| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 July 2021 – 29 May 2022 |
| Champions | CFR Cluj |
| Relegated | Gaz Metan Mediaș Academica Clinceni Dinamo București |
| Champions League | CFR Cluj |
| Europa Conference League | FCSB Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe Universitatea Craiova |
| Top goalscorer | Florin Tănase (20 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Rapid 8–0Gaz Metan Mediaș (18 April 2022) |
| Biggest away win | Academica Clinceni 2–8Farul Constanța (17 February 2022) Argeș Pitești 0–6CFR Cluj (7 May 2022) |
| Highest scoring | Academica Clinceni 2–8Farul Constanța (17 February 2022) |
| Longest winning run | 9 matches CFR Cluj |
| Longest unbeaten run | 21 matches CFR Cluj |
| Longest winless run | 17 matches Academica Clinceni |
| Longest losing run | 13 matches Gaz Metan |
2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 27 May 2022. | |
The2021–22 Liga I (also known asCasa Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons) was the 104th season of theLiga I, the top professional league for Romanianassociation football clubs. The season started on 15 July 2021 and ended in May 2022.[1] It was the seventh to take place since the play-off/play-out format has been introduced, andCFR 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.[2]
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 fromLiga II.[2]
The league consistsed of 16 teams: 12 from the2020–21 Liga I, two teams from the2020–21 Liga II, and the winners of the2020–21 promotion/relegation play-off.
Teams promoted to the Liga I
The first club to be promoted wasFC U Craiova 1948, following their 0–0 draw againstMiercurea Ciuc on 13 May 2021. FC U Craiova returned in theLiga I after 10 years of absence.[3]
The second club to be promoted wasRapid București, following their 1–3 defeat againstFC U Craiova on 17 May 2021. Rapid returned in theLiga I after 6 years of absence.[4]
The third club to be promoted wasMioveni, following their 2–1 win againstHermannstadt on 2 June 2021, in the promotion/relegation play-offs. Mioveni returned in theLiga I after 9 years of absence.[5]
Teams relegated to theLiga II
The first club to be relegated wasPolitehnica Iași, which were relegated on 15 May 2021 following a 0–1 defeat againstHermannstadt, ending their 7-year stay in the top flight.[6]
The second club to be relegated wasAstra Giurgiu, which were relegated on 19 May 2021 following their 0–1 defeat againstViitorul Constanța, ending their 12-year stay in the top flight.[7]
The third club to be relegated wasHermannstadt, which were relegated on 2 June 2021 following their 1–2 defeat againstMioveni in the promotion/relegation play-offs, thus ending their 3-year stay in the top flight.[8]
Other changes
In June 2021, Gheorghe Hagi (owner ofViitorul Constanța), chairmanGheorghe Popescu andFarul Constanța ownerCiprian 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.[9][10][11]
| 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 | Location of Bucharest teams. | Mioveni | |
| Municipal[i] | 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 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined underFIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academica Clinceni | Joma | Consiliul Județean Ilfov | ||
| Argeș Pitești | Macron | Getica 95, MozzartBet | ||
| Botoșani | Erreà | Trutzi, Elsaco | ||
| CFR Cluj | Nike | eToro | ||
| Chindia Târgoviște | Joma | – | ||
| Dinamo București | Macron | Unibet | ||
| Farul Constanța | Nike | OMV Petrom | ||
| FCSB | Nike | |||
| FC U Craiova 1948 | Adidas | Justice for Craiova | ||
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | Joma | Romgaz | ||
| Mioveni | Macron | Mioveni | ||
| Rapid București | Nike | Superbet, Aqua City | ||
| Sepsi OSK | Adidas | Diószegi, Gyermelyi | ||
| Universitatea Craiova | Puma | Betano | ||
| UTA Arad | Saller | Efbet, International Alexander Holding | ||
| Voluntari | Nike | Metropola TV |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC U Craiova 1948 | Sacked | 24 May 2021[12] | Pre-season | 2 June 2021[13] | ||
| FCSB | End of contract | 31 May 2021 | Pre-season | 1 June 2021[14] | ||
| CFR Cluj | End of contract | 31 May 2021 | Pre-season | 2 June 2021[15] | ||
| Farul Constanța | End of contract | 31 May 2021 | Pre-season | 21 June 2021[9] | ||
| Dinamo București | Resigned | 10 July 2021[16] | Pre-season | 14 July 2021[17] | ||
| Universitatea Craiova | Sacked | 23 July 2021[18] | 4 | 26 July 2021[19] | ||
| 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 |
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.[20]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CFR Cluj | 30 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 48 | 16 | +32 | 76 | Qualification for thePlay-off round |
| 2 | FCSB | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 54 | 28 | +26 | 62 | |
| 3 | Universitatea Craiova | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 55 | 29 | +26 | 54 | |
| 4 | Argeș Pitești | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 48 | |
| 5 | Farul Constanța | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 48 | |
| 6 | Voluntari | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Botoșani | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 46 | Qualification for thePlay-out round |
| 8 | UTA Arad | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 40 | |
| 9 | Rapid București | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 34 | 31 | +3 | 40 | |
| 10 | Sepsi OSK | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 33 | 29 | +4 | 39 | |
| 11 | Chindia Târgoviște | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 35 | |
| 12 | FC U Craiova 1948 | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 31 | 35 | −4 | 33 | |
| 13 | Mioveni | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 36 | −17 | 29 | |
| 14 | Dinamo București | 30 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 24 | 66 | −42 | 17 | |
| 15 | Academica Clinceni | 30 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 21 | 64 | −43 | 14 | |
| 16 | Gaz Metan Mediaș[a] | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 46 | −25 | 2 |
| Home \ Away | ACA | ARG | BOT | CHI | CFR | DIN | FAR | FCS | FCU | GAZ | MIO | RAP | SPS | UCV | UTA | VOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academica Clinceni | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–8 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | |
| Argeș Pitești | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | |
| Botoșani | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Chindia Târgoviște | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| CFR Cluj | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
| Dinamo București | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–6 | 2–2 | 3–2 | |
| Farul Constanța | 5–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| FCSB | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| FC U Craiova 1948 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | |
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
| Mioveni | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Rapid București | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Sepsi OSK | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | |
| Universitatea Craiova | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| UTA Arad | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Voluntari | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
The top six teams from Regular season will meet twice (10 matches per team) for places in2022–23 UEFA Champions League and2022–23 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.[21]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CFR | FCS | UCV | VOL | FAR | ARG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CFR Cluj(C) | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 57 | Qualification toChampions League first qualifying round | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 2 | FCSB | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 7 | +17 | 56 | Qualification toEuropa Conference League second qualifying round | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 3 | Universitatea Craiova(O) | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 48 | Qualification toEuropean competition play-offs | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Voluntari | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 35 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | |||
| 5 | Farul Constanța | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 32 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |||
| 6 | Argeș Pitești | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 26 | −23 | 27 | 0–6 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
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.[21]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | SPS | BOT | RAP | FCU | UTA | MIO | CHI | DIN | ACA | GAZ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Sepsi OSK(Q) | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 42 | Qualification toEuropa Conference League second qualifying round[a] | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 | ||||||
| 8 | Botoșani | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 41 | Qualification toEuropean competition play-offs | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 5–0 | ||||||
| 9 | Rapid București | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 7 | +15 | 39 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 8–0 | |||||||
| 10 | FC U Craiova 1948 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 34 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | ||||||||
| 11 | UTA Arad | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 33 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | |||||||
| 12 | Mioveni | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 31 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||||||||
| 13 | Chindia Târgoviște(O) | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 26 | Qualification for therelegation play-offs | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | ||||||
| 14 | Dinamo București(R) | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 23 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | ||||||||
| 15 | Academica Clinceni[b](D, R) | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 32 | −28 | −43 | Clubs withdrew from the league | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | |||||||
| 16 | Gaz Metan Mediaș[c](D, R) | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 31 | −25 | −46 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 |
In the semi-final, the 7th and 8th-placed teams of theLiga 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 lastUEFA 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.
| 27 May 2022 | Universitatea Craiova | 2–0 | Botoșani | Craiova |
| EEST (UTC+3) | Stadium:Stadionul Ion Oblemenco Attendance: 10.000 |
The 13th and 14th-placed teams of theLiga I faced the 3rd and 4th-placed teams of the Liga II.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia Chiajna | 2–2(1–4p) | Chindia Târgoviște | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Universitatea Cluj | 3–1 | Dinamo București | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 21 May 2022 | Concordia Chiajna | 2–1 | Chindia Târgoviște | Chiajna |
| 15:30EEST (UTC+3) | Voicu Pițian | Florea | Stadium:Concordia Referee: Marcel Bîrsan (Bucharest) |
| 21 May 2022 | Universitatea Cluj | 2–0 | Dinamo București | Cluj |
| 20:30EEST (UTC+3) | Remacle Boiciuc | Stadium:Cluj Arena Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Cătălin Popa (Pitești) |
| 29 May 2022 | Chindia Târgoviște | 1–0 (4–1p) | Concordia Chiajna | Ploiești |
| 18:15EEST (UTC+3) | Chamed | Stadium:Ilie Oană Stadium Referee:István Kovács (Carei) | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| Iacob Passaglia Chunchukov Celea | ||||
| 29 May 2022 | Dinamo București | 1–1 | Universitatea Cluj | Bucharest |
| 21:00EEST (UTC+3) | Morar | Tescan | Stadium:Stadionul Dinamo Attendance: 13,770 Referee:Adrian Cojocaru (Galați) |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinamo | FC Voluntari | 3–2 (H) | 19 July 2021 | |
| Farul Constanța | Academica Clinceni | 5–0 (H) | 13 September 2021 | |
| Universitatea Craiova | CS Mioveni | 5–2 (H) | 30 October 2021 | |
| CFR Cluj | Dinamo | 4–1 (H) | 6 March 2022 | |
| FCSB | Farul Constanța | 0–4 (A) | 25 April 2022 |
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team
| Year | Month | Player | Nationality | Pos. | Team | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | August | Cristian Săpunaru | DF | Rapid București | [citation needed] | |
| September | Jefté Betancor | FW | Farul Constanța | [24] | ||
| October | Andrei Ivan | FW | Universitatea Craiova | [25] | ||
| November | Alexandru Cicâldău | MF | [26] | |||
| December | Gabriel Tamaș | DF | FC Voluntari | [27] | ||
| 2022 | February | Gustavo Vagenin | FW | Universitatea Craiova | [28] | |
| March | Octavian Popescu | FW | FCSB | [29] | ||
| April | Darius Olaru | MF | FCSB | [30] | ||
| May | Marius Ștefănescu | FW | Sepsi OSK | [31] |
| Year | Month | Manager | Nationality | Team | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | August | Mihai Iosif | Rapid București | [citation needed] | |
| September | Liviu Ciobotariu | FC Voluntari | [24] | ||
| October | Laurențiu Reghecampf | Universitatea Craiova | [25] | ||
| November | Andrei Prepeliță | FC Argeș | [26] | ||
| December | Dan Petrescu | CFR Cluj | [27] | ||
| 2022 | February | Nicolò Napoli | FC U Craiova 1948 | [28] | |
| March | Răzvan Lucescu | [29] | |||
| April | Adrian Mutu | Rapid București | [30] | ||
| May | Cristiano Bergodi | Sepsi OSK | [31] |