| Competition: | Liga I |
| Season: | 2018–19 |
| Relegated: | Concordia Chiajna Dunărea Călărași |
| Winners: | CFR Cluj 5th title |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | CFR Cluj |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | FCSB Viitorul Constanța Universitatea Craiova |
| League Topscorer: | George Țucudean (18 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Giedrius Arlauskis (18 clean sheets) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (30 November 2018) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (27 August 2018) (3 November 2018) (6 May 2019) (11 May 2019) |
| Highest Scoring: | (14 December 2018) |
| Matches: | 268 |
| Total Goals: | 624 |
| Longest Wins: | 6 matches Botoșani |
| Longest Losses: | 8 matches Concordia Chiajna |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 15 matches CFR Cluj |
| Longest Winless: | 19 matches Concordia Chiajna |
| Highest Attendance: | 30,000 Universitatea Craiova 2–1 FCSB (21 October 2018) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 50 (14 December 2018) Voluntari 1–1 Astra Giurgiu (15 December 2018) Hermannstadt 0–1 Politehnica Iași (6 April 2018) (26 May 2019) |
| Attendance: | 923,723 |
| Average Attendance: | 3,447 |
| Prevseason: | 2017–18 |
| Nextseason: | 2019–20 |
| Updated: | 2 June 2019 |
The 2018–19 Liga I (also known as Liga 1 Betano for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st season of the Liga I, the top professional league for Romanian association football clubs. The season began on 20 July 2018 and ended on 2 June 2019, being the fourth to take place since the play-off/play-out rule has been introduced.
Dunărea Călărași and Hermannstadt joined as the promoted clubs from the 2017–18 Liga II. CFR Cluj managed to defend the title for the first time in their history, while FCSB became the first team in the country to finish as runner-ups for four consecutive seasons in a row.[1]
The league consists of 14 teams: twelve teams from the 2017–18 Liga I and two new teams from the 2017–18 Liga II.
Teams promoted to the Liga I
The first club to be promoted was Dunărea Călărași, following their 3–1 win against Ripensia Timișoara on 5 May 2018. Dunărea will play in the Liga I for the first time in their history.[2]
The second club to be promoted was Hermannstadt, following their 1–1 draw against Chindia Târgoviște on 13 May 2018. Hermannstadt will play in the Liga I for the first time in their history, but the city of Sibiu, which had many different teams over time, returned in the Liga I after six years of absence, where was last time represented by Voința Sibiu.[3]
Teams relegated to the Liga II
The first club to be relegated was Juventus București, which were relegated on 22 May 2018 following a 1–3 defeat against Concordia Chiajna, ending their 1-year stay in the top flight.[4]
The second club to be relegated was Poli Timișoara, which were relegated on 2 June 2018 following their 1–0 win against Concordia Chiajna, ending their 3-year stay in the top flight.[5]
| FCSB | Universitatea Craiova | CFR Cluj | Dinamo București | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena Națională | Ion Oblemenco | Dr. Constantin Rădulescu | Dinamo | |
| Capacity: 55,634 | Capacity: 30,929 | Capacity: 23,500 | Capacity: 15,032 | |
| Politehnica Iași | Dunărea Călărași | |||
| Emil Alexandrescu | Ion Comșa | |||
| Capacity: 11,390 | Capacity: 10,400 | |||
| Astra Giurgiu | Gaz Metan Mediaș | |||
| Marin Anastasovici | Gaz Metan | |||
| Capacity: 8,500 | Capacity: 7,814 | |||
| FC Botoșani | Sepsi OSK | |||
| Municipal | Municipal | |||
| Capacity: 7,782 | Capacity: 5,200 | |||
| Concordia Chiajna | Hermannstadt | Voluntari | Viitorul Constanța | |
| Concordia | Municipal | Anghel Iordănescu | Viitorul | |
| Capacity: 5,123 | Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: 4,600 | Capacity: 4,554 | |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra Giurgiu |  | Filip Mrzljak | Joma | — | |
| Botoșani | | Andrei Burcă | Erreà | Casa Pariurilor | |
| CFR Cluj | | Mário Camora | Joma | NTT Data | |
| Concordia Chiajna | | Marian Cristescu | Lotto | — | |
| Dinamo București | | Dan Nistor | Macron | Orange | |
| Dunărea Călărași | | Alin Dobrosavlevici | Acerbis | Fortuna | |
| FCSB | | Mihai Pintilii | Nike | City Insurance | |
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | | Marius Constantin | Joma | Romgaz | |
| Hermannstadt |  | Răzvan Dâlbea | Andu | Primăria Sibiu | |
| Politehnica Iași | | Cosmin Frăsinescu | Joma | Superbet | |
| Sepsi OSK | | Attila Hadnagy | Adidas | Diószegi, Gyermelyi | |
| Universitatea Craiova | | Nicușor Bancu | Joma | Betano.com | |
| Viitorul Constanța | | Ianis Hagi | Nike | — | |
| Voluntari |  | Cosmin Vâtcă | Macron | Winner |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra | | End of contract | 31 May 2018[6] | Pre-season | | 10 June 2018[7] | |
| CFR Cluj | | Signed by Guizhou Hengfeng | 4 June 2018[8] | Pre-season | | 13 June 2018[9] | |
| Voluntari | | Sacked | 14 June 2018[10] | Pre-season | | 21 June 2018[11] | |
| Gaz Metan | | End of contract | 30 June 2018[12] | Pre-season | | 1 July 2018[13] | |
| CFR Cluj | | Mutual agreement | 26 July 2018[14] | 8 | Toni Conceição | 26 July 2018[15] | |
| Voluntari | | Resigned | 21 August 2018[16] | 14 | Dinu Todoran | 25 August 2018[17] | |
| Astra | | Sacked | 2 September 2018[18] | 4 | | 2 September 2018[19] | |
| Concordia | | Mutual agreement | 15 September 2018[20] | 13 | | 17 September 2018[21] | |
| Dinamo | | Mutual agreement | 22 September 2018[22] | 10 | | 24 September 2018[23] | |
| Hermannstadt | | Mutual agreement | 9 October 2018[24] | 13 | | 9 October 2018[25] | |
| Dinamo | | Mutual agreement | 13 October 2018[26] | 12 | | 13 October 2018[27] | |
| Voluntari | | Mutual agreement | 7 November 2018 | 14 | | 8 November 2018[28] | |
| Astra | | Sacked | 10 November 2018[29] | 6 | | 17 November 2018[30] | |
| Botoșani | | Mutual agreement | 16 November 2018[31] | 12 | | 16 November 2018[32] | |
| FCSB | | Mutual agreement | 23 December 2018[33] | 2 | | 27 December 2018 | |
| Gaz Metan | | Signed by FCSB | 27 December 2018[34] | 8 | | 7 January 2019[35] | |
| Concordia | | Sacked | 7 January 2019[36] | 13 | | 8 January 2019[37] | |
| CFR Cluj | Toni Conceição | Mutual agreement | 19 February 2019[38] | 1 | (caretaker) | 19 February 2019[39] | |
| CFR Cluj | (caretaker) | End of tenure as a caretaker | 22 March 2019 | 1 | | 22 March 2019[40] | |
| Universitatea | | Mutual agreement | 15 April 2019[41] | 3 | | 22 March 2019[42] | |
| Sepsi | | Mutual agreement | 2 May 2019[43] | 6 | (caretaker) | 3 May 2019[44] |
In the regular season the 14 teams will meet twice, a total of 26 matches per team, with the top 6 advancing to the Championship round and the bottom 8 qualifying for Relegation round.[45]
The top six teams from Regular season will meet twice (10 matches per team) for places in 2019–20 UEFA Champions League and 2019–20 UEFA Europa League as well as deciding the league champion. Teams start the Championship round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season.[46]
The bottom eight teams from regular season met twice (14 matches per team) to contest against relegation. Teams started the Relegation round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season. The winner of the Relegation round finished 7th in the overall season standings, the second placed team – 8th, and so on, with the last placed team in the Relegation round being 14th.[46]
The 12th-placed team of the Liga I faced the 3rd-placed team of the Liga II.
|}
Updated to matches played on 2 June 2019.[47] [48] [49] [50]
Alexandru Mitriță was transferred to New York City during the winter transfer window.| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicușor Bancu | 5–1 | ||||
| George Țucudean | 5–0 | ||||
| Mattia Montini | 3–0 | ||||
 Mario Rondón | 4–1 |
Updated to matches played on 2 June 2019.
Updated 2 June 2019
