The 2015–16 Liga I (also known as Liga 1 Orange for sponsorship reasons) was the 98th season of the Liga I, the top professional league for Romanian association football clubs. The season began 10 July 2015 and ended on 29 May 2016, being the first to take place since the play-off/play-out format has been introduced.
FC Steaua București were the defending champions for a third consecutive time, but they did not retain the title. Astra Giurgiu became winners for the first time in their history.
Teams The last six teams from the 2014–15 season were relegated to their respective 2015–16 Liga II division. Gaz Metan Mediaș, Brașov, Universitatea Cluj, Rapid București, Oțelul Galați and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.
The first team from each of the two divisions of 2014–15 Liga II advanced to Liga I. Voluntari promoted as the winners of Seria I. It is their first season in Liga I. ACS Poli Timișoara promoted as the winners of Seria II. It is their second season in Liga I.
Venues Steaua București ACS Poli Timișoara CFR Cluj Pandurii Târgu Jiu Arena Națională Dan Păltinișanu Dr. Constantin Rădulescu MunicipalPandurii was relocated to Municipal Stadium from Drobeta-Turnu Severin for the next two seasons, as a result of the renovations of the Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium. Capacity: 55,634 Capacity: 32,972 Capacity: 23,500 Capacity: 20,054 Petrolul Ploiești Dinamo București Ilie Oană Dinamo Capacity: 15,073 Capacity: 15,032 FC Voluntari CSMS Iași Dinamo Emil Alexandrescu Capacity: 15,032 Capacity: 11,390 Astra Giurgiu Târgu Mureș Marin Anastasovici Trans-Sil Capacity: 8,500 Capacity: 8,200 FC Botoșani Universitatea Craiova Concordia Chiajna Viitorul Constanța Municipal Extensiv Concordia Viitorul Capacity: 7,782 Capacity: 7,000 Capacity: 5,123 Capacity: 4,554
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 Valerică Găman Puma InterAgro Botoșani Michael Ngadeu Nike Elsaco CFR Cluj Mário Camora Joma EnergoBit Concordia Chiajna Christian Obodo Lotto — CSMS Iași Ionuț Voicu Nike Blue Air Universitatea Craiova Valentin Iliev Joma — Dinamo București Paul Anton Nike Orange Pandurii Târgu Jiu Dan Nistor Jako Complexul Energetic Oltenia Petrolul Ploiești Alberto Cobrea Nike SuperBet Poli Timișoara Cristian Scutaru Joma Casa Rusu Steaua București Fernando Varela Nike City Insurance Târgu Mureș Gabriel Mureșan Joma energo+ Viitorul Constanța Florin Cernat Nike Lotto Snacks Voluntari Vasile Maftei Puma Primăria Orașului Voluntari
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Voluntari No PRO licence 31 May 2015 Pre-season 21 June 2015 Petrolul Ploiești <br/ > (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 2 June 2015 3 June 2015 Târgu Mureș Mutual agreement 4 June 2015 11 June 2015 Steaua București End of contract 9 June 2015 9 June 2015 Târgu Mureș Signed by Jiangsu Sainty 10 July 2015 10 July 2015 Voluntari Sacked 14 August 2015 13 15 August 2015 Poli Timișoara Resigned 21 August 2015 12 25 August 2015 Petrolul Ploiești Mutual agreement 25 August 2015 14 25 August 2015 Concordia Chiajna Mutual agreement 1 September 2015 10 1 September 2015 Steaua București Mutual agreement 11 September 2015 5 11 September 2015 Botoșani Sacked 14 September 2015 12 (caretaker) 14 September 2015 Târgu Mureș Mutual agreement 20 September 2015 3 22 September 2015 Voluntari Flavius Stoican Mutual agreement 24 September 2015 13 Mircea Rădulescu 24 September 2015 Botoșani (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 1 October 2015 12 1 October 2015 Voluntari Mircea Rădulescu Mutual agreement 6 October 2015 13 Gheorghe Mulțescu 6 October 2015 Petrolul Ploiești Mutual agreement 29 October 2015 14 29 October 2015 Concordia Chiajna Mutual agreement 25 November 2015 12 25 November 2015 Steaua București Mutual agreement 2 December 2015 5 3 December 2015 CFR Cluj Mutual agreement 5 December 2015 9 7 December 2015 Târgu Mureș Resigned 17 December 2015 6 29 December 2015 Petrolul Ploiești Mutual agreement 5 January 2016 14 5 January 2016 Universitatea Craiova Mutual agreement 8 January 2016 8 8 January 2016 Voluntari Resigned 22 January 2016 13 24 January 2016 Târgu Mureș Mutual agreement 22 February 2016 7 (caretaker) 22 February 2016 Târgu Mureș (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 9 March 2016 6 9 March 2016 Petrolul Ploiești Mutual agreement 14 March 2016 8 Relegation round 15 March 2016 Poli Timișoara Mutual agreement 23 March 2016 7 Relegation round 28 March 2016 Botoșani Mutual agreement 1 April 2016 5 Relegation round 5 April 2016 Voluntari Sacked 25 April 2016 6 Relegation round 27 April 2016 Poli Timișoara Sacked 23 May 2016 7 Relegation round 23 May 2016 Voluntari Mutual agreement 24 May 2016 6 Relegation round 24 May 2016
Regular season In the regular season the 14 teams will meet twice, a total of 26 matches per team, with the top 6 advancing to the Championship round and the bottom 8 qualifying for Relegation round.
Table
Results
Positions by round
Championship play-offs The top six teams from Regular season met twice (10 matches per team) for places in 2016–17 UEFA Champions League and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League as well as deciding the league champion. Teams started the Championship round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season.
Table
Results
Positions by round
Relegation play-outs The bottom eight teams from regular season will meet twice (14 matches per team) to contest against relegation. Teams start the Relegation round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season. The winner of the Relegation round finishes 7th in the overall season standings, the second placed team – 8th, and so on, with the last placed team in the Relegation round being 14th.
Table
Results
Positions by round
Promotion/relegation play-offs The 12th-placed team of the Liga I faces the winner of the match between second place from Liga II, Seria I and second place from Seria II.
First round
Second round
Notes: Voluntari qualified for 2016–17 Liga I and UTA Arad qualified for 2016–17 Liga II.
Season statistics
Top scorers Updated to matches played on 29 May 2016 Rank Player Club Goals1 Ioan HoraPandurii Târgu Jiu192 Denis AlibecAstra Giurgiu163 Florin TănaseViitorul Constanța154 Nicolae StanciuSteaua București12 Cristian LópezCFR Cluj Harlem GnohéréDinamo București Bojan GolubovićCSMS Iași8 Adrian BălanVoluntari11 Gonzalo CabreraBotoșani10 Nuno RochaUniversitatea Craiova9
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date CFR Cluj FC Botoșani 3–1 Astra Giurgiu Dinamo București 4–1
Clean sheets Updated to matches played on 29 May 2016 Rank Player ClubClean sheets*1 Branko GrahovacCSMS Iași14 Alexandru MarcCFR Cluj3 Vytautas ČerniauskasDinamo București134 Cristian BălgrădeanUniversitatea Craiova / Concordia Chiajna125 Eduard StăncioiuTârgu Mureș106 Silviu LungAstra Giurgiu97 Florin NițăSteaua București88 Pedro MingotePandurii Târgu Jiu79 Victor RîmniceanuViitorul Constanța6 Răzvan StancaPandurii Târgu Jiu11 Sascha KirschsteinACS Poli Timișoara512 Valentin CojocaruSteaua București4 Florin MatacheConcordia Chiajna Alberto CobreaPetrolul Ploiești Răzvan PleșcaBotoșani
* Only goalkeepers who played all 90 minutes of a match are taken into consideration.
Discipline As of 29 May 2016
Player Most yellow cards: 13 Adrian Ropotan (Pandurii Târgu Jiu) Gabriel Mureșan (Târgu Mureș) Most red cards: 3 Steliano Filip (Dinamo București)
Club Most yellow cards: 119 Petrolul Ploiești Most red cards: 14 Târgu Mureș
Champion squad
Astra GiurgiuGoalkeepers: Ionuț Boșneag (1 / 0); George Gavrilaș (9 / 0); Silviu Lung Jr. (27 / 0). Defenders: Alexandru Dandea (19 / 2); Valerică Găman (28 / 6); Geraldo Alves (23 / 0); Júnior Morais (29 / 1); Cristian Oroș (19 / 1); Pedro Queirós (32 / 0); Ricardo Alves (4 / 0); Adrian Scarlatache (1 / 0). Midfielders: Fernando Boldrin (32 / 5); Boubacar Mansaly (13 / 0); Damien Boudjemaa (11 / 1); Constantin Budescu (18 / 8); Gabriel Enache (22 / 1); Filipe Teixeira (26 / 4); Alexandru Ioniță (19 / 3); Florin Lovin (25 / 0); Romario Moise (1 / 0); Iulian Roșu (4 / 1); Takayuki Seto (15 / 0); Alexandru Stan (12 / 1); Fwayo Tembo (3 / 0); William De Amorim (30 / 5). Forwards: Denis Alibec (26 / 16); Daniel Florea (29 / 3); Ninos Gouriye (4 / 0); Daniel Niculae (19 / 2); Mădălin Răileanu (1 / 0). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Marius Șumudică.
Monthly awards
MonthDigiSport Player of the MonthReferencePlayerClubJuly Constantin Budescu Astra Giurgiu August Constantin Budescu Astra Giurgiu September Harlem Gnohéré Dinamo București October Ioan Hora Pandurii Târgu Jiu November Nicolae Stanciu Steaua București December Denis Alibec Astra Giurgiu February Marcel Essombé Dinamo București March Nicolae Stanciu Steaua București April Denis Alibec Astra Giurgiu May Gonzalo Cabrera FC Botoșani
Attendances
# Club Average Highest 1 Steaua 9,158 48,632 2 Dinamo 1948 5,434 20,360 3 Iași 4,100 10,000 4 Timișoara 3,463 20,000 5 Petrolul 3,450 8,000 6 Astra 3,259 8,500 7 Botoșani 3,064 7,782 8 Târgu Mureș 3,056 5,000 9 CFR Cluj 2,975 8,000 10 Viitorul 2,544 4,500 11 U Craiova 2,434 6,071 12 Pandurii 1,953 12,800 13 Voluntari 1,323 5,219 14 Concordia 1,155 4,000
Source:
Notes
References
External links Official website