Article by Alexandru Barbu – Published on Sunday, 24 May 2026, 23:13 / Updated on Sunday, 24 May 2026 23:16
10 conclusions immediately after FCSB – FC Botosani 4-3 (at the end of extra time), Conference League play-off semi-final.
1. FC Botoșani was better for a while, then it disappeared in a flash and FCSB marched towards the final with Dinamo. The Moldovans came back to 1-3, rewrote the chronicles and sent the barrage into extra time, where magic once again embraced Tavi Popescu.
2. The first part flowed like a stream Paraguay – Uruguay only with old people, until Mailat corrected the error from the last “direct” from Bucharest and the mark from the position of 1 to 1 with Târnovanu. Joao Paulo's cannonball came quickly, he temporarily shut down the tank on big occasions. Dumiter was most in the mood for football, Florin Tănase didn't matter – FC Botoșani was to score after two breakdowns of his forced central midfielder play.
3. Confident of their presence in the draw and already with their minds on the “decisive” with Dinamo, FCSB failed to enter the match directly mounted. From the friendlies at the end of the play-out to a battle to be or not to be in Europe is a long road, at the end of which the former champion looked like a patient woken up from a general anesthesia.
4. Marius Baciu had too little training to influence FCSB's performance in any way. Logical. If there was one expectation from a former Ligue 1 stopper, TV pundit, with almost two decades in coaching, it was to cure the ills of defence. He didn't succeed. The Crețu-Dawa-Popescu-Radunovic line needed a rope to coordinate in Ghencea, and the loose midfield allowed the guests to be dangerous and score 3 times. Preventive defense, ioc.
5. Baciu was selected with the same job advertisement that recruited Todoran, Petrea, Vintilă, Charalambous. The study of the last 10 years proves that FCSB managed to the desired parameters with only one such coach, Elias. That is, the success of the red-blues meant an exception. With the current policy, the rule says FCSB must fail.
6. But football and rules get along like oil and water. With absolutely no connection to what had happened until half-time, the start of the second half delivered an FCSB forcing. For a while it was played only at the goal of Anestis, the people from Bucharest were leading from the 53rd minute. The best men in red and blue, Joao Paulo and Dawa.
7. When Istvan Kovacs is “central”, penalties are dictated from the VAR room. The foul committed by Mailat in the box, punished from 11 meters by Tănase. The Moldovans were able to play one half, then they evaporated. Mailat's second goal came out of nowhere and called, along with Kovtalyuk's “head”, extra time.
8. FCSB thought that the match was over for a long time, it stopped looking for waves, it had thrown away the surfboard. In a noisy storm, with the unknown on the horizon, lightning struck Tavi Popescu's right leg. And rejuvenated him by 5 years, from the period when the left winger of the FCSB-ist attack was casting spells, not playing.
9. Next is Dinamo – FCSB, on Friday. Red and white are favourites. They trained for the derby with U Cluj and Craiova, while FCSB rustled with Slobozia and Hermannstadt. Zeljko Kopic has put together a solid team, the Croatian himself is a major asset. The ace of Marius Baciu's team – the experience of winning this type of war.
10. There are still opinions that challenge the opportunity of a play-out formation to push a play-off team off the barrier in the race for European cups. In the state of Romanian football today, of the Superliga, we cannot afford the luxury of giving up on attractive, high-stakes matches, even if they are artificially produced.
VIDEO » The Eurogoal with which Octavian Popescu decided the tie between FCSB – FC Botoșani:
