Romania - Liga 1 - Victoria Branesti vs U Cluj

Game to be played Sunday at 11:00 CET

Victoria Branesti

Coach Ilie Stan resigned from Victoria Branesti, who finds itself on a relegation spot(16), after 27 rounds in Liga 1. "After a discussion with the board of directors, Ilie Stan announced that he will resign from Victoria Branesti" said in the official press release. As motives he invoked the position in the league and the chances to maintain the team in Liga 1.

Not only the coach resigned, but also the sportive director, Alin Buzariu, as i wrote earlier this week. Coach was named the second in charge, Ciprian Urican.

Probable team: Stoicescu - Maghici, Sg.Bar, Marincau, E.Nicola - Al.Iacob - Novac, D.Popa, Olariu, R.Avram - B.Oprea; Coach: Ciprian Urican; Injured: Velicu, Coman, Fl.Petre; Suspended -; Substitutes: Savu, Straut, Zuluf, D.Stan, Lorincz, Ispir, Simion

LAST GAME (FCM Targu-Mures - Victoria Branesti 4-0)
Scored: 1-0 Laurentiu Rus (29), 2-0 Didi Cleidimar (37), 3-0 Diego Ruiz (45+1), 4-0 Sergiu Bar (76ag)
FCM: 22. Balauru - 15. Rus, 33. Fernandes, 17. Iencsi, 24. Szilagyi - 23. D. Matei (11. Petcut '46), 90. Issa Ba, 19. Fl. Dan, 21. Astafei - 9. Ruiz (80. Zaharia '56), 10. Didi (25. Vagner '77). Coach: Ioan Ovidiu Sabau.
Branesti: 27. Stoicescu - 28. Straut, 5. Sg. Bar, 3. Lorincz, 16. Nicola (19. Zuluf '76) - 25. Novac (18. D. Stan '65), 8. D. Popa (4. Calintaru '70), 15. Iacob, 17. Olariu, 30. R. Avram - 10. B. Oprea. Coach: Ilie Stan.
Yellow cards: Fl. Dan '35, Petcut '63, Iencsi '73, Vagner '88 - Iacob '20, Calintaru '90.

Victoria Branesti lost the game from Targu-Mures with 0-4 and in my view there are 80% chances for the to be relegated in the 2nd league. After this loss, Ilie Stan resigned. They are 9p away from a safe spot and it is hard to believe they can get something from the 7 rounds left. Victoria has 22 points and will have to get to 25p without being penalized in the 2nd league. Players are already used to the fact they will relegate.

Universitatea Cluj

Coach Ionut Badea, said that saturday's game, with Victoria Branesti is easy apparaently. "We have an apparently easy game, but it isn't so although Branesti has some moral problems. They still form a team with a good game but they didn't score much, that is why they have that position in the league. It will not be an easy game. I am happy we have a good moment, but on the other hand we have to remember that not so long ago we didn't have such good moments and it is important to keep the pace. Mendy is suspended one round. Tony is injured and some players accuse fatigue but remains to be seen what will happen at the hour of play. There are some teams that will play even on Easter, on sunday the players will have a day off."

Owner Florian Walter doesn't really want to get in front of rivals CFR Cluj in the ladder: "We need to stick to the initial objective, places 8-12. To get past CFR isn't an objective for us". On the other hand, coach Ionut Badea is more optimistic: "It is our moment and hopefully on saturday we will be over CFR in the league".

Coach Ionut Badea will not have available forward Tony Nwakaeme and midfielder Gaston Mendy who got it's 8th yellow card.

Probable team: M.Popa - Ungurusan, Abrudan, Pele, Bazzi - Cojocnean, Menassel, Adrian Cristea, Bostina - Cl.Niculescu, Machado; Coach: Ionut Badea; Injured: Szilagyi, Tony; Suspended: G.Mendy; Substitutes: Bosneag, Muntenu, Buhus, Pacurar, Voican, V.Gheorghe, Morar

LAST GAME (Universitatea Cluj - Universitatea Craiova 3-0)
Scored: 1-0 Cristian Cojocnean (39), 2-0 Cristian Cojocnean (45), 3-0 Vladut Morar (90+2)
"U" Cluj: 12. Popa - 2. Buhus, 5. Pele, 6. Abrudan, 14. Bazzi - 20. Cojocnean (7. Delgado '79), 8. Nasser, 22. Bostina, 30. Cristea (27. V. Morar '89) - 9. Niculescu (28. V. Gheorghe '73), 11. Machado. Coach: Ionut Badea.
U.Craiova: 21. S. Lung - 18. Dananae, 4. Zoro, 7. Gugu, 3. D. Lopes - 30. Prepelita, 5. D. Stoica, 88. J. Nicolae (86. Buleica '46), 25. Firtulescu (77. Surugiu '46) - 10. Fl. Costea, 20. Subotici (92. Roman '71). Antrenor: Lauren?iu Reghecampf.
Yellow cards: Niculescu '45, Cojocnean '51 - Lopes '34

U Cluj won easy the game with U Craiova, 3-0 while also missing a penalty. With this win they are 9 points ahead of Craiova and seem to have escaped relegation. To not have unpleasant surprises in the end, Ionut Badea's player would need to take advantage of the chaos from Branesti and win the 3 points because after this game they will play a hard game with Timisoara. They lost 2-3 in the game played on home turf and they will want the points back. 

BettingRSS already sent a pick for this game from wednesday. Cluj DNB is one of the best bets in this weekend for us.