LIVE Unirea Slobozia – Farul, home debut for Claudiu Niculescu

Important moment in the Ialomi camp. Claudiu Niculescu (49 years old) makes his debut on the Unirii bench todayafter replacing Andrei Prepelita, and the objective is to avoid relegation. On the other hand, Farul plays its last card in the perspective of access to the play-offs.

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LIVE at 13:00 » Unirea Slobozia – Farul

Unirea Slobozia – Farul, probable teams

UNIREA SLOBOZIA (4-3-3): Rusu – Dorobanțu, Antoche, Safronov, Şerbănica – Al. Albu, Lungu, V. Pop – Bărbut, Said, Papeau
Coach: Claudiu Niculescu

THE LIGHTHOUSE (4-3-3): Buzbuchi – Maftei, Larie, Gustavo Marins, Pellegrini – Dican, Vînă, Radaslavescu – Grigoryan, Alibec, Ișfan
Coach: Ianis Zicu

Stadium: “May 1” (Slobozia)
Referee: Chivulete Andrei Florin (Bucharest – Bucharest)
A1: Necula Mihaita (Bucharest – Bucharest)
A2: Marin Nicusor (Suseni – Argeş)
VAR referee: Andrei Florin (Târgu Mureş – Mureş)
Referee AVAR: Marinescu Vasile (Bucharest – Bucharest)
R1: Ene Mihai Laurentiu (Giurgiu – Giurgiu)
R2: ( – )
Obs. referees: Babadac Cristina (Reşita – Caraş Severin)

Claudiu Niculescu, back in the Superliga after 8 years + Farul, the last hope for the play-offs

Important move thought by Unirea Slobozia in the perspective of avoiding relegation. After 25 stages, the people from Ialomi parted ways with the coaching couple Andrei Prepelita – Jean Vlădoiu, due to unconvincing results, and Claudiu Niculescu was installed in their place, the last time at CSM Slatina, in League 2.

After an unexpectedly good start to the season, Slobozia have recorded 13 failures in their last 14 official matches and were ahead of the stage in 14th place, the second of the playoffs, with 21 points.

The Ialomiites have had a nightmare start to the year, four failures in four matches. The last time they lost in one of the last phases on the Petrol ground, score 0-1. It remains to be seen if Niculescu will be able to have an instant impact at Slobozia and will be able to right the ship.

In the round, the two teams drew in Ovidiu, score 1-1. Eduard Florescu then scored for Slobozia, in the meantime he left for Hermannstadt.

On the other hand, Farul Constanța has two wins, a draw and a defeat in 2026. And the failure came at the worst time, even in the last stage. Although Dinamo was leading 2-1 in the 71st minute, Ianis Zicu's team was turned around and lost at the limit, 2-3.

The failure considerably diminished his chances for qualifying for the play-offs. Before the stage, it was in 10th place, with 34 points, 5 behind FC Botoșani, in 6th place.

VIDEO | Claudiu Niculescu, presented at Unirea Slobozia: “I knew where I was coming from”

Claudiu Niculescu was presented during Friday at Unirea Slobozia. Here are the main statements:

“I came with hope and with a lot of confidence to this club because, even if I haven't been here many times, I knew what I would find here. I knew where I was coming, I knew that I was coming to a team with stability, that is a very important thing at the moment in Romanian football, a team that is suffering at the moment, but I am very confident that we can get the team out of that dangerous area of ​​the ranking.

That's why I came, because I'm very confident that together with my staff, the club's management and the players, we can achieve the goal we have this season, what's left to play, that of saving us from relegation to the second league.

I have the conviction that we will succeed in this too, let's see how, directly or through a barrier, but we will certainly do everything that depends on us, me, together with the players. I had very little time to get to know them, I only know them from the matches I saw on TV, but what I noticed is that they are all eager to get the team out of that, I repeat, dangerous area of ​​the standings, and that is something that makes me very happy.

Tomorrow's game is coming up, a very important game, it's my first game here, although I haven't had time to prepare it at all, but that's no excuse. I decided to sit on the bench tomorrow and assume what will happen on the field, because that's how I liked to be, a responsible man who takes all the decisions he makes.

It will be a tough match, a very tough match, even if Farul Constanța lost the match on Wednesday, and we saw from the interviews they gave, a slight disappointment in their statements, because their play-off chances decreased after Wednesday's defeat, but they are definitely still hoping. They are definitely coming here to win the game to hope to qualify for the play-offs.

On the other hand, we are also connected, we are focused on what we have to do tomorrow, to win the points at stake. It won't be easy, but it won't be impossible.

With a lot of desire, attitude and, of course, with the help of the supporters, whom I expect in the stands in as large a number as possible, let's manage to break the ice, win the points at stake and give them another motivation for what follows and restore their morale”, said Niculescu, according to objective.net.

I have no way to make a full and fair assessment of the players in the squad right now. That's what I'll be able to tell you at the first break in the championship, to have a few weeks to spare, but what I can say is that everyone is eager. I am going to build on their qualities. Our objective is to save the Union from relegation.

Unfortunately, that's the goal right now. Time is short, a very important match awaits us tomorrow.

– Claudiu Niculescuthe new coach of Unirii Slobozia

VIDEO | Ianis Zicu, before Unirea Slobozia – Farul: “We don't have time to think about what happened”

Left with only theoretical chances for a place in the play-off, Farul Constanța is doing its calculations for the fight in the play-out.

“It is a difficult match, with a team below us in the ranking, and the victory is all the more important as we will probably meet Slobozia again in the play-out and we have to increase the distance. We have to find all the positive energy to take the three points.

When we started this mini-return, we knew we would meet two Top 3 opponents in the first four stages. If we said we got 6-7 points, it would have been a decent average. With 7 points after three games and a chance to win with Dinamo, there is now a bit of frustration.

But we don't have time to think about what it was, because we risk losing in the future”, explained Ianis Zicu.

It will be a different type of game, with a team that has a new coach and will find the energy to give something else, because that's what usually happens. It will be more organized defensively, because we all know Claudiu Niculescu's style.

We have to play very fast to be able to break them down and be very careful in defense. They play on the counter, they did it with Prepe, and I don't think they can change it in just two days.

– Ianis Zicuthe trainer of the Lighthouse

The most important details, filtered by GSP statistician Liviu Manolache:

• Three wins, one draw and eight lost games were recorded by the Ialomi team in the current edition at home.

• Dobrogeni won three of the 12 trips, and three other times they ended in a tie.

• Unirea and Farul have met in the main domestic competition four times, each of them recorded a victory, and two other games ended in a draw.

• The first direct confrontation also marked the debut of the Ialomi team in the Super League: July 12, 2024, Farul-Unirea Slobozia 0-1 (scorer Florin Purece).

• The most recent match in the championship took place on September 28, 2025, Farul – Unirea Slobozia 1-1 (Bogdan Țîru / Eduard Florescu).

The current situation in the Superliga