Is Dinamo relegating again? 5 things to know in a fiery play-out finale

Article by Remus Dinu – Published on Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 00:05 / Updated on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 01:20

Dinamo has three more games to play until the end of the play-out, two games at home, with Voluntari and UTA, plus the trip from Cluj, with Universitatea. The “dogs” need a perfect course, intertwined with the favorable game of results, in order not to be relegated again.

It’s no joke for Dinamo and its fans, the team has seriously entered the relegation zone, and time is by no means an ally of the red-whites.

There are only three stages left in the play-out, the moment finding Dinamo immediately below the “barrage” places. Even more worryingly for Kopic and his the game looks worse from stage to stage, and the footballers who did the heavy lifting at the end of the regular season are gutted, completely out of form.

Gazeta Sporturilor details in the lines below five essential details for Dinamo supporters in the perspective of the battle that awaits them at the end of the season.

FC BOTOSANI – DINAMO

Dog and circus! Dinamo, hallucinatory defeat at Botoșani! The red-whites are again in the relegation zone!

1. Next up is the favorite victim, FC Voluntari. Is history respected?

Strictly theoretically, Dinamo can still avoid the “barrage”, but for that they would need an immaculate course, with three victories in the last three rounds. On the horizon is the home match with FC Voluntari, which the “dogs” must win at any cost in order not to sink completely in the standings.

The red and whites have an advantage that is not necessarily a secret: the Ilfoves have been the favorite clients of the Dynamo players in recent years Voluntariul losing both regular season games with Dinamo (2-3 and 0-1).

The team was recently taken over by Florin Pîrvu, it initially showed signs of recovery, but ended up looking at the end of the season with horror. At the moment, Voluntari is the first above the red line, with 22 points, going to approach the game on the “Arc de Triumf” without one of the most important players, the Portuguese Ricardinho, eliminated with FCU Craiova.

Pîrvu’s team is winless in the last three play-out matches, in which they have accumulated only two points.

2. Dinamo could get Rednic’s hand

In the last stage, the “dogs” receive the visit of Mircea Rednic’s team, UTA, the man in a noisy dispute with Dinamo. “Puriul” continues to request the payment of outstanding salaries during his last mandate at the Bucharest bank, to which is added a not-so-friendly dispute with Răzvan Zăvăleanuthe court administrator of the still insolvent club.

It will be a re-edit of the live environment from March, the one that mattered for the last leg of the regular season. The “Old Lady” then needed a victory in Bucharest to catch the play-off, but Dinamo prevailed at the limit, 1-0.

At the end of that game, Rednic to “machine gun” Zăvăleanu in the conference, a sign that relations between the two parties are still very tense. It should be noted that UTA could be saved mathematically and without worries at match time.

3. Dinamo benefited from rounding. The only one in the basement without rounding is Voluntariul

Dinamo was among the teams from the basement that benefited from rounding off when entering the play-out. In the same situation are all the teams currently in the 13th-16th places, Botoșani, Poli Iași, Dinamo and FCU Craiova.

The first above the line, FC Voluntari, has an important asset in the event that it will be equal on points with any of the opponents: the Ilfovenians did not have rounded points and can take advantage, in a sense, of this aspect. Below are, in order, the play-out tie conditions, should two or more teams finish with the same score.

All tie-breaking criteria for play-off and play-out in the Superliga:

halving points, whether or not 0.5 point rounding was applied
the number of points obtained at the end of the regular season, the direct matches in the play-off/play-out
best goal difference in head-to-head matches, most goals scored in head-to-head matches
best overall goal difference in all matches played (play-off/play-out and regular season)
most goals scored in all league games
if the tie is maintained, a play-off match will be played

4. Strike for offense: two stages without Abdallah

Dinamo will not have Hakim Abdallah at his disposal, at least for the next two rounds, the man who committed it at the end of the first half in Botoșani, when he left his team inferior following the hard foul in Benzar.

As direct elimination is punishable by two rounds of suspensions, the Malagasy striker will definitely miss the next two stages, with Voluntari and U Cluj, on paper an important loss for the “dogs” offensive. Depending on the report of the “central” Găman and the referee’s observations, Abdallah could receive a third round of suspension.

Thus, Kopic will be forced to rely in the outposts either on the Kosovar Selmani with modest numbers, the one who only scored his first goal for Dinamo against Botoșani, or on Goncalo Gregorio, totally out of shape in the last period.

FC Botoșani - Dinamo / PHOTO: Ionuț Tăbultoc

5. At least that much! In distress, but with spectators

Perhaps Dinamo’s only major plus at the end of the play-out: the team plays two matches at home, both with spectators in the stands. The club’s four-stage suspension was reduced behind closed doors, so the red-whites will have the support of the lawns in the essential matches with Voluntari and UTA.

With the public behind the “Arc”, Dinamo recorded three victories in a row at the end of the regular season: with Oțelul, Hermannstadt and UTA. In fact, Dynamo have not lost at home since the defeat against Rapid at the end of January.

Even without the support of the ultras, Dinamo remained unbeatable in the play-out at home, managing four points from the matches with Petrolul and Politehnica Iași, to which only the children had access.