As for Romanian football fans, this week has regaled them with a performance they have rarely witnessed in the last two decades; two Romanian club teams, the defending champions CFR from Cluj and Steaua from Bucharest have made headway into the European spring. With a string of performances that the domestic sports media described as “exceptional”, the two teams have secured their tickets for the Europa League’s 16th finals, seen as a lesser version of Champions League.

CFR Cluj has amassed no less than 10 points, an exploit hitherto unparalleled in the history of Romanian teams’ participation in the Champions League’s group stage. CFR have three wins and a draw on their record sheet. One of the wins proved outstanding, as CFR snatched a precious 1-nil victory in the game against Manchester United on Old Trafford. The team from Cluj ended on the 3rd position in Group H, although in terms of points they stood on a par with 2nd-placed Galatasaray from Istanbul. We should also note that CFR from Cluj were only a whisk away from booking their tickets for the Champions League’s 8th finals, something that the Romanian teams could only dream of before.

For the Romanian team the last gleam of hope fell apart when Galatasaray snatched a last-gasp 2-1 away win in the game against Portuguese side Sporting Braga. CFR’s performance in the world’s leading inter-club competition is all the more noteworthy if we take into account the fact that in the early 2000 the club was still struggling with its third-tier team condition. Once a strong local businessman took over, CFR Cluj have shot to fame in recent years and have won Romania’s Cup three times and have been domestic champions, also three times. Massive investment made in infrastructure and the signing up of foreign footballers, most of whom Portuguese, turned CFR into a domestic championship powerhouse and into a squad that can quite aptly claim a position in the European spring.

The other Romanian team, Steaua Bucharest, boasting the greatest number of titles as well as a tremendous amount of domestic popularity and media coverage, has by now been a regular presence in the European cups. Steaua tops the table in Europa League’s Group E, which also included VfB Stuttgart from Germany and two champion squads, FC Copenhagen from Denmark and FC Molde from Norway. Steaua’s international record sheet includes three wins, two draws and a defeat. The Bucharest strongholds have thus proved that their blazing trail in the domestic championship where for quite some time they’ve reigned supreme has not occurred at random.