“At Craiova University we operate with this logic”

The Portuguese official is confident that Filipe Coelho can achieve the goal of reaching the European spring, even if at the start of the season no one anticipated the possibility of achieving such a performance. In an interview in the Greek press, Felgueiras explained what is the mentality in the club where he works, the features of the community of supporters with high expectations, but also the projections that the University follows to win trophies.

In order to mathematically secure its presence in the European spring, the University of Craiova needs a success in Athens. A possible victory would take the Oltenians to 10 points, a total that would guarantee their maintenance in the first 24 positions of the general ranking.

However, qualification can also come after a draw. A point obtained could mean reaching the 8-point threshold, which could be enough to reach the round of 16, depending on the final configuration of the hierarchy.

• AEK Athens – Universitatea Craiova is playing today, from 22:00, at the “Agia Sophia” Stadium, in the sixth stage of the Conference League group. The match will be broadcast live on GSP.ro and live on Prima Sport 1 and Digi Sport 1.

Mario Felgueiras, clear message before AEK Athens – University of Craiova: “Expectations have increased”

The head of the University feels that the team can surpass itself, and the match against AEK Athens can represent the perfect demonstration of the level rise that occurred in the second part of the year.

Mario Felgueiras hopes that the Blues and Whites will please their supporters with another result that exceeds expectations. Two victories were registered by the Craiova in the 2025-2026 edition of the Conference League, with the same score, 1-0, against Rapid Vienna, away, and against Mainz, at the “Ion Oblemenco” stadium.

“At Craiova, we are obliged to fight for victory in every game, we operate with this logic. At the beginning of the European journey, many did not believe that we would reach the group. We succeeded, then expectations grew, and people began to forget how important what we had already achieved was. It is normal for the supporters to always want more, and we try to make them proud. At the same time, we know that with every mistake we will be criticized.

From my point of view, we need to learn from the past and constantly improve. What I can say for sure is that we will give everything against AEK to get what we want,” the Portuguese told sportal.gr.

• Universitatea Craiova can continue its European journey even in case of failure, but this scenario depends on a sequence of favorable results in the other matches of the stage.

• In the Conference League, places 1-8 in the standings ensure direct qualification to the round of 16, while positions 9-14 lead to the round of 16. On the other hand, a win for AEK Athens would put the Greeks in the top 8, which would allow them to avoid the extra round.

When I retired from football I felt I needed a break. I had a few injuries and went through some tough times. I needed to… breathe outside of football. I went through some challenges, tried to enrich my knowledge and made investments outside the field. I wanted to complete my studies in psychology and I graduated with a master's degree in football management under the auspices of the Portuguese League and the Catholic University.
– Mario Felgueiras, sports manager

Mario Felgueiras, the sports manager of the University of Craiova

“Balance and the Right Mindset”

Next, Felgueiras believes that the game does not have a clear favorite. However, in his opinion, the public will be the great advantage of the formation prepared by the Serbian Marko Nikolic.

“It is known that AEK is a historical team of Greece. We therefore expect a very difficult match, in a stadium with a superb atmosphere. However, at this level we want to play and it is a pleasure for us to have come to Athens to represent Craiova. We know the difficulties of the match, but it will be difficult for AEK as well. The important thing is that we are ready for whatever we will encounter and we expect the support of our supporters to be visible,” the official said.

The Portuguese characterized the team and believes that the supporters have an extremely important role in the club's progression: “We are a team that, through the number and passion of the supporters, must fight every year for trophies. At the moment we are engaged in three competitions, and the most important thing is to always win the next match.

No one wants more than the players, the management and the technical staff for the trophies to come and for us to experience great moments. However, there must be balance and the right mindset. Let's be modest and work, that's the only way we'll succeed. I think we are on the right track”.

I worked as a goalkeeping coach at Braga and then for three years as a manager. Thus, I accumulated many experiences that helped me understand what I want to do. At that moment, Craiova's offer also appeared. I knew the boss since I was a player. For various reasons, I had not accepted the proposal then. However, we maintained a good relationship, and thus the club owner and the general manager came back with the offer. I knew what I wanted to do and it was very easy for me to respond positively. The only negative thing is that I left my family in Portugal.
– Mario Felgueiras

AEK Athens – Universitatea Craiova, likely teams:

AEK Athens: Strakosha – Rota, Vida, Relvas, Pilios – R. Marin, Pineda – Koita, Ljubicic, Pereyra – L. Jovic
reserves: Angelopoulos, Brignoli, Chrysopoulos, Eliasson, Mantalos, Kosidis, Kutesa
Absent: Penrice, Zini, Pierrot, Gacinovic, Moukoudi (injured)
Coach: Marko Nikolic

University of Craiova: Isenko – Stevanovic, Romanchuk, Screciu – Mora, Cicâldău, Mekvabishvili, Teles, Bancu – Etim, Baiaram
reserves: S. Lung, L. Popescu, Al-Hamlawi, Mogoș, Băsceanu, Al. Crețu, L. Houri, D. Matei, D. Muntean, Nsimba, Fl. Ștefan
Absent: M. Rădulescu, T. Băluță (injured), Ad. Russian (suspended)
Coach: Filipe Coelho

Stadium: Agia Sophia “OPAP” (Athens)
Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)
ASSISTANT: Levan Varamishvili and Giorgi Elikashvili (Georgia)
VAR referee: Soren Storks (Germany)
Assistant VAR: Aleko Aptsiauri (Georgia)