The 2008–09 Liga I was the ninety-first season of

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, the top-level

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Season began on 26 July 2008 and ended on 10 June 2009.

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

were the defending champions.

Teams

Promoted

Teams promoted from

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

at the beginning of the season. * Serie 1 Champions:

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

* Serie 2 Champions: Argeș Pitești * Serie 1 Runners-up:

Otopeni Otopeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, some north of Bucharest along the DN1 road to Ploiești. It has 15,850 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are ethnic Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the city. Henri Coandă ...

* Serie 2 Runners-up:

Gaz Metan Mediaș GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

Relegated

Teams relegated to

at the end of season. * Argeș Pitești * Farul Constanța *

* Gloria Buzău

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Positions by round

Results

Top goalscorers

Source
Liga1.ro

Champion squad

Season statistics

Scoring

* First goal of the season:

Andrei Prepeliță Andrei Prepeliță (born 8 December 1985) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who played mainly as a defensive midfielder. Club career Andrei Prepeliță was born on 8 December 1985 in Slatina and started playing or ...

for

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

against

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, 64 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008) * Last goal of the season:

Claudiu Niculescu Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian football coach and former striker. He is currently the manager of Liga II side CSC 1599 Șelimbăr. Club career Claudiu Niculescu was born in Slatina and started playing football at ...

for Dinamo against Argeș, 90+3 minutes (Round 34 – 10 June 2009) * Fastest goal in a match:

Andrei Cristea Andrei Cristea (; born 15 May 1984) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Although deployed as a forward, Cristea is better known for his pace and his range of passing instead of his goalscoring abilities, and represent ...

for

against Pandurii, 10 seconds (Round 30 – 9 May 2009) * Fastest two goals in a match: Pandurii 1–1

Bistrița (; german: link=no, Bistritz, archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , hu, Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of approxima ...

, minutes 2 and 4 seconds (Round 14 – 8 November 2008) * Goal scored at the latest point in a match:

Cristian Oroș Cristian Daniel Oroș (born 15 October 1984) is a Romanian footballer who plays as centre back for Lotus Băile Felix. Club career On 26 July 2008 Oroș scored in his first game in Liga I against Unirea Urziceni, while playing for FC Brașo ...

for

against Unirea, 90+4 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008) * First own goal of the season:

Zhivko Zhelev Zhivko Dinchev Zhelev ( bg, Живко Желев; born 23 July 1979 in Stara Zagora) is a retired Bulgarian football defender and currently coach of Yantra Gabrovo. Club career Litex Zhelev joined Litex Lovech quite young but fought hard to ...

( Oțelul) for Gaz Metan, 31 minutes (Round 1 – 27 July 2008) * Two own goals by the same team in a match: Diogo and Alexandru Tudose (both

Buzău The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Car ...

) for CFR, minutes 14 and 79 (Round 2 – 3 August 2008) * Two goals in one minute and one second: Farul 1–1

, between 5:53 and 6:54 (Round 13 – 1 November 2008) * Three goals in three minutes: Farul 1–4 Steaua, minutes 89, 90 and 90+2 (Round 7 – 13 September 2008) * Six goals in 30 minutes: Gaz Metan 5–1

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

, minutes 60 through 90 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008) * Most goals in one half: Gaz Metan 0–0 at half time, 5–1 final

(Round 3 – 9 August 2008) * Widest winning margin:

6–0 Farul (Round 34 – 10 June 2009) * Hattricks scored: 4 **

Alexandru Curtean Alexandru Paul Curtean (born 27 March 1987 in Sibiu) is a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder. Personal life Born in Sibiu, Curtean was born into a sporting family. His father, Dan Curtean, was also a football player in the early 1 ...

for Gaz Metan against

, minutes 65, 75 and 81 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008) **

Marius Niculae Marius Constantin Niculae (born 16 May 1981), nicknamed (''Arrow'' in Romanian) is a Romanian retired footballer who played as a centre forward. Niculae started his career with Dinamo București, progressing through their youth system to the ...

for Dinamo against

Vaslui Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara. History Archaeological surveys indicate ...

, minutes 24, 78 and 90 (Round 24 – 11 April 2009) **

for Dinamo against

, minutes 20, 56 and 72 (Round 26 – 21 April 2009) **

Victoraș Iacob Victoraş Constantin Iacob (born 14 October 1980 in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Vâlcea County, Romania) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as striker. Club career Rocar București Iacob started to play professional football at AS ...

for

against Farul, minutes 4, 34 and 50 (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)

Cards

* First yellow card: Attila Hadnagy for

against Unirea, 19 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008) * First red card: Rafael Pereira for Gaz Metan against Dinamo, 22 minutes (Round 2 – 3 August 2008) * Most red cards in a single match: 3 ** Dinamo 1–0

– 2 for Dinamo ( Júlio César,

Adrian Ropotan Adrian Ropotan (born 8 May 1986) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Adrian Ropotan was born in Galați on 8 May 1986, playing his first Divizia A match for Dinamo București on 18 March 2006 in a 2–0 victory ag ...

) and 1 for

( Josh Mitchell) (Round 6 – 30 August 2008) ** Argeș 1–1

– 2 for

( Mircea Bornescu, Michael Baird) and 1 for Argeș ( Daniel Bălașa) (Round 10 – 3 October 2008) * Match without any cards: Unirea 1–1 Steaua (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Liga I Liga I seasons