Romania's FCSB extends Europa League losing streak
FCSB head coach Elias Charalambous declared after the 0–1 away defeat to Red Star Belgrade in the fifth round of the Europa League, that his team played so poorly that even if the opponents had been reduced to nine men, they still would not have achieved more, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
“To be honest, this is a moment in which I am extremely disappointed. And not only because of the result, but because of the way we played today. I came here optimistic that we could do something good. But today we showed nothing on the pitch from the first minute. We made many mistakes—mistakes that maybe only academy kids make. Playing the way we did today, we wouldn’t have achieved anything even if the opponents were left with nine men. Since the day I arrived at FCSB, this was the team’s weakest match,” the coach said on DigiSport.
“It wasn’t a match in which we felt pressure from the opponent. I don’t know if it was fear or something else—that’s why I’m disappointed. Because it really was a match from which we could have taken something today. It was the weakest match since I’ve been here, and I don’t know the reason. That’s why I am very, very disappointed,” he added.
Charalambous says his team never showed at any moment that they wanted to win the match.
“We had that chance from Cisotti, but I’m talking about the whole match. And at no point did we show that we wanted to win it. Even if we had scored in that situation, I would still have been disappointed. We were not who we were supposed to be. I’ve said many times that fear must not exist in this team. Practically, we did nothing to try to win today,” he said.
Asked to comment on defender Siyabonga Ngezana’s performance, the coach replied: “This is not the moment to start blaming one player or another. The whole team played poorly and made simple mistakes. The key is to wake up as soon as possible and play better.”
FCSB was defeated by Red Star Belgrade 1–0 (0–0) on Thursday evening at the “Rajko Mitic” Stadium in Belgrade, in the fifth round of the Europa League.
Romania’s champions let a huge chance slip through their fingers in a match in which they enjoyed numerical superiority for more than an hour, yet still conceded while playing with an extra man—the goal scored by Brazilian Bruno Duarte (50).
FCSB has now reached four consecutive defeats in the competition after an encouraging start: 1–0 vs Go Ahead Eagles (away), 0–2 vs Young Boys Bern (home), 1–2 vs Bologna (home), 1–3 vs FC Basel (away), and 0–1 vs Red Star (away).
Elias Charalambous’s team will continue against Feyenoord (December 11, in Bucharest), Dinamo Zagreb (January 22, away), and Fenerbahce (January 29, in Bucharest).
