2024–25 FC Universitatea Cluj season

Universitatea Cluj
2024–25 season
OwnerCluj-Napoca Municipality
Babeș-Bolyai University
U Cluj Supporters Association
ChairmanRadu Constantea
ManagerIoan Sabău
StadiumCluj Arena
Liga I4th
Cupa RomânieiPlay-off
Top goalscorerLeague:
Vladislav Blănuță (12)

All:
Vladislav Blănuță (12)

The 2024–25 season was the 99th season of competitive football of Universitatea Cluj, and the 3rd in Liga I, after being promoted at the end of the 2021–22 Liga II season. Universitatea Cluj will compete in the Liga I and in Cupa României.


Players

First-team squad

As of 16 January 2025[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ROU Ștefan Lefter
3 DF  ROU Bogdan Mitrea (4th captain)
4 MF  ROU Răzvan Oaidă
5 DF  ARG Lucas Masoero
6 DF  ROU Iulian Cristea
7 MF  ROU Robert Silaghi
8 MF  ROU Dorin Codrea
9 FW  TUN Adel Bettaieb
10 MF  ROU Dan Nistor (Vice-captain)
11 FW  ARM Artur Miranyan
12 GK  ROU Denis Moldovan
13 FW  CMR Franck Tchassem
16 DF  SUI Jasper van der Werff
17 DF  ESP Daniel Lasure
18 MF  ROU Andrei Artean
19 FW  CIV Issouf Macalou
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF  ROU Alexandru Bota
21 MF  ROU Mario Șfaiț
22 MF  MDA Vadim Rață
23 MF  ROU Ovidiu Popescu
24 DF  ROU Radu Boboc
26 DF  ROU Dorinel Oancea
27 MF  ROU Alexandru Chipciu (Captain)
30 GK  LTU Edvinas Gertmonas
66 DF  ROU Ștefan Opriș
77 FW  ROU Vladislav Blănuță (on loan from FC U Craiova)
93 FW  SEN Mamadou Thiam
94 MF  ROU Ovidiu Bic (3rd captain)
98 MF  ROU Gabriel Simion

Transfers

In

Pos. Player Transferred from Fee Date Source
MF Dorin Codrea Concordia Chiajna Free 6 May 2024 [2]
MF Ovidiu Popescu FCSB Free 29 May 2024 [3]
MF Vadim Rață FC Voluntari Free 30 May 2024 [4]
DF Iulian Cristea FC Rapid București Free 5 June 2024 [5]
DF Radu Boboc FC Voluntari Free 7 June 2024 [6]
FW Mamadou Thiam Al-Jabalain Undisclosed 12 June 2024 [7]
FW Adel Bettaieb Politehnica Iași Free 22 June 2024
FW Mario Șfaiț FC Viitorul Mihai Georgescu Undisclosed 25 June 2024 [8]
MF Berto Portimonense Free 3 July 2024
DF Ștefan Andrei Sănătatea Cluj Free 12 July 2024
FW Vladislav Blănuță FC U Craiova 1948 Loan 12 July 2024
FW Franck Tchassem CSM Focșani Free 12 July 2024
DF Daniel Lasure SD Amorebieta Free 30 July 2024 [9]
DF Jasper van der Werff SC Paderborn Free 6 August 2024
MF Răzvan Oaidă FC Rapid București Free 18 September 2024
FW Artur Miranyan FC Noah Free 20 September 2024
GK Ștefan Lefter Corvinul Hunedoara €100,000 31 December 2024
MF Andrei Artean CFR Cluj Free 15 January 2025
MF Andrej Fábry UTA Arad Undisclosed 10 February 2025

Out

Pos. Player Transferred to Fee Date Ref.
FW Dragoș Tescan Gloria Buzău Free 31 May 2024
GK Plamen Iliev Cherno More Varna Free 31 May 2024
DF Andrei Pițian FC Voluntari Free 31 May 2024
MF Kevin Doukouré FC Argeș Free 31 May 2024
FW Daniel Popa FCSB €300,000 4 June 2024
GK Iustin Chirilă FC Voluntari Loan 14 June 2024
FW Albert Hofman Oțelul Galați Loan 17 June 2024
MF Marco Fossati Free 18 June 2024
DF Andrei Peteleu FC Voluntari Free 1 July 2024
FW Valentin Gheorghe Politehnica Iași Free 1 July 2024
FW Federico Anselmo Free 1 July 2024
MF Ștefan Pănoiu FC Rapid București Loan return 1 July 2024
MF Ante Roguljić Universitatea Craiova Loan return 1 July 2024
DF Alin Chinteș Unirea Ungheni Loan 1 July 2024
DF Thalisson Antalyaspor €280,000 17 July 2024
MF Roger Free 22 August 2024
MF Matei Moraru FC U Craiova 1948 Loan 8 September 2024
MF Berto Released 4 November 2024
GK Andrei Gorcea UTA Arad Free 5 January 2025

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

28 June 2024 Friendly SV Ried 1–1 Universitatea Cluj Ampflwang im Hausruckwald, Austria
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)
  • Pomer 45'
1 July 2024 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 5–0 UVB Vöcklamarkt Ampflwang im Hausruckwald, Austria
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)
4 July 2024 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 0–2 Diósgyőri VTK Ampflwang im Hausruckwald, Austria
14:00 CEST (UTC+2)
5 July 2023 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 0–2 Slovan Liberec Ampflwang im Hausruckwald, Austria
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)
16 July 2024 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 3–0 CSM Olimpia Satu Mare Cluj-Napoca
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)
8 January 2025 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 4–1 Gangwon FC Serik
15:00 EET (UTC+2) Report Stadium: Sueno Sports Center - Pitch 1
11 January 2025 Friendly Universitatea Cluj 1–2 MTK Budapest Serik
15:00 EET (UTC+2)
12 January 2025 Friendly Zürich 2–0 Universitatea Cluj Serik
14:00 EET (UTC+2) Stadium: Sueno Sports Center - Pitch 1

Competitions

Overall record

Competition First match Last match Starting round Final position Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
Liga I 13 July 2024 24 May 2025 Matchday 1 4th 30 14 10 6 43 27 +16 046.67
Cupa României 29 August 2024 29 August 2024 Play-off Play-off 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 000.00
Total 31 14 10 7 43 28 +15 045.16

Last updated: 30 May 2025
Source: Competitions

Liga I

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Advances
2 CFR Cluj 30 14 12 4 56 32 +24 54 Qualification for play-off round
3 Universitatea Craiova 30 14 10 6 45 28 +17 52[a]
4 Universitatea Cluj 30 14 10 6 43 27 +16 52[a]
5 Dinamo București 30 13 12 5 41 26 +15 51
6 Rapid București 30 11 13 6 35 26 +9 46
Source: LPF (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) Goals scored; 7) Play-off.[10]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ranked on head-to-head points: Universitatea Craiova (4); Universitatea Cluj (1).

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FCS CFR UCV UCJ RAP DIN
1 FCSB (C) 10 7 3 0 18 9 +9 52 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round 3–2 1–0 1–0 3–3 3–1
2 CFR Cluj 10 4 4 2 17 11 +6 43 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round[a] 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 3–1
3 Universitatea Craiova 10 4 2 4 13 11 +2 40 Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round 0–0 2–2 3–0 1–2 2–1
4 Universitatea Cluj 10 4 1 5 12 15 −3 39 0–2 1–0 2–1 2–2 2–4
5 Rapid București 10 2 4 4 12 17 −5 33 1–2 1–4 1–2 0–2 1–0
6 Dinamo București 10 1 2 7 10 19 −9 31 1–2 1–1 0–2 1–3 0–0
Source: Soccerway, FRF (in Romanian), LPF (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without rounding; 3) Points in the regular season; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Play-off (only if needed to decide champion or teams for UEFA competitions). (Note: only criteria 7 and 8 are applied to establish the classification during the competition.)[11] Source:[12]
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ The winner of the 2024–25 Cupa României (CFR Cluj) qualifies for the Europa League first qualifying round.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation HER OTE PET UTA FAR BOT IAS UNS SPS GLO
7 Hermannstadt 9 4 3 2 12 8 +4 36 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 0–2
8 Oțelul Galați 9 6 1 2 13 5 +8 35 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–0
9 Petrolul Ploiești 9 3 2 4 10 10 0 31 1–3 0–1 0–2 2–1 4–0
10 UTA Arad 9 4 2 3 9 11 −2 31 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–4 1–1 0–0
11 Farul Constanța 9 3 4 2 12 9 +3 31 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–0
12 Botoșani 9 4 1 4 11 12 −1 29 2–1 0–1 4–3 1–1
13 Politehnica Iași (R) 9 3 3 3 9 5 +4 28 Qualification for relegation play-offs 0–2 4–0 3–0 0–0
14 Unirea Slobozia (O) 9 3 5 1 11 8 +3 27 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–1
15 Sepsi OSK (R) 9 1 2 6 7 16 −9 26 Relegation to 2025–26 Liga II 0–2 0–3 1–4 2–0 1–2
16 Gloria Buzău (R) 9 2 1 6 4 14 −10 17 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–3
Source: Soccerway, FRF (in Romanian), LPF (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without rounding; 3) Points in the regular season; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Play-off (only if needed to decide teams for relegation). (Note: only criteria 7 and 8 are applied to establish the classification during the competition.)[13] Source:[12]
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
30 14 10 6 43 27  +16 52 9 3 3 28 16  +12 5 7 3 15 11  +4

Source:

Results by round
Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
GroundAHAAAHAHAHAAHAHHAHHHAHAHAHHAHA
ResultDWDWDWWWWDLDWWDLLLWWDWDWLDWWLD
Position734332111111111113111111143244
Updated to match(es) played on 20 December 2024. Source: worldfootball
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The league fixtures were unveiled on 1 July 2024.

13 July 2024 1 FCSB 1–1 Universitatea Cluj Bucharest
22:00 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Steaua Stadium
Referee: Adrian Cojocaru
21 July 2024 2 Universitatea Cluj 3–1 FC Hermannstadt Cluj-Napoca
19:00 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Cluj Arena
29 July 2024 3 UTA 0–0 Universitatea Cluj Arad
18:30 EEST (UTC+3) Stadium: Francisc von Neuman
4 August 2024 4 CFR 2–3 Universitatea Cluj Cluj-Napoca
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)
  • Michael 24'
  • Păun 72'
Stadium: Dr. Constantin Rădulescu
12 August 2024 5 Petrolul 0–0 Universitatea Cluj Ploiești
18:30 EEST (UTC+3) Stadium: Ilie Oană
19 August 2024 6 Universitatea Cluj 3–0 Sepsi Cluj-Napoca
19:00 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Cluj Arena
26 August 2024 7 Gloria Buzău 0–2 Universitatea Cluj Buzău
19:00 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Municipal
2 September 2024 8 Universitatea Cluj 1–0 Dinamo Cluj-Napoca
21:30 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Cluj Arena
16 September 2024 9 Rapid 0–2 Universitatea Cluj Bucharest
21:30 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Rapid-Giulești
22 September 2024 10 Universitatea Cluj 1–1 Universitatea Craiova Cluj-Napoca
21:30 EEST (UTC+3)
Stadium: Cluj Arena
28 September 2024 11 Politehnica Iași 1–0 Universitatea Cluj Iași
16:45 EEST (UTC+3)
Report
Stadium: Emil Alexandrescu Stadium
Attendance: 5,205
Referee: Sorin Andrei Antonie
5 October 2024 12 Unirea Slobozia 2–2 Universitatea Cluj Clinceni
16:45 EET (UTC+2)
  • Jordan Gele 16'  25'
  • Constantin Adrian Toma 22'
Report
Stadium: Clinceni Stadium
Referee: Robert Avram
18 October 2024 13 Universitatea Cluj 2–0 Oțelul Cluj-Napoca
21:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Attendance: 9,140
Referee: Andrei Chivulete
28 October 2024 14 Botoșani 1–2 Universitatea Cluj Botoșani
18:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Botoșani Municipal Stadium
Referee: Szabolcs Kovacs
3 November 2024 15 Universitatea Cluj 1–1 FCV Farul Constanța Cluj-Napoca
16:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Referee: István Kovács
10 November 2024 16 Universitatea Cluj 1–2 FCSB Cluj-Napoca
21:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Attendance: 23,123
Referee: Marcel Bîrsan
23 November 2024 17 Hermannstadt 2–1 Universitatea Cluj Sibiu
17:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Sibiu Municipal Stadium
Referee: Ionuţ Coza
2 December 2024 18 Universitatea Cluj 0–1 UTA Arad Cluj-Napoca
17:30 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Referee: Marian Barbu
9 December 2024 19 Universitatea Cluj 3–2 CFR Cluj Cluj-Napoca
20:30 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Attendance: 14,813
Referee: Florin Andrei
14 December 2024 20 Universitatea Cluj 4–1 Petrolul Ploiești Cluj-Napoca
20:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Cluj Arena
Referee: István Kovács
20 December 2024 21 Sepsi 0–0 Universitatea Cluj Sfântu Gheorghe
19:00 EET (UTC+2)
Report Stadium: Sepsi Arena Stadium
Referee: George Găman
18 January 2025 22 Universitatea Cluj 2–1 Gloria Buzău Cluj-Napoca
14:30 EET (UTC+2) Stadium: Cluj Arena
24 January 2025 23 Dinamo București 0–0 Universitatea Cluj Bucharest
Stadium: Arcul de Triumf Stadium
31 January 2025 24 Universitatea Cluj 2–1 Rapid București Cluj-Napoca
Stadium: Cluj Arena
5 February 2025 25 Universitatea Craiova 1–0 Universitatea Cluj Craiova
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco
9 February 2025 26 Universitatea Cluj 2–2 Politehnica Iași Cluj-Napoca
Stadium: Cluj Arena
17 February 2025 27 Universitatea Cluj 3–2 Unirea Slobozia Cluj-Napoca
Stadium: Cluj Arena
21 February 2025 28 Oțelul 0–1 Universitatea Cluj Galați
20:00 EET (UTC+2) Stadium: Oțelul
1 March 2025 29 Universitatea Cluj 0–1 Botoșani Cluj-Napoca
16:00 EET (UTC+2) Stadium: Cluj Arena
3 November 2024 30 FCV Farul Constanța 1–1 Universitatea Cluj Ovidiu
18:00 EET (UTC+2) Stadium: Central Stadium

Cupa României

29 August 2024 Play-off round Metalul Buzău 1-0 Universitatea Cluj Buzău
17:00 EET
Report
Stadium: Metalul Stadium
Referee: Constantin Alin Olaru

References

  1. ^ "Echipa". FC Universitatea Cluj.
  2. ^ "Bun venit, Dorin Codrea!". FC Universitatea Cluj. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Bun venit, Ovidiu Popescu!". FC Universitatea Cluj. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Vadim Rață, noul jucător al Universității Cluj". FC Universitatea Cluj. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Bun venit, Iulian Cristea!". FC Universitatea Cluj. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Radu Boboc, noul jucător al Universității Cluj". FC Universitatea Cluj. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Mamadou Thiam revine la "U"". FC Universitatea Cluj. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Mario Şfaiţ, noul jucător al Universității Cluj. A fost al treilea cel mai bun marcator din campionatul ligii a 4-a". Monitorul Cluj. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Dani Lasure firma por el Universitatea Cluj rumano". Heraldo. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Liga I 2022/2023". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  11. ^ "FRF – Regulamentul de Organizare a activitatii fotbalistice" (PDF). Romanian Football Federation (in Romanian). pp. 29–30, article 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Departajarea în play-off-ul şi play-out-ul din Liga 1 și Liga 2, explicată de FRF" [The play-off and play-out standings in League 1 and League 2, explained by the FRF] (in Romanian). digisport.ro. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  13. ^ "FRF – Regulamentul de Organizare a activitatii fotbalistice" (PDF). Romanian Football Federation (in Romanian). pp. 29–30, article 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.