Romania - Liga 1 - FC Timisoara vs FCM Targu Mures

FC Timisoara

Coach Dusan considers that the team is ready for Saturday’s game against FCM Targu Mures. For the first time in a long period, there are no players suspended and very few have medical problems. „We rested this 6 days, we had time to recover our strenght and we have to win this game. We have to consolidate our position, this is why we have to win. I think all players will be ready for this game, maybe with the exeption of Cisovsky.

Striker Ianis Zicu sayd that the match against FCM Tg-Mures is very important for Timisoara: „ What is important is that it all depends on us, we will win the title if we win every game, we don’t have to wait for indirect results. Every coach watches the last games of his opponent, there are not so many surprises nowadays. This game is very important for us because it can help us pass the rough game we had with Rapid when we experienced our first defeat. I son’t want to think about the reasons of this failure, I prefer Mourinho’s style, we focus on the next game and we will enjoy ourselves at the end.”

Captain Dan Alexa hopes that this game will mean a new begining for his team:” Sabau obtained notable performances, but he is a young couch, he can do many more. A good game and a victory would bring back the athmoshpere from the begining of the second part of the championship. The athmoshepere hasn’t really changed but these last few games we didn’t play at full potential we are aware of this. We can not do more mistakes, we need a victory. The championship means good performances or not so good performances, what counts is the result. We depend on us, if we can obtain the points we need not to worry for other results.

Probable team: Pantelimon - Helder, Luchin, Ghionea, Sepsi - Alexa, Bourceanu - Goga, Zicu, Tames – Magera; Coach: Dusan Uhrin Jr.; Injured: Mansour, I.Matei, Cisovsky; Suspended: -; Substitutes: Taborda, Scutaru, Burc?, Rocha, Luchin, Axente, Z?grean, Ricketts

Players from Timisoara haven’t received bonus for the last two seasons but if they win the championship they can get rich over night. This is the reason why the coach is expecting good results in the next weeks. „In the last years we lost the championship but I prefer to think about the present. I don’t think the players can afford the luxury of somebody else coming at taking their money. They have the power to win this game, it will only be their fault if they lose the championship. If Poly will win, every player will receive 60 Euro for every minute on the court. Till now, Costel Pantelimon has gathered the most virtual money as he played 2250 minutes which means 135 000 Euros.

Timisoara lost for the first time this season, score 2-3 against Rapid, which meant that Otelu has taken the lead. This failure comes after 330 days, but not all is lost as the difference is of only 1 point. All teams have a more difficult period, and Timisoara hopes to win tomorrow’s game. Out of the last three games played home, Timisoara made tie with Steaua, Astra and Pandurii but if it wants to win the championship it has to play to win every game. The objective for this game is wining the 3 points with a score that makes the players regain their trust.

FCM Targu-Mures

Coach Ioan Ovidiu Sabau declared that FC Timisoara is the most powerful team in Romania and that he comes excited to Timisoara: "It will be a though game for us. I am excited to come back to Timisoara. Many players from Timisoara obtained very good results at international level. I have some nice memories from Timisoara. It is tough to play against a team that offered you so much joy. It is a good team, experienced, with valuable player. I believe that Timisoara is the best team in Romania at the moment. They are favourite at the title."

He also added that he has some team problems. "We still have two days to preapare this game, we will see how concentrated we will be and how much we would want the win."

Targu Mures will be without  defender Adi Iencsi(8/1) and midfielder Florin Dan(23/3). They both recieved yellow cards in the game with Victoria Branesti.

Probable team: Balauru - L.Rus, D.Matei, Bruno Fernandes, Cr.Munteanu, Szilagy - Ba, Vartic, Astafei - Didi, Diego Ruiz; Coach: Ioan Ovidiu Sabau; Injured: Topic, Vasilache; Suspended: Iencsi, Fl.Dan; Substitutes: Stetca, Cordos, Petcut, Vagner, Zaharia, Raduta

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.

Targu Mures feared the game with Victoria Branesti, but won 4-0 afterall. This win of FCM is the biggest one since they promoted into Liga 1. With 7 rounds to go they are 8p over U craiova and 12 points from Branesti and they are almost without problems for this end of championship. They will still play with big teams like Timisoara, Rapid and Steaua so the players shouldn't consider themselves in holiday.

I don't think that Mures can get something from this one and the respect that Sabau has for Timisoara could prove the turning point. Targu Mures still has to play with Astra and Sportul and could get at least 4 points from those games.