Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Monday, March 16, 2026 10:56 p.m. / Updated Monday, March 16, 2026 11:00 p.m.
Daniel Pancu spoke after the defeat of his team, CFR Clujon the Cluj Arena, in front of the rivals from U Cluj, score 1-2. The technician spoke about the mistakes that made the difference, the title fight and how, in his opinion, a draw would have been a fairer result.
Lorenzo Biliboc scored in the first minute, scoring the fastest goal of the season. Championship top scorer Lukic restored parity in the 4th minute. Mendy gave the Railways the coup de grace in the 90th minute with a header and the Students moved up to 2nd place with 30 points, a length behind Rapid.
Daniel Pancu, after U Cluj – CFR 2-1: “The first defeat had to come”
The technician of the formation from Gruia spoke after the defeat in the 90th minute, right at the Cluj Arena.
“We met a good, very strong opponent. All play-off games are open to any result and will be so until the end. The difference will be made in the details, in the mistakes. Today, unfortunately, a score was reached that should never have been reached. The first defeat had to come, not in a derby, but we still have 9 games to play. We are 4 points away from first place and we will keep fighting.
All teams want the title at first. We have to recover, we meet the leader at home and we have a chance to get a point closer to them. A title fight can never be easy, it's very hard. It's a shame we lost today, I think a draw would have been fairer.
Daniel Pancu: “I think we have a problem”
I also look at the bench and for a long time the only one who made the difference when he came on was Biliboc, who, whether he's a substitute or not, made the difference. I think we have a problem here, from the 60th minute, when we have to change. I don't think it's about the value, it's about the pace. We didn't even have time to play any friendly matches. As a principle, I am a coach who makes changes right at half-time.
You can't give me a yellow because I said it was a corner. It was even a corner. Okay, the referee came, gave me a yellow card and said that maybe he was mistaken”, said Pancu, after the failure with U Cluj.
Play-off standings
