Costel Gâlcă (53 years old), the coach of Rapid, prefaced in a press conference the penultimate stage of the regular season, when his team will play away at Unirea Slobozia. The play-off is also expected to be a very hot one, anticipating that a lot will be played and decided in the first 4-5 stages.
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Unirea Slobozia – Rapid, in stage #29 of the Superliga, is played on Monday, from 19:30. The match will be liveTEXT on GSP.ro and on TV on Prima Sport 1 and Digi Sport 1
Rapid is sure that it will not finish the regular season in 1st place and will, most likely, fight for the second position, with Dinamo.
Costel Gâlcă wants to take everything step by step and now has only the success in the match with Slobozia in mind, aware of the importance of the points at stake. Asked about the play-offs, he said that he doesn't know how the last place situation will turn out, but he had the same opinion as Elvir Koljicsuggesting that FC Argeș deserves to be in the top 6.
Costel Gâlcă believes that the play-off round will be decisive
Regarding the fight for the title, the Rapid technician believes that the play-off round could prove to be decisive to determine the champion of 2026. So far, Craiova, Rapid, Dinamo, U Cluj and CFR Cluj are the 5 teams qualified for the play-off. Three teams are fighting for the last place: FC Argeș, FCSB and UTA.
“We are coming after a good match, with Dinamo, I hope the attitude is the same, even to come with a plus, the time is better, the field is better in Slobozia, it can help us in the last third to complete actions. Slobozia is a compact team, after losing the ball creates density, I hope we can break down the defense, get vertical, get to the opposing goal, it's an important match.
We have to prepare for the play-offs, but it is important to get these three points. Lately there have been referee mistakes in several matches, even if it were in our favor we must admit that he was wrong, let's be fair play, the competition must be one of respect for the opponent, of sport, that should come first.
The decisions must be better, we have VAR, and the referees must be helped. We really wanted to be up there, there is a lot to play for, we still have the play-off, we have to look good, to be close to the first place. I have always said that it is important for us, if we want progress in football, to have better decisions, from the coaches, how we prepare the team, and the referees to make better decisions, they have VAR.
I don't know who comes to the play-off, it's a close fight, I've said it before in other conferences, FC Argeș deserves to be there, they certainly have their options, there are still matches to play, football is sometimes unpredictable. Sthere are few points between the top teams, let's see what will happen, how the teams will approach the matches, the first 4-5 play-off matches will certainly be decisive.
I hope there will be as many players as possible in the draw with Turkey, it doesn't depend on me, it depends on their developments and the coach.
It's a pity what's happening in the Gulf, a great pity, tragic things from my point of view, I hope it stops as soon as possible”, said Costel Gâlcă, during the press conference on Sunday.
The current Superliga standings
