Romania - Liga I

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Romania’s Liga I, or Casa Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier football category in that country. This league is currently ranked in 29th place of UEFA’s coefficient system, and it works under a promotion-relegation system with Liga II, the second-highest category of Romania’s football system.

Liga I is played by 14 teams every year. The maiden season of this league took place in 1910, and it has gone on without any interruptions since the end of World War II.

The tournament’s format forces all teams to play 26 regular-season games. Then, the best six teams enter a championship round, with the remaining eight entering a relegation playoff. The team with the most points earns the title and a spot in the preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League, while the second, third and fourth-ranked teams make it to the preliminary stages of the UEFA Europa League.

As for the relegation playoff, the two teams that earn the lowest number of points will be automatically relegated to Liga II, while the third-worst team will enter a promotion playoff against the third-ranked team from Liga II.

The 2018-19 season saw Cluj holding on to the title they had won in 2017-18. This was the fifth title in history for the Railwaymen, who edged Steaua by just two points. Vitorul Constanta and Universitatea Craiova joined Steaua in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Europa League. The relegation playoff ended with Dunarea Calarasi and Concordia Chiajna being dropped to Liga II, while Hermannstadt was able to edge Universitatea Cluj to keep their spot in Liga I via the promotion playoff.

The 2019-20 Liga I season will kick off on July 13, 2019, while the last regular-season game is scheduled for February 2020. The playoff rounds should end by mid-April, and the promotion playoff should end before May 15. Académica Clinceni and Chindia Targoviste were promoted from Liga II, and curiously, both teams will be making their debut in the Romanian top-flight.

Did you know? FCSB, or Steaua Bucuresti, is the most successful club in league history, with 26 titles to their name. The former UEFA Champions League winners have not been able to win the title since the 2014-15 season.