The 2021–22 Liga I (also known as Casa Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons) was the 104th season of the Liga I, the top professional league for Romanian association football clubs. The season started on 15 July 2021 and ended in May 2022. It was the seventh to take place since the play-off/play-out format has been introduced, and CFR Cluj was four-time defending champion.
After the conclusion of the regular season, teams were divided according to their place to enter either the championship play-offs or the relegation play-outs.Liga 1 trece de la 14 la 16 echipe! Dinamo a fost salvată de la retrogradare, ultima clasată Chindia Târgoviște va juca barajul de menținere/promovare cu CS Mioveni. Se schimbă modul de promovare din Liga 2, însă din sezonul următor. liga2.prosport.ro
The teams ranked 15th and 16th at the end of the play-out tournament were directly relegated, while the 13th and 14th places played a promotion/relegation play-off against 3rd and 4th places from Liga II.
Teams The league consistsed of 16 teams: 12 from the 2020–21 Liga I, two teams from the 2020–21 Liga II, and the winners of the 2020–21 promotion/relegation play-off.
Teams promoted to the Liga I
The first club to be promoted was FC U Craiova 1948, following their 0–0 draw against Miercurea Ciuc on 13 May 2021. FC U Craiova returned in the Liga I after 10 years of absence.
The second club to be promoted was Rapid București, following their 1–3 defeat against FC U Craiova on 17 May 2021. Rapid returned in the Liga I after 6 years of absence.
The third club to be promoted was Mioveni, following their 2–1 win against Hermannstadt on 2 June 2021, in the promotion/relegation play-offs. Mioveni returned in the Liga I after 9 years of absence.
Teams relegated to the Liga II
The first club to be relegated was Politehnica Iași, which were relegated on 15 May 2021 following a 0–1 defeat against Hermannstadt, ending their 7-year stay in the top flight.
The second club to be relegated was Astra Giurgiu, which were relegated on 19 May 2021 following their 0–1 defeat against Viitorul Constanța, ending their 12-year stay in the top flight.
The third club to be relegated was Hermannstadt, which were relegated on 2 June 2021 following their 1–2 defeat against Mioveni in the promotion/relegation play-offs, thus ending their 3-year stay in the top flight.
Other changes
In June 2021, Gheorghe Hagi (owner of Viitorul Constanța), chairman Gheorghe Popescu and Farul Constanța owner Ciprian Marica announced in a press conference that their two clubs have merged; second division club Farul Constanța therefore took Viitorul's place in the first league from the 2021–22 Liga I season.
Venues FCSB Universitatea Craiova FC U Craiova 1948 CFR Cluj Arena Națională Ion Oblemenco Ion Oblemenco Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Capacity: 55,634 Capacity: 30,929 Capacity: 30,929 Capacity: 23,500 Dinamo București Argeș Pitești Rapid București UTA Arad Dinamo Nicolae Dobrin Rapid Francisc von Neuman Capacity: 15,032 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 14,050 Capacity: 12,700 Chindia Târgoviște Mioveni Municipal Orășenesc Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 10,000 Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe Gaz Metan Mediaș Sepsi Gaz Metan Capacity: 8,400 Capacity: 7,814 Botoșani Voluntari Farul Constanța Academica Clinceni Municipal Anghel Iordănescu Viitorul Clinceni Capacity: 7,782 Capacity: 4,600 Capacity: 4,554 Capacity: 4,500
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 Academica Clinceni Răzvan Patriche Joma Consiliul Județean Ilfov Argeș Pitești Ionuț Șerban Macron Getica 95, MozzartBet Botoșani Enriko Papa Erreà Trutzi, Elsaco CFR Cluj Mário Camora Nike eToro Chindia Târgoviște Daniel Florea Joma – Dinamo București Gabriel Torje Macron Unibet Farul Constanța Ionuț Larie Nike OMV Petrom FCSB Florin Tănase Nike FC U Craiova 1948 Dragoș Albu Adidas Justice for Craiova Gaz Metan Mediaș Nasser Chamed Joma Romgaz Mioveni Ionuț Burnea Macron Mioveni Rapid București Cristian Săpunaru Nike Superbet, Aqua City Sepsi OSK Bogdan Mitrea Adidas Diószegi, Gyermelyi Universitatea Craiova Nicușor Bancu Puma Betano UTA Arad Florin Iacob Saller Efbet, International Alexander Holding Voluntari Cosmin Achim Nike Metropola TV
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment FC U Craiova 1948 Sacked 24 May 2021 Pre-season 2 June 2021 FCSB End of contract 31 May 2021 Pre-season 1 June 2021 CFR Cluj End of contract 31 May 2021 Pre-season 2 June 2021 Farul Constanța End of contract 31 May 2021 Pre-season 21 June 2021 Dinamo București Resigned 10 July 2021 Pre-season 14 July 2021 Universitatea Craiova Sacked 23 July 2021 4 26 July 2021 FCSB Sacked 17 August 2021 4 18 August 2021 CFR Cluj Sacked 27 August 2021 1 31 August 2021 Gaz Metan Mediaș Sacked 15 September 2021 15 17 September 2021 Academica Clinceni Sacked 15 September 2021 16 21 September 2021 Dinamo București Sacked 14 September 2021 14 29 September 2021 FC U Craiova 1948 Sacked 4 October 2021 13 5 October 2021 Sepsi OSK Sacked 7 October 2021 12 8 October 2021 FC U Craiova 1948 Sacked 3 November 2021 12 6 November 2021 FCSB Resigned 13 November 2021 2 1 December 2021 Academica Clinceni Sacked 1 December 2021 16 6 December 2021 FC U Craiova 1948 Sacked 4 December 2021 14 11 January 2022 Dinamo București Sacked 21 December 2021 15 22 December 2021 UTA Arad Resigned 31 January 2022 10 31 January 2022 Academica Clinceni Resigned 4 February 2021 16 15 February 2021 Gaz Metan Mediaș Resigned 17 February 2022 14 18 February 2022 Rapid Bucuresti Sacked 2 March 2022 9 3 March 2022 Dinamo Bucuresti Resigned 8 March 2022 14 8 March 2022
Regular season In the regular season the 16 teams will meet twice for a total of 30 matches per team, with the top 6 advancing to the Championship play-offs and the bottom 10 qualifying for the relegation play-outs.
Table
Results
Play-off round The top six teams from Regular season will meet twice (10 matches per team) for places in 2022–23 UEFA Champions League and 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League as well as deciding the league champion. Teams start the Championship round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season.
Play-off table
Play-out round The bottom ten teams from the regular season meet once to contest against relegation. Teams started the play-out 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 finish 7th in the overall season standings, the second placed team – 8th, and so on, with the last placed team in the Relegation round being 16th.
Play-out table
European play-offs In the semi-final, the 7th and 8th-placed teams of the Liga I typically play a one-legged match on the ground of the better placed team (7th place). However the 7th place team, Sepsi, has already qualified to the Europa Conference League as Romanian Cup winners, so the semi-final was not played. In the final, the 8th place team will play the team ranked in the last UEFA Europa Conference League spot in the play-off tournament. The winner of the final will enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
European play-off final
Promotion/relegation play-offs The 13th and 14th-placed teams of the Liga I faced the 3rd and 4th-placed teams of the Liga II.
First leg
Second leg
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Florin TănaseFCSB202 Jefté BetancorFarul163 Gabriel DebeljuhCFR Cluj14 Andrei IvanUniversitatea Craiova5 Jovan MarkovićUniversitatea Craiova136 Andrea CompagnoFC U Craiova 1948127 Gustavo VageninUniversitatea Craiova10 Ciprian DeacCFR Cluj Octavian PopescuFCSB10 Claudiu PetrilaCFR Cluj9 Adrian PetreFarul Mihai RomanFC Botoșani Bogdan RusuMioveni
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Deian SorescuDinamoFC Voluntari3–2 (H)19 July 2021 Jefte BetancorFarul Constanța Academica Clinceni5–0 (H)13 September 2021 Andrei IvanUniversitatea CraiovaCS Mioveni5–2 (H)30 October 2021 Gabriel DebeljuhCFR ClujDinamo4–1 (H)6 March 2022 Florin TănaseFCSBFarul Constanța 0–4 (A)25 April 2022
Notes (H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists1 Andrei IvanUniversitatea Craiova112 Ciprian DeacCFR Cluj10 Rareș IlieRapid Bucuresti3 Billel OmraniCFR Cluj9 Darius OlaruFCSB4 Ronaldo DeaconuGaz Metan Medias75 Bradley de NooijerFarul6 Dan NistorUniversitatea Craiova Florin TănaseFCSB Gustavo VageninCS Universitatea Craiova Christopher BraunFC Botosani William BaetenFC U Craiova 19486 Ion GheorgheFC Voluntari5 Alexi PituFarul Juan BauzaFC U Craiova 1948 Malcom EdjoumaFCSB
Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets1 Florin IacobUTA Arad152 Cătălin CăbuzChindia143 Mirko PigliacelliUniversitatea Craiova134 Horațiu MoldovanRapid București11 Alexandru GreabFC Arges Mihai AioaniFarul Constanța Mihai PopaFC Voluntari8 Eduard PapFC Botosani10 Otto HindrichCFR Cluj Andrei VladFCSB
Gazeta Sporturilor Monthly Football Awards
Player of the Month YearMonthPlayerNationalityTeam2021AugustCristian SăpunaruDFRapid BucureștiSeptemberJefté BetancorFWFarul ConstanțaOctoberAndrei IvanFWUniversitatea CraiovaNovemberAlexandru CicâldăuMF GalatasarayDecemberGabriel TamașDFFC Voluntari2022FebruaryGustavo VageninFWUniversitatea CraiovaMarchOctavian PopescuFWFCSBAprilDarius OlaruMFFCSBMayMarius ȘtefănescuFWSepsi OSK
Manager of the Month YearMonthManagerNationalityTeam2021AugustMihai IosifRapid BucureștiSeptemberLiviu CiobotariuFC VoluntariOctoberLaurențiu ReghecampfUniversitatea CraiovaNovemberAndrei PrepelițăFC ArgeșDecemberDan PetrescuCFR Cluj2022FebruaryNicolò NapoliFC U Craiova 1948MarchRăzvan Lucescu PAOKAprilAdrian MutuRapid BucureștiMayCristiano BergodiSepsi OSK
Discipline
Team
Champion squad
CFR ClujGoalkeepers: Giedrius Arlauskis (2 / 0); Cristian Bălgrădean (15 / 0); Otto Hindrich (19 / 0); Karlo Letica (4 / 0). Defenders: Rachid Bouhenna (10 / 1); Rareș Bălan (1 / 0); Andrei Burcă (30 / 2); Mário Camora (31 / 1); Mike Cestor (12 / 0); Denis Ciobotariu (6 / 0); Kristian Dimitrov (1 / 1); Cristian Manea (25 / 1); Iasmin Latovlevici (5 / 1); Daniel Graovac (29 / 2); Yuri Matias (14 / 0); Florin Ștefan (8 / 0); Mateo Sušić (20 / 1). Midfielders: Nana Boateng (32 / 2); Mihai Bordeianu (31 / 1); Emmanuel Culio (8 / 1); Lovro Cvek (3 / 0); Alexandru Chipciu (23 / 3); Valentin Costache (21 / 3); Ciprian Deac (39 / 10); Alin Fică (1 / 0); Guessouma Fofana (4 / 0); Adrian Gîdea (8 / 0); Ovidiu Hoban (4 / 0); Cătălin Itu (3 / 0); George Leață (1 / 0); Sergiu Luca (1 / 0); Anas Tahiri (4 / 1); Jonathan Rodríguez (5 / 0); Rúnar Sigurjónsson (12 / 3); Adrian Păun (36 / 1); Claudiu Petrila (31 / 9); Roger (2 / 0). Forwards: Denis Alibec (12 / 2); Daniel Birligea (6 / 1); Sergiu Buș (4 / 0); Gabriel Debeljuh (36 / 14); Marko Dugandžić (13 / 1); Cristian Neguț (8 / 1); Billel Omrani (30 / 5); Hadi Sacko (5 / 0). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Marius Șumudică / Dan Petrescu.
Awards Liga I Team of the Season
References
External links