Marked for Răzvan Barstan
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Adrian Mazilu: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CFR Cluj have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Feb 2027
71 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
113 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market1 Feb 2027
Alibek Aliev has left for FCSB in a $450.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I watch every CFR Cluj game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Bucharest runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and CFR Cluj have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
105 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
127 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nikita Stoinov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 138 days on the sidelines for André Moreira, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Karlo Muhar in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilija Mašić commits to CFR Cluj for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; CFR Cluj are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Dinamo Bucharest to sit and watch. I want to come back to CFR Cluj and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Óscar Trejo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Dinamo Bucharest's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Bucharest has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Bucharest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 152% of everything Dinamo Bucharest earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kennedy Boateng, and the manager let it.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Pandurii, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dinamo Bucharest, another week without a signature from Enzo López.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The team sheet said everything about Bogdan Vătăjelu
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Bogdan Vătăjelu.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Răzvan Barstan: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Bucharest have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nikita Stoinov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enzo López, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to CFR Cluj's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at CFR Cluj has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CFR Cluj may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luka Zahovič, and the manager let it.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at CFR Cluj, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
The spotlight tightens on Luka Zahovič
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
CFR Cluj say no — this time
The offer from FCSB for Alibek Aliev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Alin Fică runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Karlo Muhar in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to André Moreira, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at CFR Cluj, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.66 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, CFR Cluj had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The one thing Luka Zahovič could not do
Shots: 13, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match12 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for CFR Cluj?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Voluntari? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.