
Politehnica Timișoara	0–0			1–1		1–0	0–0	0–2		2–0	2–1	1–0			2–0			1–0
Miercurea Ciuc	1–1	2–0		0–1		1–2			2–1					2–0		1–0	0–1	1–0		1–1
Dunărea Călărași					2–1		1–0			0–2	1–1	1–0	3–0		2–2				3–2
Viitorul Târgu Jiu	2–4	0–1	0–0			1–1		1–3	1–2					2–1		1–0	3–1	2–1		4–3
Petrolul Ploiești	0–1			0–1			0–1	2–0		1–1	1–2	1–0			5–0			1–1	1–4
Mioveni			1–1		1–2				0–1	0–0		0–1	1–1	1–0					5–1
Rapid București			1–3	4–0			0–3		1–0		2–1			0–0	2–2	4–2				2–1
Universitatea Cluj	1–0	0–1		2–1		1–2									1–0	1–1	3–1	2–1		2–0
SCM Gloria Buzău			0–1		2–1			0–0	2–1				2–0	0–1		1–1	2–0		1–1	1–1
Farul Constanța			0–2		1–0		1–1			2–2		1–2	3–2	1–0					1–0
Metaloglobus București			2–1		1–2			2–4	0–0	5–1			2–0	0–0		1–1			3–0	3–0
Comuna Recea	3–3	3–3	0–1		3–4	1–2		2–1	1–0					6–0		0–0	2–0			2–0
CSM Reșița	0–2	0–0		0–1		0–4			2–1						2–0	1–0	0–3	1–1		1–2
Ripensia Timișoara			1–1		0–2		0–3			2–1	1–0	0–2	0–0						2–0
Concordia Chiajna	0–0	2–0		2–1		0–0	0–1				1–2				0–1		3–1	3–2		4–0
Unirea Slobozia	0–0	0–0		2–2		0–3	0–0	2–1			0–2	0–1			2–0			0–3
Slatina				0–1			0–1	0–3		0–2	1–1	1–0	2–0		0–1				2–1
Aerostar Bacău		2–2	3–2		0–3			2–3	0–1				2–3	0–1		0–1	0–2			1–1
Pandurii Târgu Jiu	2–3	1–1		1–2		0–4	1–2				0–1				1–2		1–0	2–1

Updated to match(es) played on 28 March 2021. Source: Liga 2
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Top scorers

Updated to matches played on 28 March 2021.^[45]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ovidiu Herea	Metaloglobus	11
	Cătălin Hlistei	Rapid București
3	Marius Coman	Comuna Recea	10
4	Claudiu Bălan	FC U Craiova	8
5	Gabriel Dodoi	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	7
	Daniel Paraschiv	Viitorul Târgu Jiu
	Cosmin Tucaliuc	Gloria Buzău
	Armando Vajushi	Petrolul Ploiești
9	Vasile Buhăescu	Petrolul Ploiești	6
	Bogdan Rusu	CS Mioveni
11	5 players tied		5

Promotion play-off

A promotion play-off tournament between the best 6 teams (after 20 rounds) will be played to decide the two teams that will be promoted to Liga I, meanwhile the third-placed and fourth-placed teams would play another play-off match against the 13th-placed and 14th-placed teams from Liga I. The teams will start the promotion play-offs with all the points accumulated in the regular season.^[2]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	FC U Craiova (C, P)	10	5	4	1	13	7	+6	54	Promotion to Liga I
2	Rapid București (P)	10	5	1	4	14	11	+3	49
3	Mioveni (O, P)	10	3	6	1	18	11	+7	48	Qualification to Liga I play-off
4	Dunărea Călărași (Q)	10	2	4	4	10	18	−8	44
5	Miercurea Ciuc	10	2	4	4	9	11	−2	42
6	ASU Politehnica Timișoara	10	2	3	5	9	15	−6	41

Source: FRF (in Romanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for promotion play-off

Results

Home \ Away	FCU	DUN	MIO	RAP	MIE	ASU
FC U Craiova		0–0	4–2	1–0	0–0	1–0
Dunărea Călărași	1–1		1–5	3–2	0–2	0–0
Mioveni	0–0	1–1		1–0	0–0	4–0
Rapid București	1–3	4–1	1–1		2–0	1–0
Miercurea Ciuc	1–2	1–2	2–2	0–1		2–2
ASU Poli Timisoara	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–2	0–1

Source: FRF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-out

A relegation play-out tournament between the last 15 ranked teams at the end of the regular season will be played to decide the five teams that will be relegated to Liga III. Two play-out groups will be made: the first group will consist of teams ranked 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19, and the second group will consist of teams ranked 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17 and 20, at the end of the regular season. The teams will start the promotion play-offs with all the points accumulated in the regular season. Two teams from each group will be relegated to Liga III, while the 5th placed teams in both groups will meet in a tie to avoid relegation.^[2][46]

Group A

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Farul Constanța (P)	6	3	1	2	10	8	+2	42[a]	Promotion to Liga I following a merger with Viitorul Constanța
2	Universitatea Cluj	6	3	1	2	13	9	+4	39
3	Metaloglobus București	6	3	0	3	6	7	−1	39
4	Ripensia Timișoara	6	4	2	0	9	3	+6	36
5	Comuna Recea (R)	6	4	0	2	18	10	+8	35	Qualification to Liga II play-out
6	Slatina (R)	6	1	1	4	8	15	−7	19	Relegation to Liga III
7	Pandurii Târgu Jiu (R)	6	0	1	5	5	17	−12	14

Source: FRF (in Romanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored.
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Farul Constanța was promoted to Liga I due to the merge with top-flight club Viitorul Constanța.

Results

Home \ Away	UCJ	FAR	MET	REC	RIP	SLA	PAN
Universitatea Cluj			2–0	2–3			1–1
Farul Constanța	1–3			3–1	1–1
Metaloglobus București		1–0				1–0	3–1
Comuna Recea			3–1			5–2	5–0
Ripensia Timișoara	2–1		1–0	2–1
Slatina	2–4	1–3			0–0
Pandurii Târgu Jiu		1–2			0–3	2–3

Source: FRF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Petrolul Ploiești	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	42
2	Viitorul Târgu Jiu	6	3	0	3	15	14	+1	41
3	Gloria Buzău	6	2	3	1	9	7	+2	35
4	Concordia Chiajna	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	34
5	Unirea Slobozia (O)	6	2	4	0	8	5	+3	29	Qualification to Liga II play-out
6	CSM Reșița (R)	6	2	1	3	8	7	+1	26	Relegation to Liga III
7	Aerostar Bacău (R)	6	0	1	5	4	17	−13	11

Source: FRF (in Romanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored.
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	VTJ	PET	GBZ	CON	USZ	REȘ	AER
Viitorul Târgu Jiu		1–3	2–4			4–3
Petrolul Ploiești			1–1	0–1			2–0
Gloria Buzău				0–3	0–0		3–0
Concordia Chiajna	0–2				1–1		3–1
Unirea Slobozia	3–1	1–1				1–0
CSM Reșița		0–1	1–1	2–0
Aerostar Bacău	1–5				2–2	0–2

Source: FRF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Liga I Promotion/relegation play-offs

The 13th and 14th-placed teams of the Liga I faces the 3rd and 4th-placed team of the Liga II.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Dunărea Călărași	1–6	Voluntari	1–2	0–4
Mioveni	2–1	Hermannstadt	0–0	2–1

First leg

Mioveni v Hermannstadt

29 May 2021	Mioveni	0–0	Hermannstadt	Mioveni
15:30 EEST (UTC+3)		Report		Stadium: Orășenesc Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Arad)

Dunărea Călărași v Voluntari

29 May 2021	Dunărea Călărași	1–2	Voluntari	Călărași
18:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Kanda 31'	Report	Betancor 42' Vlad 73'	Stadium: Ion Comșa Referee: Sebastian Colțescu (Craiova)

Second leg

Hermannstadt v Mioveni

2 June 2021	Hermannstadt	1–2	Mioveni	Mediaș
19:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Yazalde 21'		Massaro 72' Panait 90+3'	Stadium: Gaz Metan Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Cluj-Napoca)

Voluntari v Dunărea Călăraşi

3 June 2021	Voluntari	4–0	Dunărea Călăraşi	Voluntari
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Dropa 7' Betancor 18' I.Armaș 79' C. Achim 86' (pen.)			Stadium: Anghel Iordănescu Referee: Horia Mladinovici (Bucharest)

Liga II play-out

The 5th-placed teams of the Liga II relegation play-out groups face each other in order to determine the last relegated team to Liga III.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Comuna Recea	2–3	Unirea Slobozia	2–0	0–3

First leg

Comuna Recea v Unirea Slobozia

15 May 2021	Comuna Recea	2–0	Unirea Slobozia	Recea
11:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Balha 72' Oiță 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Central Referee: Iulian Călin (Ștefănești)

Second leg

Unirea Slobozia v Comuna Recea

22 May 2021	Unirea Slobozia	3–0	Comuna Recea	Slobozia
11:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Afalna 53' G. Lazăr 83' M. Ciobanu 90+4'	Report		Stadium: 1 Mai Referee: Iulian Dima (Bucharest)

Attendances