# 2008–09 FC Steaua București season

The 2008–09 season was the 61st season in the existence of FC Steaua București and the club's 61st consecutive season in the top flight of Romanian football. In addition to the domestic league, Steaua București participated in this season's edition of the Cupa României and the UEFA Champions League.

## Players
### Transfers
#### In

Total spending: €7,15M :
| Player | From | Fee |
| János Székely | Oțelul Galați | €1.5M |
| Bogdan Stancu | Unirea Urziceni | €1M |
| Claudiu Ionescu | Gloria Buzău | Free |
| Robert Neagoe | Dacia Mioveni | €0.1M |
| Ciprian Tătărușanu | Gloria Bistrița | €1.5M |
| Tiago Gomes | Estrela da Amadora | Loan |
| Arthuro | Deportivo Alavés | €0.55M |
| Pantelis Kapetanos | AEK Athens | Free |
| Juan Toja | Dallas | €0.58M |
| Abel | Real Murcia | €0.2M |
| Ricardo Pedriel | Wilstermann | €0.17M |
| George Ogăraru | Ajax | Loan |
| Andrei Ionescu | Universitatea Craiova | €0.5M |
| António Semedo | CFR Cluj | €0.95M |
| Emil Ninu | Gloria Buzău | Back from loan |
| Vlad Rusu | Steaua II București | Promoted |
| Lucian Filip | Steaua II București | Promoted |
| Dorinel Munteanu | Universitatea Cluj | €0.1M |
| Valentin Badea | Panserraikos | Back from loan |
| Alexandru Tudose | Gloria Buzău | Back from loan |
| Eric Bicfalvi | Gloria Buzău | Back from loan |
| Alin Lițu | Gloria Buzău | Back from loan |
| Robert Neagoe | Gloria Bistrița | Back from loan |
| Cezar Lungu | Steaua II București | Promoted |
| Mihai Onicaș | Steaua II București | Promoted |

#### Out

Total income: €9M :
| Player | New team | Fee |
| Dino Eze | Gloria Buzău | Free |
| Habib Habibou | Charleroi | End of loan |
| Andrés Mendoza | Monarcas Morelia | End of contract |
| Pepe Moreno | Independiente | End of loan |
| Nicolae Dică | Catania | €2M |
| André Nunes | Malucelli | Released |
| Claudiu Ionescu | Gloria Buzău | Free |
| Mihai Neșu | Utrecht | €1M |
| Abel | Xerez | Released |
| Arthuro | Terek Grozny | Released |
| Dorinel Munteanu | Universitatea Cluj | Released |
| Valentin Badea | Steaua II București | Second team |
| Robert Neagoe | Steaua II București | Second team |
| Adrian Neaga | Neftchi Baku | Released |
| Mirel Rădoi | Al-Hilal | €6M |

#### Loan out

| Player | Team | Until |
| Emil Ninu | Gloria Buzău | September 2008 |
| Alexandru Tudose | Gloria Buzău | December 2008 |
| Eric Bicfalvi | Gloria Buzău | December 2008 |
| Alin Lițu | Gloria Buzău | December 2008 |
| Valentin Badea | Panserraikos | December 2008 |
| Robert Neagoe | Gloria Bistrița | January 2009 |
| Ciprian Tătărușanu | Gloria Bistrița | May 2009 |
| Emil Ninu | Gloria Bistrița | May 2009 |
| Valentin Simion | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | May 2009 |
| Romeo Surdu | Brașov | May 2009 |
| Cosmin Vâtcă | Gaz Metan Mediaș | May 2009 |
| Ionuț Rada | Otopeni | May 2009 |
| Daniel Bălan | Alki Larnaca | May 2009 |

## Statistics
### Player stats

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Liga I | Liga I | Cupa României | Cupa României | UEFA Champions League | UEFA Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | COL | Róbinson Zapata | 41 | -40 | 33 | -26 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -14 |
| 2 | DF | ROU | George Ogăraru | 24 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ROU | Dorin Goian | 33 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | POL | Paweł Golański | 20 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ROU | János Székely | 20 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ROU | Ovidiu Petre | 17 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | POR | António Semedo | 30 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | COL | Dayro Moreno | 35 | 6 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | ROU | Alin Lițu | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ROU | Cornel Cernea | 2 | -1 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | NGA | Ifeanyi Emeghara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | COL | Juan Toja | 28 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ROU | Alexandru Tudose | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ROU | Bănel Nicoliță | 33 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 17 | DF | ROU | Eugen Baciu | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | ROU | Petre Marin | 36 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ROU | Andrei Ionescu | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ROU | Florin Lovin | 30 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | ROU | Răzvan Ochiroșii | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | BOL | Ricardo Pedriel | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ROU | Mihăiță Pleșan | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ROU | Sorin Ghionea | 36 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ROU | Eric Bicfalvi | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | ROU | Bogdan Stancu | 35 | 11 | 29 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | POR | Tiago Gomes | 31 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | ROU | Mihai Onicaș | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | ROU | Cezar Lungu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | ROU | Lucian Filip | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | GRE | Pantelis Kapetanos | 27 | 11 | 23 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 36 | FW | ROU | Vlad Rusu | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players sold or loaned out during the season ||||||||||||
| 5 | DF | ROU | Ionuț Rada | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ROU | Mirel Rădoi | 20 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ROU | Valentin Badea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Arthuro | 14 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | ROU | Mihai Neșu | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ROU | Claudiu Ionescu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | ROU | Adrian Neaga | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Abel | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | ROU | Robert Neagoe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | MF | ROU | Dorinel Munteanu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 | GK | ROU | Cosmin Vâtcă | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | FW | ROU | Romeo Surdu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Winter-break goals :
| Player | Goals |
| Bogdan Stancu | 4 |
| Pantelis Kapetanos | 3 |
| Ovidiu Petre | 2 |
| Alin Lițu | 2 |
| Dayro Moreno | 2 |
| Arthuro | 1 |
| George Ogăraru | 1 |
| Ricardo Pedriel | 1 |
Pre-season goals :
| Player | Goals |
| Bogdan Stancu | 3 |
| János Székely | 1 |
| Florin Lovin | 1 |
| Romeo Surdu | 1 |
| Mihăiță Pleșan | 1 |
| Bănel Nicoliță | 1 |
| Valentin Badea | 1 |
| Mirel Rădoi | 1 |
| Adrian Neaga | 1 |
| Dayro Moreno | 1 |
Sources:

### Start formations

| Qnt | Formation | Match(es) |
| 17 | 4-4-1-1 | 1, 3, TQR1, 4, 5, TQR2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 19, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31 |
| 10 | 4-4-2 | 2, 8, UCL2, CR32, 12, 17, UCL6, 29, 30, 33 |
| 8 | 4-2-3-1 | UCL1, 11, UCL3, 15, 16, UCL5, 32, 34 |
| 5 | 4-1-4-1 | 18, 20, 23, 24, 25 |
| 2 | 4-3-3 | 13, UCL4 |
| 1 | 4-3-2-1 | 14 |

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Player | | | | | | |
| No. | Player | Liga + Cupa | UCL | Liga + Cupa | UCL | Liga + Cupa | UCL |
| 1 | Róbinson Zapata | 1 | | | | | |
| 2 | George Ogăraru | 8 | | | | | |
| 3 | Dorin Goian | 10 | 4 | | | | |
| 4 | Paweł Golański | 8 | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 6 | Mirel Rădoi | 3 | 2 | | | | |
| 7 | János Székely | 2 | | | | | |
| 8 | Ovidiu Petre | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| 9 | António Semedo | 3 | 1 | | | | |
| 10 | Dayro Moreno | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| 11 | Alin Lițu | 1 | | | | | |
| 11 | Arthuro | 2 | 1 | | | | |
| 14 | Juan Toja | 3 | | 1 | | | |
| 15 | Mihai Neșu | | 1 | | | | |
| 16 | Bănel Nicoliță | 4 | 4 | | | | |
| 17 | Eugen Baciu | 2 | | | | | |
| 18 | Petre Marin | 5 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 19 | Andrei Ionescu | 1 | | | | | |
| 20 | Florin Lovin | 7 | 2 | 1 | | 1 | |
| 21 | Răzvan Ochiroșii | 2 | | | | | |
| 23 | Mihăiță Pleșan | 1 | | | | | |
| 24 | Sorin Ghionea | 5 | | 1 | | | |
| 25 | Adrian Neaga | 1 | | | | | |
| 28 | Bogdan Stancu | 3 | 2 | | | | |
| 30 | Tiago Gomes | 4 | | | | | |
| 35 | Pantelis Kapetanos | 5 | 1 | | | | |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Liga I | 30 July 2008 | 10 June 2009 | Matchday 1 | 6th | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 041.18 |
| Cupa României | 14 October 2008 | 14 October 2008 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 13 August 2008 | 10 December 2008 | Third qualifying round | Group stage | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 012.50 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 43 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 034.88 |
Source: Competitions

### Liga I
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | CFR Cluj | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 5 | Vaslui | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 57 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 6 | Steaua București | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 56 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 7 | Universitatea Craiova | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 25 | +19 | 56 | |
| 8 | Rapid București | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 55 | |
* ↑ CFR Cluj as the 2008–09 Cupa României winners qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 STE 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 STE
* ↑ RAP 3–1 BRA; BRA 0–0 RAP

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: LT

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | L | D | D | D | D | D | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | D | W | D | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | D |
| Position | 13 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Qualifying rounds
##### Third qualifying round
#### Group stage

Group F standings :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BAY | LYO | FIO | STE |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Lyon | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | 2–3 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Fiorentina | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 |
| 4 | Steaua București | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 1 | | 0–1 | 3–5 | 0–1 | — |

##### Results
### Non competitive matches
## Staff
### Management

* Manager: Marius Lăcătuș (resigned), Massimo Pedrazzini (caretaker), Dorinel Munteanu (sacked), Marius Lăcătuș (resigned), Massimo Pedrazzini (caretaker)
* Assistant managers: Mihai Teja, Ioan Nagy, Massimo Pedrazzini
* Goalkeeping coach: Andrei Speriatu
* Fitness Coach: Yuksel Yesilova (resigned)
* Medic: Radu Paligora
* Masseur: Cătălin Fandel

### Administration

* President: Valeriu Argăseală
* Vicepresident: Iulian Ghiorghișor
* Executive director: Ovidiu Costeșin
* Marketing director: Florin Cioran
* Press Officer: Cătălin Făiniși

### Board Room

* Owner: George Becali
* Vice-chairman: Teia Sponte
* Board Room Members: Lucian Becali, Vasile Geambazi
* Censor: Victor Manole, Mariana Istudor
* Supplementary Censors: Virgil Laurențiu Găman, Maria Apostoiu
* Stock Holders: Vasile Geambazi (37%), Constantin Geambazi (30%), Cătălin Ciubotă (26%), Tomaida Bădescu (4%), Marius Ianuli (3%)

### Youth Centre staff

* General manager: Leonard Strizu
* Coordinator: Gigel Gheorghe
* Physiotherapist: George Mărculescu
* Fitness Coach: Ciprian Prună