The 2019–20 Liga I (also known as Casa Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons) was the 102nd season of the
Liga I, the top professional league for Romanian
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
clubs, which began in July 2019 and was scheduled to end in June 2020. Suspended in March 2020 because of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, the season resumed on 13 June and effectively ended on 5 August. It was the fifth season to take place since the play-off/play-out rule had been introduced.
CFR Cluj were two-time defending champions, and they successfully defended their title once more.
Universitatea Craiova contented for the trophy until the final fixture of the championship play-offs, and ultimately finished as runner-ups, while
FCSB
Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I.
The original ''Steaua București'' footb ...
were unable to claim a top three spot in the table for the first time since the
2010–11 season. Because of the aforementioned situation created by the pandemic, it was decided that no club would relegate directly and the 14th-placed team would take part in the promotion/relegation play-offs instead of the 12th-placed one, which resulted in no club being relegated whatsoever.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
The derby between
FCSB
Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I.
The original ''Steaua București'' footb ...
and
Universitatea Craiova on 8 March 2020 was played without spectators because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. Four days later, all football leagues and competitions were suspended by the
Romanian Football Federation until 31 March in regard to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Romania. In May, it was announced that the Liga I would restart on the second weekend of June.
The first match meant to be played at the resumption was Universitatea Craiova versus
FC Botoșani, on 12 June at 20:00
EEST
Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...
(
UTC+3), but was postponed after the latter club's doctor was tested positive for the virus. This was the second game announced to be postponed on the same day after
Dinamo București versus
Chindia Târgoviște, which was scheduled for 13 June. Nevertheless, the season resumed with three other matches on 13 June.
After the restart, many matches were postponed due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
cases that appeared inside the teams. At the end the season, two matches were cancelled in the play-off after Coronavirus cases from
Astra Giurgiu and five matches were canceled in the play-out, after the emergence of the same issue at
Dinamo București. The final league tables were approved without these matches and it was announced that only the last place,
Chindia Târgoviște, would play a promotion/relegation play-off, with the rest of the teams being spared from relegation and the format being changed from 14 teams to 16 teams starting with the
next season.
Teams
The league consists of 14 teams: twelve teams from the
2018–19 Liga I and two new teams from the
2018–19 Liga II.
Teams promoted to the Liga I
The first club to be promoted was
Academica Clinceni, following their 2–1 win against
Argeș Pitești on 24 May 2019. Academica will play in the
Liga I for the first time in their history.
The second club to be promoted was
Chindia Târgoviște, following their 4–1 win against
Luceafărul Oradea on 25 May 2019. AFC Chindia will play in the
Liga I for the first time in their history, but the city of
Târgoviște, returned in the
Liga I after 21 years of absence, where was last time represented by
FCM Târgoviște, named between 1996 and 2003 as ''CF Chindia'', club that was also the first club of the city and which was replaced by the new club (AFC Chindia) after some internal conflicts.
Teams relegated to the
Liga II
The first club to be relegated was
Concordia Chiajna, which were relegated on 22 May 2019 following a 0–2 defeat against
Dunărea Călărași, ending their 8-year stay in the top flight.
The second club to be relegated was
Dunărea Călărași, which were relegated on 2 June 2019 following a 1–2 defeat against
FC Hermannstadt, ending their 1-year stay in the top flight.
Venues
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Managerial changes
Regular season
In the regular season the 14 teams will meet twice, a total of 26 matches per team, with the top 6 advancing to the Championship round and the bottom 8 qualifying for Relegation round.
Table
Results
Positions by round
Championship play-offs
The top six teams from Regular season will meet twice (10 matches per team) for places in
2020–21 UEFA Champions League and
2020–21 UEFA Europa League as well as deciding the league champion. Teams start the Championship round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season.
Championship play-off table
Championship play-off results
Positions by round
Relegation play-outs
The bottom eight teams from regular season met twice (14 matches per team) to contest against relegation. Teams started the Relegation round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season. The winner of the Relegation round finished 7th in the overall season standings, the second placed team – 8th, and so on, with the last placed team in the Relegation round being 14th.
Relegation play-outs table
Relegation play-outs results
Positions by round
Promotion/relegation play-offs
The 14th-placed team of the Liga I faces the 3rd-placed team of the
Liga II.
Season statistics
Top scorers
:''Updated to matches played on 16 June 2020.''
Hat-tricks
Clean sheets
:''Updated to matches played on 9 March 2020.''
-->
Discipline
:''As of 9 March 2020''
Player
*Most yellow cards: 9
**
Bradley Diallo
Bradley Diallo (born 20 July 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender for Finnish Veikkausliiga club SJK. Although he started out as a left back, he developed into a very competent centre back in the second part of his ...
(
Chindia Târgoviște)
**
Bogdan Țîru
Bogdan Ionuț Țîru (; born 15 March 1994) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ekstraklasa club Warta Poznań.
International career
In November 2016 Țîru received his first call-up to the senior Romania squad ...
(
Viitorul Constanța)
1
**
Valentin Mihăilă (
Universitatea Craiova)
**
Nicandro Breeveld (
Politehnica Iași)
1 Bogdan Țîru
Bogdan Ionuț Țîru (; born 15 March 1994) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ekstraklasa club Warta Poznań.
International career
In November 2016 Țîru received his first call-up to the senior Romania squad ...
was transferred to Jagiellonia Białystok during the winter transfer window.
*Most red cards:
3
**
Răzvan Tincu
Răzvan Tincu (born 15 July 1987) is a Romanian footballer who plays as a defender for Liga III club Minaur Baia Mare.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Politehnica Iași
*Liga II: 2011–12, 2022–23
Concordia Chiajna
* Cupa Ligii runne ...
(
Sepsi OSK Sepsi may refer to:
*László Sepsi (born 1986), Romanian footballer of Hungarian descent
*Sepsi-78, a football club from Seinäjoki, Finland
*ACS Sepsi SIC
ACS Sepsi SIC Sfântu Gheorghe or commonly Sepsi SIC is a women's basketball professional ...
)
Club
*Most yellow cards:
81
**
Politehnica Iași
*Most red cards:
6
**
FCSB
Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I.
The original ''Steaua București'' footb ...
**
Voluntari
Attendances
Champion squad
Awards
Liga I Team of the Season
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga I, 2019-20
2019-20
2019–20 in Romanian football
ro
Association football events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic