The Astra Chronicle
Match18 Nov 2026
Astra march on in the cup
Dinamo Bucharest are out and Astra go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match18 Nov 2026
Baba Alhassan settles it late for Astra
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Baba Alhassan decided nobody was going anywhere. Dinamo Bucharest had no time left to answer.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A chastening introduction for Razvan Burca — 5.74
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.74 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dorin Keseru 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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Astra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicusor Stanciu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Florin Ştefan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Baba Alhassan at his very best
Marked 8.31. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Astra.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Baba Alhassan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astra will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A day to forget for Florin Moldovan
Marked 5.75, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
In brief
- Player ratings Dragos Maxim runs at them all day
- Market The Dragos Bancu story refuses to die
- The terraces The press have found their man in Baba Alhassan