FC Argeș has submitted its file for Europe » Here is the stadium where they would play in the preliminaries, if the dream season continues!

In its most solid season in two and a half decades, FC Argeș dares to set its sights on goals it is no longer familiar with.

In 4th place at the moment and qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup, the white-violets are also considering the scenario of a place in Europe.

In this sense, the people from Pitesti have submitted their documentation to obtain the UEFA license, which would allow them to participate in the preliminaries of the European Cups. The answer is expected to be positive.

FC Argeș chose: they would play in the preliminaries in Craiova!

The file submitted by FC Argeș had to include the stadium where the club from Trivale would play if it succeeded in achieving its new goal. On Wednesday evening, president Dani Coman confirmed for Gazeta that the arena selected by the “purple eagles” is the one in Craiova.

The ultra-modern stadium in Bănie, with a capacity of 31,000 seats and operating at a loss, is designed to host UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Conference League matches.

With the Trivale stadium demolished for modernization, FC Argeș is forced to play its matches at Mioveni, an old-fashioned arena that cannot host European matches. In theory, the club would have also had the option of Târgoviște, a city located 80 kilometers away from Pitesti.

How does FC Argeș qualify in Europe?

In order to progress in the preliminaries, Bogdan Andone's Argeş must either finish in the top 3 places, or win the Romanian Betano Cup, a performance that has never been achieved in history.

Even the last step of the podium does not guarantee 100% the presence in the preliminaries. Everything depends on the name of the team that will win the Cup, as well as the final configuration of the standings. There is also the option according to which the 3rd place (or the 4th place) will contest the “barrage” of the Conference with the team that will prevail in the other “barrage”, that of the teams in the play-out.

If they won the Cup, FC Argeș would play in the Europa League preliminaries, as happened with Corvinul in 2024. The second or third place would ensure them a place in the preliminary rounds of the Conference, while the first position, in a fantasy scenario, would send them to the first round of the League.

They haven't seen Europe since the days of Mutu and Jean Barbu

FC Argeș, a club that defeated names like Real Madrid, Valencia and AEK Athens in the 70s, did not win the European Cups again in the 1998-1999 season. At that time, with Adi Mutu, Jean Barbu or Schumacher on the field, the team from Pitesti passed Dynamo Baku and Istanbulspor, then were destroyed by Celta Vigo (0-8 overall and an unbelievable 0-7 in Spain).

Image from the Celta – FC Argeș return / Photo source: Faro de Vigo

FC Argeș is proud of several unique records ticked in Europe:

– was the first team to “return” a qualification in Europe after losing by at least two goals in the round; it happened in the Târguri Cities Cup, in '66-'67, when the Pitesti beat Toulouse 5-1, after 0-3 in France

– was the first team to benefit from the away goal rule in Eurocups; it also happened in the Târguri Cities Cup, season '68-'69, at 0-0 and 1-1 with Leixoes

– was the first team to win on Greek soil, 2-1 with Panathinaikos (in '78-'79), in Azerbaijan, 2-0 with Dinamo Baku (in '98-'99), and in Luxembourg, 2-0 with Aris Bonnevoie (in '72-'73)

– was the first team to eliminate a representative of Spain; happened in the '66-'67 season of the Fair Cities Cup, 2-0 and 2-2 with FC Sevilla