Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Sunday, April 26, 2026 11:41 p.m. / Updated Sunday, April 26, 2026 11:54 p.m.
After Dinamo – Rapid 3-1in the sixth stage of the play-off, Zeljko Kopic said he was delighted with the game played by his team and the attitude of the players.
Dinamo was coming to the derby after the dramatic elimination from the semifinals of the Romanian Cup, on penalties, against Craiova. Kopic stated that it was difficult for him to motivate the players, but good communication between him and them helped in the preparation of the match.
For Zeljko Kopic, it was the first victory against Rapid since he was on Dinamo's bench. In fact, the “dogs” defeated the Giulești for the first time after 11 years.
For the tactical decisions made on the Arena, Kopic was rewarded with a grade 9 by GSP.
What Zeljko Kopic said after Dinamo – Rapid 3-1
“We are all happy, I am proud of my boys. After that cup match, these 3 days we had were tough. We played against a strong opponent, all respect for the development of the players.
I spoke with Cătălin Cîrjan, he knows that there are many matches, it's better that way. He came in well, he gave everything, that's our mentality. It's easier to make a decision when I have good communication with the players.
That's my job, to try to make good decisions. It was difficult to prepare for this match, especially after what happened in Craiova. I suffered, I had to motivate them. It's been a lot of ups and downs, now we're good again. We were almost dead, now we are at the peak of happiness.
We want him to reach Europe, the play-off is a tough competition. From my perspective, in many matches we lacked luck. We have 4 more matches, we will fight, we will see where we will finish at the end of the season”, said Zeljko Kopic, on Digi Sport 1.
Play-off standings
