Liga I has been inching back toward its glory days. The 2022/23 campaign was a step in the right direction, albeit a small one. Our Team of Season selection looks at the league’s most consistent performers.
In a season in which Farul Constanta earned, technically, the club’s first-ever title as league champion, clubs like FCSB, CFR Cluj, Rapid, and CS U Craiova all have had brief moments in the Sun. Our selection reflects that as well.
Using, as always, a set of detailed statistics from within and outside of FootballCoin fantasy football, here are the best players in Romania’s Liga I in the 2022/23 campaign.
Romania’s Liga I Team of the Season
Goalkeeper
Mihai Popa (Voluntari)
Mihai Popa had a great season for Voluntari. This makes the fact that he was overlooked for the Romanian National Team stranger. While Stefan Tarnovanu or Marian Aioani caught the attention of casual fans, Popa earned the highest percentage of clean sheets in Liga while playing for lowly Voluntari. It’s a notable performance and earns Popa a place in the Team of the Season.
Defenders
Cristian Sapunaru (Rapid Bucuresti)
Cristian Sapnuaru has proven that, at thirty-nine years of age, he still has what it takes to play in Liga I. Overseeing Rapid Bucuresti’s reentry into the top tier, the defender also played thirty-nine matches this season and looked ever like a team leader.
Cristian Manea (CFR Cluj)
Cristian Manea is by now an established defender in Liga I. His skill set is by no means the complete package. A quick look over his stats reveals a player that lacks in terms of tackles or progressive tackles. However, his status within CFR Cluj’s squad as well as his five goals and six assists, are enough to earn him a place in our TOTS.
Yuri Matias (CFR Cluj)
Matias was one of the top defenders in Liga I, even in a season in which CFR Cluj managed only a disappointing third-place finish. The Brazilian also scored four goals along the way and was consistently one of the team’s top performers.
Joyskim Dawa (FCSB)
Joyskim Dawa was one of a number of foreign players that immediately made an impact for FCSB, the descendent of Romania’s most famous club, Steaua Bucuresti. When in top form, the Cameroonian’s aggressive tackling was a hallmark of his side’s style of play.
Midfielders
Ciprian Deac (CFR Cluj)
Ciprian Deac is another veteran that continues to dominate Liga I. At thirty-six years of age, Deac is still CFR Cluj’s leader as well as the top assist provider in the Romanian top tier, with 11 decisive passes. With also five goals to his name and consistently good performances, Deac easily earns a place in FootballCoin’s Liga I Team of the Season.
Alexandru Ionita (Rapid Bucuresti)
Alexandru Ionita is another player that returned to Rapid once the team finally returned to the Romanian top tier. Getting back to his childhood club wasn’t merely a sentimental choice. Ionita was one of the team’s top performers, scoring twice and managing ten assists at the end of a season in which Rapid was fifth in the league.
Cristian Negut (Chindia Targoviste)
Cristian Negut contributed a few standout performances to Chindia’s season. But this was all not enough to see the club avoid relegation. His six goals and eight assists, however, should be enough to ensure him top-tier employment next season,
Darius Olaru (FCSB)
Darius Olaru is one of FCSB’s most high-profile young players. And he’s one of the few of these that successfully performed during the 2022/23 campaign. Olaru managed seven assists and one goal and often contributed performances that will make fans anxious to see more from the twenty-four-year-old.
Forwards
Marko Dugandzic (Rapid Bucuresti)
Marko Dugandzic became Rapid’s most successful forward in over half a century. But little could have prepared fans for this. Previously, he had only scored once throughout a whole season for CFR Cluj. The Croatian nomadic striker twenty-two goals this season and earned Liga I’s Golden Boot.
Andrea Compagno (FCSB)
Andrea Compagno proved to be another brilliantly scouted unknown by FCSB’s team. The Italian scored fifteen goals in a brilliant first half of the season in which he also earned a call-up to Squadra Azzurra. Compagno will now need to prove that all of this was not merely one season wonder hype.
