2025–26 CS Universitatea Craiova season
| 2025–26 season | ||
|---|---|---|
| President | Mihai Rotaru | |
| Manager | Mirel Rădoi | |
| Stadium | Ion Oblemenco Stadium | |
| Superliga | Regular season: 1st | |
| Cupa României | Group stage | |
| UEFA Conference League | League phase | |
| Top goalscorer | League: Steven Nsimba (5) All: Steven Nsimba (7) | |
| Highest home attendance | 27,884 vs İstanbul Başakşehir | |
| Lowest home attendance | 10,054 vs Argeș Pitești | |
| Biggest win | Universitatea Craiova 4–0 Sarajevo | |
| Biggest defeat | Sarajevo 2–1 Universitatea Craiova Spartak Trnava 4–3 Universitatea Craiova | |
|
| ||
The 2025–26 season is the 78th in the history of Clubul Sportiv Universitatea Craiova and their 12th consecutive season in the Romanian top flight, Liga I. The club is also participating in the Cupa României and the UEFA Conference League. The team reached the group stage of the continental tournament for the first time, having defeated three opponents.
Transfers
In
| Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | David Lazar | Gloria Buzău | Loan return | 30 June 2025 | |
| MF | Alexandru Ișfan | Gloria Buzău | Loan return | 30 June 2025 | |
| FW | Jalen Blesa | Dinamo Batumi | Loan return | 30 June 2025 | |
| FW | Jovan Marković | Hermannstadt | Loan return | 30 June 2025 | |
| FW | Andrei Ivan | Adanaspor | Loan return | 30 June 2025 | |
| MF | David Matei | Steaua București | €100,000 | 1 July 2025 | [1] |
| MF | Alexandru Crețu | Al Wehda | Free | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Mihnea Rădulescu | Petrolul Ploiești | €400,000 | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Tudor Băluță | Śląsk Wrocław | Free | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Samuel Teles | Oțelul Galați | Free | 1 July 2025 | |
| DF | Nikola Stevanović | Oțelul Galați | Undisclosed | 3 July 2025 | [2] |
| DF | Oleksandr Romanchuk | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Undisclosed | 7 July 2025 | [3] |
| DF | Darius Fălcușan | Empoli U20 | €300,000 | 8 July 2025 | [4] |
| FW | Assad Al Hamlawi | Śląsk Wrocław | €700,000 | 8 July 2025 | [5] |
| GK | Pavlo Isenko | Vorskla Poltava | Free | 14 July 2025 | [6] |
| FW | Steven Nsimba | Aubagne | Free | 26 July 2025 | [7] |
| DF | Florin Ștefan | Sepsi OSK | Undisclosed | 2 August 2025 | [8] |
| DF | Adrian Rus | Unattached | Free | 2 September 2025 | [9] |
| FW | Monday Etim | Hillerød | €200,000 | 2 September 2025 | [10] |
Out
| Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FW | Alisson Safira | Santa Clara | Loan return | 4 June 2025 | |
| MF | Mihai Căpățînă | Ordabasy | Released | 30 June 2025 | [11] |
| FW | Jovo Lukić | Universitatea Cluj | Released | 1 July 2025 | [12] |
| GK | David Lazar | Argeș Pitești | Free | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Ștefan Bană | Oțelul Galați | Loan | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Takuto Oshima | FC Noah | €500,000 | 1 July 2025 | |
| DF | Gjoko Zajkov | Ajman | Free | 1 July 2025 | |
| MF | Alexandru Mitriță | Zhejiang | €2,000,000 | 1 July 2025 | [13] |
| FW | Alexandru Ișfan | Farul Constanta | Free | 9 July 2025 | [14] |
| DF | Denil Maldonado | Rubin Kazan | €1,600,000 | 10 July 2025 | [15] |
| GK | Relu Stoian | Metalul Buzău | Released | 13 July 2025 | [16] |
| FW | Andrei Ivan | Panserraikos | Contract terminated | 21 July 2025 | [17] |
| DF | Iago López | Lugo | Contract terminated | 28 July 2025 | [18] |
| FW | Jalen Blesa | Cesena | Undisclosed | 2 August 2025 | [19] |
| DF | Florin Gașpar | CSM Reșița | Loan | 8 August 2025 | |
| DF | Basilio Ndong | Contract terminated | 12 August 2025 | [20] | |
| FW | Jovan Marković | Farul Constanța | Free | 14 August 2025 | [21] |
Friendlies
On 15 June, the team returned to training at the Ilie Balaci Complex, with players absent due to national team schedules. On 22 June, the team traveled to the Bad Radkersburg Resort in Austria to continue preparations.[22]
| 28 June 2025 | Bohemians 1905 | 3–3 | Universitatea Craiova | Austria |
| 18:00 | Report |
| 4 July 2025 | MTK Budapest | 0–1 | Universitatea Craiova | Austria |
| 11:00 | Report |
|
Competitions
Overall record
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Superliga | 12 July 2025 | 7 March 2026 | Matchday 1 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 52.38 |
| Cupa României | 29 October 2025 | Group stage | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 100.00 | |
| UEFA Conference League | 24 July 2025 | Second qualifying round | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 50.00 | |
| Total | 35 | 19 | 8 | 8 | 67 | 37 | +30 | 54.29 | |||
Last updated: 22 December 2025
Source: Competitions
Superliga
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universitatea Craiova | 21 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 40 | Advances to Play-off |
| 2 | Rapid București | 21 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 39 | |
| 3 | Botoșani | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 38 | |
| 4 | Dinamo București | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 38 | |
| 5 | Argeș Pitești | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 34 |
Updated to match(es) played on 22 December 2025. 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.
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.
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 |
| 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 |
Last updated: 20 September 2025.
Source:
Results by round
Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 2025. Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Matches
The competition schedule was drawn on 25 June 2025.[23]
| 12 July 2025 1 | UTA Arad | 3–3 | Universitatea Craiova | Arad |
| 18:30 UTC+3 | Stadium: Francisc von Neuman Stadium Attendance: 7,348 Referee: Marian Barbu |
| 18 July 2025 2 | Universitatea Craiova | 3–1 | Argeș Pitești | Craiova |
| 21:30 UTC+3 | Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 10,054 Referee: Ionuț Coza |
| 28 July 2025 3 | Universitatea Craiova | 2–1 | Universitatea Cluj | Craiova |
| 21:30 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 10,302 Referee: Marcel Bîrsan |
| 3 August 2025 4 | CFR Cluj | 2–3 | Universitatea Craiova | Cluj-Napoca |
| 21:30 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium Attendance: 3,633 Referee: Rareş Vidican |
| 10 August 2025 5 | Universitatea Craiova | 1–0 | Hermannstadt | Craiova |
| 18:30 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 13,459 Referee: Andrei Chivulete |
| 17 August 2025 6 | Csíkszereda | 1–2 | Universitatea Craiova | Miercurea Ciuc |
| 16:15 UTC+3 | Stadium: Miercurea Ciuc Municipal Stadium Attendance: 1,897 Referee: Baban Vlad |
| 24 August 2025 7 | Universitatea Craiova | 2–0 | Petrolul Ploiești | Craiova |
| 18:30 UTC+3 | Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 16,263 Referee: Andrei Florin |
| 31 August 2025 8 | Botoșani | 1–1 | Universitatea Craiova | Botoșani |
| 18:30 UTC+3 | Stadium: Botoșani Municipal Stadium Attendance: 6,126 Referee: Adrian Viorel Cojocaru |
| 14 September 2025 9 | Universitatea Craiova | 2–0 | Farul Constanța | Craiova |
| 18:00 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 16,765 Referee: Bîrsan Marcel |
| 20 September 2025 10 | Oțelul Galați | 1–0 | Universitatea Craiova | Galați |
| 21:00 UTC+3 | Stadium: Oțelul Stadium Referee: Horațiu Feșnic |
| 26 September 2025 11 | Universitatea Craiova | v | Dinamo București | Craiova |
| 21:00 UTC+3 | Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium |
Cupa României
UEFA Conference League
Second qualifying round
| 24 July 2025 First leg | Sarajevo | 2–1 | Universitatea Craiova | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 21:00 UTC+2 |
|
|
Stadium: Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium Attendance: 20,897 Referee: Dmytro Panchyshyn (Ukraine) |
| 31 July 2025 Second leg | Universitatea Craiova | 4–0 (5–2 agg.) | Sarajevo | Craiova |
| 20:37 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 19,600 Referee: Daniyar Sakhi (Kazakhstan) | ||
| Note: The match was delayed due to technical reasons.[24] | ||||
Third qualifying round
| 7 August 2025 First leg | Universitatea Craiova | 3–0 | Spartak Trnava | Craiova |
| 21:30 UTC+3 |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 22,664 Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia) |
| 14 August 2025 Second leg | Spartak Trnava | 4–3 (a.e.t.) (4–6 agg.) | Universitatea Craiova | Trnava, Slovakia |
| 20:30 UTC+2 |
|
Stadium: Anton Malatinský Stadium Attendance: 9,337 Referee: Stuart Attwell (England) |
Play-off round
| 21 August 2025 First leg | İstanbul Başakşehir | 1–2 | Universitatea Craiova | Başakşehir, Turkey |
| 20:45 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium Attendance: 7,230 Referee: Juxhin Xhaja (Albania) |
| 28 August 2025 Second leg | Universitatea Craiova | 3–1 (5–2 agg.) | İstanbul Başakşehir | Craiova |
| 20:30 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 27,884 Referee: Daniel Schlager (Germany) |
League phase
The draw took place on 29 August 2025.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Zrinjski Mostar | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) |
| 24 | Sigma Olomouc | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 7 | |
| 25 | Universitatea Craiova | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 7 | |
| 26 | Lincoln Red Imps | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 7 | |
| 27 | Dynamo Kyiv | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
Updated to match(es) played on 23 October 2025. Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
| 2 October 2025 1 | Raków Częstochowa | 2–0 | Universitatea Craiova | Sosnowiec, Poland |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Zagłębie Sports Park Attendance: 6,557[26] Referee: Ishmael Barbara (Malta) |
| 23 October 2025 2 | Universitatea Craiova | 1–1 | Noah | Craiova |
| 22:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium Attendance: 18,004 Referee: Gal Leibovitz (Israel) |
| 6 November 2025 3 | Rapid Wien | v | Universitatea Craiova | Vienna, Austria |
| 21:00 UTC+1 | Stadium: Allianz Stadion |
| 27 November 2025 4 | Universitatea Craiova | v | Mainz 05 | Craiova |
| 19:45 UTC+2 | Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium |
| 11 December 2025 5 | Universitatea Craiova | v | Sparta Prague | Craiova |
| 19:45 UTC+2 | Stadium: Ion Oblemenco Stadium |
| 18 December 2025 6 | AEK Athens | v | Universitatea Craiova | Athens, Greece |
| 22:00 UTC+2 | Stadium: Agia Sophia Stadium |
Statistics
Goalscorers
| Rank | Pos | Player | Superliga | Cupa României | Conference League | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | Ștefan Baiaram | 6 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| FW | Assad Al Hamlawi | 5 | 0 | 5 | 10 | |
| 3 | FW | Steven Nsimba | 6 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | MF | Alexandru Cicâldău | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| DF | Oleksandr Romanchuk | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | FW | Monday Etim | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | DF | Carlos Mora | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | David Matei | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | Mihnea Rădulescu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| DF | Tudor Băluță | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| MF | Alexandru Crețu | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| MF | Anzor Mekvabishvili | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 13 | FW | Andrei Ivan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MF | Samuel Teles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| DF | Juraj Badelj | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| DF | Adrian Rus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
References
- ^ Ciutacu, Bogdan (May 22, 2025). "Universitatea Craiova, prezentare de Hollywood pentru fotbalistul transferat de la Steaua: „Cu ajutorul maestrului Al Pacino, îi spunem bun venit noului leu din familia Științei". Update".
- ^ "OFICIAL: Nikola Stevanovic, la Universitatea Craiova". 3 July 2025.
- ^ "Universitatea Craiova l-a prezentat pe Oleksandr Romanchuk: "Ne-am betonat defensiva"". 7 July 2025.
- ^ "Darius Fălcușan, prezentat în mașină de Universitatea Craiova". Gazeta Sporturilor - GSP. July 8, 2025.
- ^ "Universitatea Craiova a anunţat oficial transferul lui Al Hamlawi. Detalii despre contract". July 8, 2025.
- ^ "Universitatea Craiova a prezentat al 11-lea transfer al verii: "Pe aici nu se trece"". 14 July 2025.
- ^ Dobrescu, Petre (July 26, 2025). "Steven Nsimba este noul jucător al Universității Craiova. Prezentare spectaculoasă a francezului". Libertatea.
- ^ Olteanu, Maria (August 2, 2025). "Florin Ștefan a semnat cu Universitatea Craiova » Detaliile contractului". Gazeta Sporturilor - GSP.
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- ^ [2]
- ^ "Mihai Căpățînă, prezentat astăzi la noua echipă: "Vreau să-mi arăt calitățile"". 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Jovo Lukic, "dușmanul golului" dat afară de Craiova, a semnat cu rivala din play-off!". 17 June 2025.
- ^ "Alexandru Mitriță a plecat de la Universitatea Craiova! Unde ajunge + suma încasată de olteni".
- ^ "OFICIAL: Alexandru Ișfan, transferat definitiv la Farul Constanța". Universitatea Craiova - ECHIPA TA, campioana unei mari iubiri!. July 9, 2025.
- ^ "OFICIAL: Denil Maldonado nu mai este jucătorul Universității Craiova". Universitatea Craiova - ECHIPA TA, campioana unei mari iubiri!. July 10, 2025.
- ^ "OUT de la Universitatea Craiova".
- ^ "Andrei Ivan pleacă în străinătate după despărțirea de Universitatea Craiova! Cum l-a dezamăgit pe Mirel Rădoi".
- ^ "Încă o plecare de la Universitatea Craiova: "Mult succes!"".
- ^ "Jalen Blesa s-a despărţit de Universitatea Craiova şi a fost prezentat la noua echipă". PrimaSport.ro.
- ^ "Superliga: Basilio Ndong pleacă de la Universitatea Craiova". News.ro. August 12, 2025.
- ^ Coman, Ionuţ (August 14, 2025). "Jovan Markovic a fost prezentat: „Am venit să luăm titlul!"". Gazeta Sporturilor - GSP.
- ^ "Universitatea Craiova şi-a început stagiul de pregătire în Austria. La cine a renunţat Mirel Rădoi înainte de plecare". 22 June 2025.
- ^ "Știm calendarul Superligii 2025-2026! Programul primei etape și când se joacă primul derby FCSB - Dinamo | Sport.ro".
- ^ "Motivul incredibil pentru care startul meciului Universitatea Craiova - Sarajevo a fost amânat!".
- ^ "League phase table". UEFA. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- ^ "Full Time Summary Matchday 1 – Raków Częstochowa v Universitatea Craiova" (PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.