Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Sunday, February 15, 2026, 7:31 p.m. / Updated Sunday, February 15, 2026, 7:42 p.m.
Gâlcă was primarily dissatisfied with the defensive performance of his students, who conceded 3 goals at Ovidiu, and stated that the players did not make the preventive marking from other games.
Costel Gâlcă's statements, after Farul – Rapid 3-1
“I was saying before the match that they are an aggressive team. They won the second ball, they knew how to keep the ball, they caught us in bad positions. We didn't have defensive balance.
I knew what they were doing, how they were playing, but it's hard when you don't have a preventative marker. I left them 1v1, they also won the second ball. We didn't have the preventive marking from other matches, especially since they were playing with two strikers. Hard to defend yourself like that. We also had opportunities, but we had no inspiration in front of goal. I had some clear situations.
For now we don't know how long Aioani will stay. I hope he recovers. It still happens in football. It's a little bit, we want to win wherever we go, but it's not easy. With any team we play with, we didn't win easily, the championship is quite close”, said Gâlcă, on Prima Sport 1.
Asked if Moruțan, Petrila and Dobre can play simultaneously, Gâlcă answered: “All 3 can also play, but it also depends on the form of each. It depends on their expression. It is possible that all 3 will be in the first 11, but it depends on their form.”
The coach of Rapid ended the interview with an irony when he was asked about the upcoming derby: “The match with Dinamo is easy, like all the others. I'm not being ironic. They are balanced matches, we have to stand up, approach the match with Dinamo properly.”
Costel Gâlcă, about the fans' reaction: “It's normal to have frustration”
At the conference, Gâlcă also spoke about the reaction of the ultras, who threatened and cursed the Rapid players in Ovidiu.
“The reaction of the supporters is normal. There are supporters who come everywhere and we have to bring them joy, so it is normal to have frustration. We are worried about the last results, I wanted a good reaction from the team. We lacked defensive balance and inspiration in front of the goal, because we created the chances in the last half.
I knew they were pressing forward and I knew what they were playing. If you put it in the goal, the game can change, inspiration matters a lot. Look at the opportunities in the first half and how clear they were”, said Gâlcă, at the conference.
We have to have a different attitude and be more focused in each phase. If we look at the conceded goal, it came after one of our own. It was important to play a complete game, but we don't have time to hang our heads, ever. Farul was more motivated, more pragmatic in many moments, but we also had good periods of play. We lacked inspiration and the right mood when we lost our defensive balance. If we look at their chances, they verticalized and caught us off balance defensively.
– Costel Gâlcă
