Sports Weekend

Romanian mens handball team knocked out of the Champions League

Florin Orban, 01.03.2019, 13:09

The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest has been knocked out of the Champions League. The Romanian champions lost the playoff match to Sporting Lisbon, after losing the return leg on Thursday. In the first leg played on Saturday, Sporting had won narrowly 32-31. In the return leg played in Bucharest, the Portuguese side won also at a one-goal difference, 27-26. We recall Dinamo played the playoffs after winning Group C. The team from Bucharest is the first Romanian team to move past the group phase in the new format of the competition.

We now move on to news from football. Universitatea Craiova is the last team to qualify to the Romanian Cup semi-finals, after winning 3-nil in Miercurea Ciuc against the third-tier team Csikszereda. The title holders won due to the goals scored by Radoslav Dimitrov on minute 27, Cristian Barbut on minute 80 and Elvir Koljic in stoppage time. We recall that earlier this week, on Tuesday, Viitorul Constanta won 3-2 against FC Hermannstadt. On Wednesday, Astra Giurgiu defeated Dunarea Calarasi 2-1 at home, while CFR Cluj won 1-nil against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe away from home. The Romanian Cup semi-finals will be played in a two-leg system. The first leg matches will be played over April 2-4, while the return legs will be played over April 23-25. The final is scheduled for June 2.

This weekend will see matches counting towards the last round of the domestic regular season. On Friday, Dinamo Bucharest is playing Concordia Chiajna. On Saturday, Gaz Metan Medias will play visitors from Dunarea Calarasi, while FC Voluntari is playing FCSB on home turf. On Sunday, Viitorul Constanta is playing FC Botosani in a match venued in Ovidiu. Viitorul needs a win to secure a place in Group 1. In Pitesti, FC Hermannstadt is taking on Poli Iasi at home. The team is also pinning its hopes on a win that would earn the team a spot in Group 1. Both matches will kick off on Sunday at 5 PM. Also on Sunday CFR Cluj will go up against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe on home turf. The last match of the round is scheduled for Monday: Universitatea Craiova versus Astra Giurgiu. CFR Cluj tops the league tables with 51 points. FCSB is in runner-up position with 48 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova with 45 points.