The 2017–18 Liga I (also known as Liga 1 Betano for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th season of the

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

, the top professional league for Romanian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs. The season began on 14 July 2017 and ended on 2 June 2018, being the third to take place since the play-off/play-out format has been introduced. Defending champions Viitorul Constanța came fourth.

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

became the new champions in the last fixture of the play-off, clinching their fourth league title after finishing one point above

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...

. Juventus București and Sepsi OSK entered as the promoted teams from the 2016–17 Liga II, but only the latter managed to avoid relegation. Since Romania dropped from 15th to 17th in the UEFA association coefficient rankings, only the title winner qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

Teams

The league consists of 14 teams: twelve teams from the 2016–17 Liga I and two new teams from the 2016–17 Liga II. Teams promoted to the Liga I The first club to be promoted was Juventus București, following their 3–1 win against

Balotești Balotești is a Communes of Romania, commune in the northwestern part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. Two small rivers flow through this location: Cociovaliștea and Vlăsia. It is composed of three villages: Balotești, Dumbrăveni, and Săft ...

on 30 April 2017. Juventus will play in the

for the first time in their history. The second club to be promoted was Sepsi OSK, following their 1–1 draw against Mioveni on 3 June 2017. Sepsi will play in the

for the first time in their history. Teams relegated to the

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

The first club to be relegated was

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

, which were relegated on 19 May 2017 following a 0–1 defeat against Pandurii Târgu Jiu, ending their 3-year stay in the top flight. The second and final club to be relegated was Pandurii Târgu Jiu, which were relegated on 4 June 2018 following their 1–2 defeat against Botoșani, ending their 12-year stay in the top flight.

Venues

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managerial changes

Regular season

In the regular season the 14 teams will meet twice, a total of 26 matches per team, with the top 6 advancing to the Championship round and the bottom 8 qualifying for Relegation round.

Table

Results

Positions by round

Championship play-offs

The top six teams from Regular season would meet twice (10 matches per team) for places in 2018–19 UEFA Champions League and 2018–19 UEFA Europa League as well as deciding the league champion. Teams started the Championship round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season.

Table

Results

Positions by round

Relegation play-outs

The bottom eight teams from regular season will meet twice (14 matches per team) to contest against relegation. Teams start the Relegation round with their points from the Regular season halved, rounded upwards, and no other records carried over from the Regular season. The winner of the Relegation round finishes 7th in the overall season standings, the second placed team - 8th, and so on, with the last placed team in the Relegation round being 14th.

Table

Results

Positions by round

Promotion/relegation play-offs

The 12th-placed team of the Liga I faced the 3rd-placed team of the

. Notes: * Voluntari remained in

and Chindia Târgoviște remained in

Season statistics

Top scorers

:''Updated to matches played on 2 June 2018.''

Hat-tricks

⁴ Player scored four goals

Clean sheets

:''Updated to matches played on 2 June 2018.'' --> ¹ Florin Niță was transferred to

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

during the winter transfer window.

Discipline

:''As of 2 June 2018''

Player

*Most yellow cards: 14 ** István Fülöp ( Sepsi OSK) *Most red cards: 2 ** Anatole Abang (

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

) ** Ionuț Cioinac ( CSM Politehnica Iași) ** Diogo Salomão ( Dinamo București) **

Kévin Boli Kévin Gnonher Boli (born 21 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for A-League Men club Macarthur FC. After starting his professional career with Sedan in the French second division, he moved to Belgian side Mo ...

(

) ** Kamer Qaka ( CSM Politehnica Iași) ** Mădălin Mihăescu ( CSM Politehnica Iași) ** Mihai Pintilii (

) ** Gabriel Cânu ( ACS Poli Timișoara) ** Dragoș Balauru ( Voluntari)

Club

*Most yellow cards: 116 ** CSM Politehnica Iași *Most red cards: 9 **

Attendances

Champion squad

Awards

Best Team of the Championship play-offs

Monthly awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liga I, 2017-18 2017-18 2017–18 in Romanian football ro