Article by Romeo Ene – Published on Sunday, 22 February 2026, 12:34 / Updated on Sunday, 22 February 2026 12:34
Rapid – Dinamo 2-1. Andrei Nicolescu, the president of the “dogs”, went live the day after the lost derby at the National Arena. Dinamo lost the second match of this season against Rapid, and the head of the club recognizes the superiority of Costel Gâlca's team.
Nicolescu he congratulated the sprinters and stated that the victory was deserved. He admits that Dinamo has come to have a complex with Rapid. as happened with FCSB until this season, but he hopes that his team will prevail in the play-offs.
Andrei Nicolescu, statements after Rapid – Dinamo 2-1: “A hard night for us”
Dinamo's president claims that he talked with coach Zeljko Kopic and they came to the conclusion that whatever they do, they can't get a point against Giulești. It remains to be seen whether the Croatian's squad will break the ice in the play-offs.
Since 2015, Dinamo has not beaten Rapid.
“It was a good Redoubt Rapid. He deserved the win yesterday. Congratulations, moving forward, but a tough night for us. That's how the game was written. Instead of it being 1-0 for us it was written in two phases and they defended very well and very low.
My feeling was all the time, at least in the second half, that the goal had to be scored. In the end he didn't fail and Rapid won. Congratulations, we're moving forward. We will see each other twice this year.
The goal in extra time no longer mattered. Somewhere between the 50th and 80th minutes we had the feeling that we were going to score, after which they came out, kept the ball forward, took a bit of time in our half of the pitch. All in all, a deserved win for them
Out of respect for the arbitration, for Mr. Colțescu, I do not comment on the canceled goal phase. I spoke with Kopic, I felt that whatever we do, for now, Rapid remains a complex. No matter how we approach, no matter how things happen, in the end we somehow fail to win“, said Andrei Nicolescu, for fanatik.ro.
“Rapidly it became a complex for Dinamo”
Nicolescu continued to talk about the Romanian teams that Zeljko Kopic failed to beat:
“There are 4 teams in Romania that Kopic played with and that he never beat. Indeed, the streak is long with Rapid. There would also be Sepsi, which is no longer in the first league, there would be FC U Craiova, which is no longer and FC Argeș
We have to get past this complex, but it is clear that it has become a complex like it was last year or at the beginning of this FCSB season. As FCSB was, so is Rapid now.
It's a defensive joy and a joy for the Romanian coach that Opruț scores, who has as many options as possible. Borza scored, Opruț scored. What manager doesn't want to have the most fit players to choose from?“, Nicolescu added.
Honestly, I didn't expect us to lose to Rapid, but it happened again and we have to move forward, last night was very difficult. And Kopic said: “I have the impression that whatever tactics we approach at the end of the match, we fail to win”. So be it, let's take them 6 points in the play-offs.
– Andrei Nicolescuthe president of Dinamo
PHOTO GALLERY. Images from the end of the Rapid – Dinamo derby
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