The 2013–14 Liga I is the ninety-sixth season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. The season began on 19 July 2013 and ended on 21 May 2014."Hotărâri ale Comitetului Executiv al Federației Române de Fotbal ". FRF. 6 July 2013 Steaua București are the defending champions.
Since Romania climbed from 22nd to 18th place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of the 2012–13 season, the winners of the 2013–14 Cupa României will start in the third qualifying round of the Europa League instead of second qualifying round. The champions will still enter the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the second-placed team will still enter the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, but third-placed team will enter the second qualifying round instead of first qualifying round.
Teams The last four teams from the 2012–13 season were initially relegated to their respective 2013–14 Liga II division. Gloria Bistrița, Turnu Severin and CSM Studențesc Iași were relegated after just one season in the top flight, while Concordia Chiajna were to return to Liga II after two years.
Additionally, two other teams were also relegated because they failed to obtain a licence for the 2013–14 Liga I season: Rapid București and Universitatea Cluj. However, on 5 July 2013, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeal of Universitatea Cluj and therefore decided that they could remain in Liga I. Also, the Romanian Football Federation announced a play-off game between Rapid Bucharest and Concordia Chiajna for the 18th place in the 2013–14 season. The play-off was played on 13 July 2013 and won by Rapid, with 2–1, after extra-time. The FRF decision was contested by Concordia at the CAS. On 2 August, CAS decided that Concordia Chiajna should play in Liga I and Rapid was relegated to the second division. The results of the matches played by Rapid in the first two rounds of the season, with Viitorul and Vaslui, were canceled.
The first two teams from each of the two divisions of 2012–13 Liga II advanced to Liga I. FC Botoșani promoted as the winners of Seria I. It is their first season in Liga I and the first time ever a team from Botoșani County is playing in the first league. The other three teams are also for the first time in Liga I: Săgeata Năvodari, second place in Seria I, Corona Brașov and Poli Timișoara from Seria II. While ACS Poli Timișoara is considered to be the successor of FC Politehnica Timișoara, the club was formed by moving ACS Recaș to Timișoara in the summer of 2012.
This is the first season since 1952 with only two teams from Bucharest.
Season incidents Between the rounds 10 and 14, FC Vaslui was penalized with an eight points deduction because of debts owed to agent Codoban Tătar Ionel. The decision was reverted by the Appeal commission of the Romanian Football Federation on 8 November 2013.
Venues Poli Timișoara Universitatea Cluj Steaua București CFR Cluj Dan Păltinișanu Cluj Arena Steaua Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Capacity: 32,972 Capacity: 30,201 Capacity: 28,365 Capacity: 23,500 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Săgeata Năvodari Petrolul Ploiești Dinamo București Ceahlăul Farul Ilie Oană Dinamo Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 15,520 Capacity: 15,073 Capacity: 15,032 Oțelul Galați FC Vaslui Oțelul Municipal Capacity: 13,500 Capacity: 9,240 Pandurii Târgu Jiu FC Brașov Tudor Vladimirescu Silviu Ploeșteanu Capacity: 9,200 Capacity: 8,800 Corona Brașov Astra Giurgiu Silviu Ploeșteanu Marin Anastasovici Capacity: 8,800 Capacity: 8,500 Gaz Metan Mediaș FC Botoșani Concordia Chiajna Viitorul Constanța Gaz Metan Municipal Concordia Concordia Capacity: 7,814 Capacity: 7,782 Capacity: 5,123 Capacity: 5,123
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 Andrei Mureșan Puma InterAgro Brașov Cristian Ionescu Puma Roman Botoșani Ciprian Dinu Legea Elsaco Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Bojan Golubović Masita SuperBet CFR Cluj Ricardo Cadú Joma Look TV Concordia Chiajna Cristian Melinte Masita — Corona Brașov Ion Coman Uhlsport Sanohepatic Dinamo București Cosmin Matei Nike Orange Gaz Metan Mediaș Cristian Todea Joma RomGaz Oțelul Galați Gabriel Giurgiu Masita Astra Asigurări Pandurii Târgu Jiu Paraskevas Christou Erreà CEO Petrolul Ploiești Adrian Mutu Puma Opel Poli Timișoara Ovidiu Petre Macron — Săgeata Năvodari Ousmane N'Doye Nike Primăria Năvodari Steaua București Mihai Pintilii Nike City Insurance Universitatea Cluj Zsolt Szilágyi Nike — Vaslui Mike Temwanjera Adidas New Holland Agriculture Viitorul Constanța Nicolae Dică Puma —
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Dinamo București Sacked 29 May 2013 Pre-season 5 June 2013 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț End of tenure as a caretaker 30 May 2013 6 June 2013 Concordia Chiajna Mutual agreement 2 June 2013 2 June 2013 Gaz Metan Mediaș Resigned 5 June 2013 18 June 2013 Oțelul Galați Resigned 5 June 2013 28 June 2013 Săgeata Năvodari Mihai Guliu No PRO licence 6 June 2013 16 June 2013 CFR Cluj End of tenure as a caretaker 14 June 2013 14 June 2013 Vaslui Resigned 16 June 2013 20 June 2013 Corona Brașov End of contract 20 June 2013 20 June 2013 Vaslui Resigned 2 August 2013 16 (caretaker) 2 August 2013 CFR Cluj Mutual agreement 10 August 2013 8 10 August 2013 Brașov Sacked 18 August 2013 15 18 August 2013 Viitorul Constanța Resigned 30 August 2013 16 12 September 2013 Corona Brașov Promoted as president 3 September 2013 18 3 September 2013 Brașov Sacked 21 September 2013 14 23 September 2013 Dinamo București Mutual agreement 22 September 2013 10 22 September 2013 Universitatea Cluj Sacked 29 September 2013 17 (caretaker) 29 September 2013 Vaslui End of tenure as a caretaker 8 October 2013 17 8 October 2013 Poli Timișoara Sacked 10 October 2013 10 10 October 2013 Universitatea Cluj End of tenure as a caretaker 22 October 2013 17 23 Oktober 2013 Oțelul Galați Sacked 28 October 2013 13 (caretaker) 29 October 2013 Brașov Resigned 4 November 2013 14 6 November 2013 Oțelul Galați End of tenure as caretaker 5 November 2013 13 5 November 2013 Botoșani Sacked 2 December 2013 12 (caretaker) 2 December 2013 Săgeata Năvodari Sacked 10 December 2013 15 (caretaker) 10 December 2013 Săgeata Năvodari End of tenure as caretaker 20 December 2013 13 20 December 2013 CFR Cluj Sacked 23 December 2013 7 23 December 2013 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Signed by CFR Cluj 23 December 2013 9 30 December 2013 Botoșani (caretaker) Sacked 5 January 2014 12 5 January 2014 Brașov Mutual agreement 16 January 2014 16 16 January 2014 Petrolul Ploiești Signed by Getafe 10 March 2014 3 11 March 2014 Concordia Chiajna Sacked 12 March 2014 10 12 March 2014 Poli Timișoara Sacked 17 March 2014 12 17 March 2014 Astra Giurgiu Resigned 22 March 2014 2 22 March 2014 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Sacked 9 April 2014 11 9 April 2014 Corona Brașov Sacked 14 April 2014 18 14 April 2014 Pandurii Târgu Jiu Resigned 23 April 2014 6 25 April 2014 Vaslui Resigned 24 April 2014 5 (caretaker) 24 April 2014 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Sacked 29 April 2014 13 29 April 2014 Vaslui End of tenure as caretaker 30 April 2014 5 30 April 2014 Corona Brașov Resigned 4 May 2014 18 4 May 2014 Astra Giurgiu Resigned 8 May 2014 3 8 May 2014
League table
Results
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Liviu AntalVaslui152 Valentin LemnaruUniversitatea Cluj13 Constantin BudescuAstra Giurgiu4 Szabolcs SzékelyPoli Timișoara11 Eric Pereira1Pandurii Târgu Jiu Alex dos Santos GonçalvesPandurii Târgu Jiu7 Bojan GolubovićCeahlăul Piatra Neamț10 Federico PiovaccariSteaua București Juan Ángel AlbínPetrolul Ploiești Marquinhos CariocaOțelul Galați Wellington Carlos da SilvaConcordia Chiajna
Last updated: 19 April 2014 1 Eric was transferred to Al-Ahli during the winter transfer window.
Champion squad
Steaua BucureștiGoalkeepers: Florin Niță (5 / 0); Ciprian Tătărușanu (29 / 0). Defenders: Vlad Chiricheș (2 / 0); Florin Gardoș (29 / 2); Daniel Georgievski (9 / 1); Iasmin Latovlevici (25 / 3); Gabriel Matei (2 / 0); Paul Pârvulescu (15 / 1); Cornel Râpă (7 / 0); Łukasz Szukała (29 / 4); Fernando Varela (23 / 4). Midfielders: Alexandru Bourceanu (17 / 0); Alexandru Chipciu (22 / 6); Lucian Filip (12 / 2); Adrian Cristea (9 / 1); Răzvan Grădinaru (2 / 0); Ionuț Neagu (4 / 0); Mihai Pintilii (23 / 0); Adrian Popa (28 / 7); Andrei Prepeliță (26 / 3); Mihai Răduț (7 / 0); Lucian Sânmărtean (12 / 2); Nicolae Stanciu (29 / 5); Cristian Tănase (24 / 2); Alexandru Târnovan (1 / 0); Robert Vâlceanu (4 / 1). Forwards: Mihai Costea (1 / 0); Gabriel Iancu (19 / 2); Pantelis Kapetanos (8 / 3); Claudiu Keșerü (17 / 8); Stefan Nikolić (4 / 0); Federico Piovaccari (25 / 10); Leandro Tatu (7 / 1). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Laurențiu Reghecampf.
Statistics
Scoring First goal of the season: Szabolcs Székely (Poli) against Dinamo Hat-tricks of the season: Constantin Budescu (Astra) against Viitorul (stage 1) Derick Ogbu (CFR) against Oțelul (stage 10) Fastest goal of the season: Constantin Budescu (Astra) against Dinamo (15 seconds)
Awards
Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthReferencePlayerClubJuly Constantin Budescu Astra GiurgiuJucătorul lunii iulie 2013 ; Digisport.ro, 29 July 2013 August Constantin Budescu Astra Giurgiu Jucătorul lunii august ; Digisport.ro, 26 August 2013 September Eric PereiraPandurii Târgu Jiu Jucătorul lunii septembrie ; Digisport.ro, 30 September 2013 October Eric PereiraPandurii Târgu Jiu Jucătorul lunii octombrie ; Digisport.ro, 28 October 2013 November Valentin LemnaruUniversitatea ClujJucătorul lunii noiembrie; Digisport.ro, 30 November 2013 December Hamza YounésPetrolul PloieștiJucătorul lunii decembrie ; Digisport.ro, 21 December 2013 March Alexandru Chipciu Steaua BucureștiJucătorul lunii martie ; Digisport.ro, 31 March 2014 April Cosmin MateiDinamo BucureștiJucătorul lunii aprilie ; Digisport.ro, 28 April 2014 May Ciprian DeacCFR ClujJucatorul lunii mai; Digisport.ro, 23 May 2014
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Petrolul 10,000 2 Steaua 9,688 3 Dinamo 1948 7,336 4 U Cluj 4,929 5 Botoșani 4,276 6 CFR Cluj 4,265 7 Timișoara 3,588 8 Oțelul 3,500 9 Pandurii 2,982 10 Astra 2,749 11 Ceahlăul 2,647 12 Vaslui 2,059 13 Brașov 1,924 14 Gaz Metan 1,924 15 Concordia 1,365 16 Săgeata 1,300 17 Viitorul 1,194 18 Corona 1,051Source:
References
External links League table and recent results at Soccerway Official website