The red-white-blue group has two important chances to qualify for the European Cups, and if this opportunity comes to fruition, then preparations will resume very soon after the end of the championship
Things are going well at Oțelul, and the victory against FC Hermannstadt, score 1-0, at the weekend, confirms this. Dorinel Munteanu’s team has well overcome the infernal series with matches every three days, and apart from qualifying for the “Romania Cup” (for the first time after 20 years), they are in a very good situation in the championship as well. The Galatians have a good chance to win the play-out phase or at least end the season over Cluj University, a team they would have to play against in the Conference League tie.
“After the program of the last month, I can only be satisfied with the progress. We have five wins, one draw and one defeat. I think it is more than good. We organized ourselves very well. The effort of the boys was so great that we did not we gave the opponent a chance to be very dangerous. We took three deserved points, and now we are thinking about the next game, with Petrol. From the beginning of the championship, we told the players to have confidence. If we were more careful in the round, we could play in the play-offs. But we had no chance a year ago, and now we must be proud of what we have achieved. We hope to win the rest of the competition. I will not manage any player in this season. I don’t have to. For me, the official matches are better than the trainings. I give the players the opportunity to prove that I can rely on them.”
Two camps in the summer
Moreover, the coach of the Galatians specified that he is ready to take his mind off the vacation. If the Steel qualify for the European Cup qualifiers, preparation will have to start very early. In addition, the next edition of the championship will start a week earlier than the current season.
“What plans do I have? I can’t say because it’s not normal to talk beforehand. I’m thinking with regret that I won’t have a vacation. We’ll start training in just a few days. We’re doing two training camps, one in the mountains and one in abroad. If we go to Europe, the preliminary tours start quickly. I would have liked 2-3 weeks of vacation, too,” added Munteanu.
Until the end of the current season, there are at least three more games to be played: with Petrolul (away) and FC Botoșani (home) – in the play-out, respectively, with Corvinul (in Sibiu), in the “Cup of Romania”. If the Galatasarays do not win the Cup, then they will have to play a play-off match with Cluj University and, possibly, if they qualify, another one against the 3rd place holder in the play-off, aiming to qualify for the Conference League.
Thus, winning the “Romanian Cup” aims not only to qualify for a higher competition, the Europa League, but also to end the season earlier.
Continuity, but also some changes
Even though Dorinel Munteanu announced that he will bet on continuity at the team level, there will be some changes. Everything will depend, first of all, on the possible participation in the European cups. It will also try to put more emphasis on the legalization of Romanian players, in view of the federal rules that will come into force from the following seasons regarding a minimum of five domestic footballers in the first “eleven”.
