Our Superliga side face another away fixture on Monday, as István Szabó’s team visit FC Botoșani in the sixth round.

Our Superliga side face another away fixture on Monday, as István Szabó’s team visit FC Botoșani in the sixth round. A victory would not only lift us above our direct rivals but – depending on the other results in the round – could see us climb as high as 12th place.

Only a few days have passed since our team defeated Steaua București 2–1 in the Romanian Cup play-off, securing our first victory of the season and a place in the group stage. The result gave the team a welcome boost, but there was no time for an extended celebration: between returning home from Bucharest, recovering and setting off on the next trip, this time to Botoșani, there was barely any opportunity for meaningful preparation.

According to István Szabó, the cup victory provided important reassurance, although he had not previously felt that the players were struggling with a serious mental barrier. The only exception he mentioned was the season opener against Corvinul, while in the subsequent league matches the points were decided by fine margins.

“I am certain that a victory has a positive effect on the team, but I did not feel that there had been such a significant mental barrier before. The match against Corvinul is the most painful one because we played poorly there and there may genuinely have been some kind of block. In the other games, however, the results came down to small moments. The boys have five weeks of very demanding preparation in their legs, and now we have recorded our first victory. I hope we can carry this momentum forward,” said our head coach.

Five of seven matches away from home

The head coach believes the extraordinary fixture schedule cannot be ignored when assessing the results. Including the match against FC Botoșani, five of our team’s first seven competitive fixtures will have been played away from home. Nor will the run end there: our next home league match will be followed by trips to Arad and Bistrița, meaning that seven of our first ten competitive matches will take place away from home.

“We are constantly travelling, like Marco Polo – we are always on the road. The distance itself is not necessarily the biggest problem, but rather the condition of the roads and the amount of time spent travelling. A journey of two or three hundred kilometres can take as long as six hours. For a player who is 180 or 190 centimetres tall, sitting through that and then travelling the same distance home after the match is extremely demanding. The players naturally needed the taste of victory, and I very much hope it will give us momentum for what lies ahead,” István Szabó emphasised.

The frequent journeys also fundamentally shape the team’s weekly schedule. Following the match against Steaua, the squad arrived home in the early hours of the morning, yet only a few hours later the players were already completing recovery work, while those who had played fewer minutes trained on the pitch. The staff must constantly coordinate travel, workload and recovery, while the players have virtually no days off.

“It is an enormous burden. The most important question is how we plan the journey, the match and the recovery. Thank God, I have a very good staff, and the players are extremely professional. We arrived home from Bucharest at two in the morning, and the recovery work began between nine and half past nine. Those who played fewer minutes trained on the pitch. We do not make excuses; we work, and we carry out a great deal of monitoring,” our head coach said.

The club’s modern recovery facilities are especially important during this period. Among other things, the coaching staff monitor the players’ creatine kinase levels, while cryosauna sessions and other recovery treatments help manage their workload.

“I am very pleased that these facilities are available to us because without them we would be in serious trouble. The players do not need to be asked to use them because they approach their work professionally. Touch wood, despite the heavy workload, we currently do not have a single injured player. We hope that this run will be reversed in the second half of the autumn and that we will be able to play far more matches at home,” István Szabó added.

A victory would certainly lift us off the bottom

After five rounds, FC Botoșani sit 14th with three points. They have recorded three draws and two defeats, scoring six goals and conceding eight. The Moldavian side remain without a win this season, although they were involved in a close 3–2 match away to FCSB in the previous round.

Our team occupy 16th place with one point, having recorded one draw and four defeats, with a goal difference of 2–9. Victory on Monday would take us to four points, ensuring that we move above both FC Botoșani and UTA. Depending on the other results in the sixth round, we could climb to at least 14th and, in the most favourable scenario, as high as 12th.

The two sides have met three times in the Superliga. FC Botoșani won the first meeting of last season 3–1 at home, but we triumphed on both occasions in Miercurea Ciuc: 1–0 in the regular season and 2–0 in the play-out. The overall top-flight record therefore stands at two victories for FK and one for FC Botoșani, with a 4–3 goal difference in our favour.

“There is an answer to every style of play”

István Szabó expects to face opponents who are comfortable in possession and patiently build from the back. FC Botoșani’s players are reluctant to clear the ball even under pressure, so despite the limited preparation time, a precise game plan will be required.

“I definitely expect a very difficult match. They will want to keep the points at home. They begin building their attacks very deep, from the back, and they have many technically gifted players. They do not like to clear the ball; they prefer to keep possession and build their play that way. There is, however, an answer to every style of play. In the short time available to us, we will do everything we can. Our video analyst and my staff provide information that we can pass on to the players. We have our game plan, and I very much hope we can return home with a victory,” our head coach stated.

One of the key figures in the cup tie in Bucharest was Szabolcs Szalay, who scored the goal that secured qualification with an excellent individual move and a long-range strike. According to our forward, the team’s performances have been improving from match to match, and the victory may indicate that the difficult period is coming to an end.

“I dropped back between the lines and managed to turn towards goal because they did not close me down, and I trusted my shooting technique. Fortunately, it worked out well. I needed that goal, and of course the team needed it too. I feel we are beginning to come out of this period. Since the start of the season, it has been clear that we are becoming more confident and showing more with every match. This was finally reflected in a victory, and we want to continue in the same way in Botoșani,” said Szabolcs Szalay, who would not hesitate to attempt similar shots in the future. “I know my shooting technique and I am confident in that respect. In every match, I will try to score more goals like this.”

Răzvan Trif was also on target against Steaua, glancing the ball on at the near post following a rehearsed set-piece routine and sending it into the far corner. The defender explained that the team had also worked extensively on set pieces while preparing for the match against FC Botoșani.

“It was a rehearsed routine. I attacked the near post and glanced the ball towards the far corner, and it eventually went into the net. We work a lot on set pieces, we practised them again in today’s training session, and we will have further opportunities to refine them. We hope we can score from a set piece in Botoșani as well,” Trif said.

With the demanding schedule, recovery has also been the defender’s main priority. Nevertheless, he believes the team can secure their first league victory with the right attitude.

“I focused primarily on recovery, and we still have another day to get ourselves completely ready. A difficult match awaits us on Monday, but if we approach it with the same attitude we showed against Sepsi OSK, I think we can win,” Răzvan Trif concluded.

The FC Botoșani–FK Csíkszereda match will kick off at 6.30 p.m. on Monday at the Municipal Stadium in Botoșani. The match will be broadcast live on Digi Sport 1 and Prima Sport 1.

Rédai Attila
Photo: Pál Zoltán