Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 7:40 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 7:46 p.m.
Adrian Mihalcea (49 years old), his coach Ato Arad, held the press conference prior to the match with FCSBin the second stage of the play-out. The game is scheduled for Friday, from 19:00, at the National Arena.
The technician from Arada had only words of praise for his counterpart, Mirel Rădoi (44 years old), whom he called “one of the best coaches in the Superliga”.
During the conference, Mihalcea was also asked about an older statement by Gigi Becali, who said that UTA is a weak team, and the technician replied: “I think Mr. Becali said this a long time ago, I don't know if it is still up to date. But, if I had to give a reply, I would give it to a colleague.”
VIDEO. Adrian Mihalcea, before FCSB – UTA Arad: “Rădoi is one of the best coaches in the Superliga”
“We are playing FCSB again, this time in a different competition I could say, in a different context. FCSB comes with a new coach, a coach that I considered and consider to be one of the best in the Superliga.
It is a match for the 1st place of the play-out and in any context and conjuncture FCSB remains the same team with valuable players, currently in a less good period of theirs.
I mean they really wanted to make the play-offs and they didn't. I think there is this disappointment, plus the change of the technical staff was important in accentuating this period. With the quality of players he has he can come back and cause problems for any team.
Contextually, what happened in the championship round as well as in the return from Arad, with red cards and defeats in our favor, we can say that they were superior to us. But, I say again, contextually. We haven't succeeded so far, not even in the Cup, to play 11 against 11.
When you change the trainer and the methodology during the week, the intensity and of course the system, such missynchronizations can occur. But at the same time, the quality, intelligence of the players helps to adapt faster. I hope that this lack of synchronization of theirs will continue and that they will not be able to come out of this less good period against us either.
We also analyzed their match against Metaloglobus. Not the most relevant, but in the end, we were able to extract some ideas. Not necessarily that their new system confuses me, but we need to be maybe more prepared and more present throughout the game because it is a much more offensive system, a system that through the dynamics of the players can cause you problems.
We should perhaps be much more organized than in direct matches with them. We should not take this aggressiveness to the extreme and stay in 10 men again. And of course we need to have a positive attitude, especially since at the moment the match against FCSB is not an extremely important one.
It's the second stage, but we still have quite a few matches in which we can score enough points to ensure our stay in the first league”, said Adrian Mihalcea in the press conference.
The ranking of the Superliga play-out
