“We climbed to the top of the mountain and then fell into the abyss”

The technician, who was on the Giulești bench for the last match, spoke about Rapid's missed season, the pressure from the play-offs and what he had left after the experience in Giulești. Midfielder Tobias Christensen also participated in the press conference.

Costel Gâlcă, before Rapid – Craiova University

Before the last match on the bench of Rapid, Costel Gâlcă congratulated Craiova University for winning the title and admitted that the Giulești team had a season below expectations.

“It's the last match, we're playing the champion and we want to congratulate them for making the event. They were the more consistent team and it showed in the results. I don't know if the players who have performed so far or another team will play tomorrow, but for us it is important for the records, nothing more.

To be honest, we climbed to the top of the mountain and then fell into the abyss. That's pretty much how the season was, and in my view, more could have been done. For me, our supporters deserved much more, and in the future they deserve much more, because they come in huge numbers. And they supported us on trips. There were also times when they were frustrated and that's normal, logically, but I think they deserved more.

Everything broke after the match with U Cluj. There were problems before, but then we patched ourselves up a bit, found solutions. I didn't have constancy, even though I was up there. We could not use the same players in several matches”, declared Gâlcă.

Costel Gâlcă: “I would definitely sign in League 1”

Asked if he would accept a new offer from the Superliga, the technician said that he wants to continue in the first echelon.

“I would definitely sign in Ligue 1. I'm a coach and we'll see what happens. The important thing for us is to win and give everything. When the pressure came, we have to admit that there were also a lot of injuries, from the start of the season until now.

Craiova made very good changes and knew how to overcome difficult moments, and that was important. They finished the last match with a river score, but the truth was not that, because in the championship the teams were always close in terms of points.”

Costel Gâlcă, about the national team: “We don't have many valuable players”

The former Romanian international also spoke about Gheorghe Hagi and the calls chosen for the first action as a selector.

“He as a player was our best footballer of all time and naturally he wants to turn the national team into a competitive one. It won't be easy, because we don't have many valuable players who play consistently in strong championships.”

At the end, Costel Gâlcă spoke about the atmosphere in Giulești and the relationship with the Rapid supporters.

“I was left with the atmosphere in Giulești, which is extraordinary. You live football there, and I lived it for the supporteri.”

It is important to win and of course we have to give our best. It's the last game, there are 3 points at stake and we want to win. It's been a season with ups and downs.
We had good periods, but now we are disappointed with the position in the ranking. We were hoping to have a better season, but that's life.
We want to win for many reasons and we certainly want to get the win for a nice farewell to the mystery.
We hope to have as many supporters with us as possible. Even if they are not very happy with the results we had, we appreciate their support and hope to see them with us tomorrow.
I have one year left on my contract. In football you can't promise anything, but I promise we will do everything we can to improve.

– Tobias Christensen, midfielder at Rapid

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