Article by Alexandru Barbu – Published on Sunday, 03 May 2026, 23:07 / Updated on Sunday, 03 May 2026 23:14
1. Coelho and Kopic played another tactical derby. The suspense of the play-off final, the title, the European cups, plus the reserves Nsimba, Băsceanu and Mihai saved the match towards the end.
2. The first half strictly followed the recipe of the last direct Craiova – Dinamo duels. He walked a lot, played a little football. The pressure of the title paralyzed the hosts' attacks, and the “dogs” could only be dangerous at the “fixes” executed by Armstrong.
3. If we can't replicate the technical achievements of great footballers from outside, it's strange that we don't even adopt the trend of pressing all the way to the opponent's box and one-on-one duels stretched across the field, i.e. trainable details even with hundreds of thousands of players.
4. At the break, the first 45 minutes were overturned, however they were useless. Coelho exchanged exceptionally with Nsimba and Basceanu. That is, he made the wrong starting team, from which he had no one to score.
5. Now, Craiova defends better than attacks. It's the same tactic that Coelho used to climb the team from 4th place to 1 and will play the final of the Cup.
6. For this, the Portuguese will not have a statue in Oltenia. Even the CFR supporters did not stick posters on the walls with Dan Petrescu, but with the endless trophies won by the Machiavellian coach, yes.
7. Patience at Dinamo. 884 days have passed since Zeljko Kopic has been working for us in the country, the message of the mandate is crystal clear: give him a title pack and he'll hunt for first place. Soro, Musi, Cîrjan and others like them looked like bad apples until the Croatian changed their basket and they didn't look like that anymore.
8. Even if Dinamo's coach composed the middle line in Bănie defectively, the Gnahore bastion being flanked by two colleagues: Soro and Milanov only burdened the dynamics of the guests.
9. In Craiova, Teles, the generator of the blue-whites for a long time, did not work.
10. You are a supporter when you fill “Oblemenco” at a title match. No, in Romania it is not a truism. The National Arena was not even half occupied in the same decisive part of the season, hosting derbies, semi-finals of the Romanian Cup.
