Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Friday, February 20, 2026 10:38 p.m. / Updated Friday, February 20, 2026 10:38 p.m.
Victorious in Botoșani, Cristiano Bergodi's team, suspended today, reached 48 points, just one below Rapid, 5 below the leader Universitatea Craiova.
With the place in the play-offs almost assured, two of the University's core players, defender Alexandru Chipciu and forward Jovo Lukic, spoke freely in interviews.
Jovo Lukic: “If we also beat Oțelul gata, we will be in the play-offs”
Lukicauthor of two goals today, thus equaling Alex Dobre at the top of the scorers' ranking (13)said that “it was a very tough match, they played very well, it was very cold and the pitch not so good. I think whoever was going to fight more was going to win, and we did.”
“It's a very important victory, these 3 points almost secure our play-off position. If we win the next match, I think it's ready, we'll be in the play-offs. With Oțelul, it will be a direct match between teams that want to be in the play-offs, I hope we can win.
There is joy in the locker room after every victory. But we take it match by match, we want to win them all. We want to fight to the end; if we can, good; if not, we know we gave our best,” added the Bosnian.
Everything we do, we do from the instructions provided by Mr. Bergodi. It's better when he's on the bench, but we know what we have to do. We had 7 days to prepare the match and we set up everything, defense, attack, tactics. Maybe it would be good to have the next match in the stands as well (no – laughs).
– Jovo Lukic, striker U Cluj
Alexandru Chipciu: “It was difficult for us to get out of their grip”
Captain Alexandru Chipciu also complained about the condition of the lawn. He explained how he believes they were able to make a difference today.
“Difficult win, on a difficult pitch. It was a very dry pitch, you couldn't really care to play football. It was more about the fight. Their style of play is tailored to that fight, but I think we adapted well. We suffered after scoring two relatively easy goals, they only played long balls, won the second ball and then went away.
It was difficult for us to adapt, to get out of the fists of the first half. But I had the feeling that it was going to fall, you can't keep that rhythm of pressing for 90 minutes. We also have a much better batch, our reserves are at the level of the holders.
That made the difference, we knew when to suffer, we took advantage of the counterattacks. I interpreted the game phases very well. When you have to attack, attack; when you have to defend yourself, you defend yourself.
I think it's a deserved win and we've put ourselves in a good position for the play-offs, but there are still two stages to go. I think we went crazy with the calculations these days, I think all the teams did the calculations. We were watching UTA, we wanted UTA to win, then we thought that if they beat FCSB, then you are also afraid of UTA. The most important thing was to focus only on us. I had confidence, because we have had good matches here before.
This mind is strange: we were thinking about the middle of the championship to be there, that it will be thick in the play-out, and now we think that you fight in the play-off. The important thing is to keep our feet on the ground, to take every match. Next is a very important one with Steel. We are still not qualified for the play-offs.
It is a contested and beautiful championship. Too bad about the playing conditions. The quality of the matches was not at the highest level in the whole League 1. Only a few pitches are very good, but we also try, at our level, to offer good football”, said Chipciu.
I knew that [Bergodi] will be suspended, we did not expect not. Somehow, we were prepared. That's it, he was wrong and he paid. So did the others. He assumed that, that's pretty much the reality. You're wrong, you pay.
– Alexandru Chipciu, captain U Cluj
