Two conclusions after U Cluj

Ashley Davis10/05/2026

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Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Sunday, May 10, 2026, 12:10 / Updated Sunday, May 10, 2026 12:19

After U Cluj won with Rapidscore 1-0, the Transylvanians mathematically secured at least 3rd place at the end of the season. So, it was decided that the 4th place team will play in the Conference League play-off.

By the end of this play-off round, it was still unclear whether the 3rd or 4th place would play in the play-off with a play-out team.

U Cluj's victory with Rapid mathematically established that 4th place goes to the play-off

In order for the 3rd place to have gone to the play-off, it was necessary for the team that won the Romanian Cup to finish below the podium in the Superliga. Craiova and U Cluj will meet in the final. As neither of the two can fall below the third position in League 1, it follows that the 4th place will be the barrier.

At this moment, Dinamo is on 4th place, with 34 points. If they beat FC Argeș tonight, they will be 5 points away from Rapid, which is in 5th place, and would have largely secured their place in the playoffs.

The “dogs” would be 4 points closer to the 3rd place, occupied by CFR Cluj, and would still have hopes of catching the podium in extremis. It would be necessary for the red-whites to win in the direct match, for the next stage, but also for the Cherries not to win in the last round, against Argeș, and for Dinamo to beat U Cluj.

The team in 4th place will play a play-out team for the place in the Conference League preliminaries. There, in the semi-final of the pool they will be FCSB and one of FC Botosani or Csikszeredawith the team from the Moldavian area having a two-point lead over the Ciucanians.

Craiova University and U Cluj, in direct battle for the title and the Romanian Cup

The Romanian champion, one of Craiova and U Cluj, will play in the Champions League preliminaries. The winner of the Cup goes to the Europa League qualifiers.

If U Cluj or Craiova make the event, i.e. win both competitions, then the champion goes to the first preliminary round of the UCL and the team in 2nd place will play in the first preliminary round of the Europa League.

Craiova and U Cluj will fight the final battles for the two trophies next week. On Wednesday they have the final of the Cup, on Saturday they meet in stage 9 of the play-off.

If the Oltenians win the championship game, they will be mathematically champions. Otherwise, if it ends in a tie or U Cluj wins, the title will be decided in the last stage.

CFR Cluj has mathematically lost any chance at the title

U Cluj's victory with Rapid brought another certainty. CFR Cluj lost any chance for the title, from a mathematical point of view.

Daniel Pancu's team is in 3rd place, with 41 points. Craiova is the leader, with 46 points. U Cluj is in 2nd place, with 45 points.

Regardless of the result of the match between Craiova and U Cluj, from stage 9 of the play-off, one of them will decisively break away from CFR, regardless of what the team from Gruia does in the rest of the play-off.

Scenario 1: Craiova – U Cluj ends in a draw. Olteni would reach 47 points, which is the maximum that CFR could reach with two victories in the last two stages. But equal points. Craiova would have an advantage, because the Višinians had a round when entering the play-off.
Scenario 2: Craiova wins with U Cluj. In this case, the Oltenians would mathematically become champions. They would have 49 points, with one game remaining, and none of the teams from Cluj could reach the Juvets.
Scenario 3: U Cluj defeats Craiova. The formation prepared by Cristiano Bergodi would reach 48 points, so even in this case CFR Cluj would not be able to catch the leader.