"Ararat-Armenia would have won the Romanian championship" - captain and coach of the Universitatea Cluj

Universitatea Cluj ended their UEFA Conference League campaign, losing 1-2 after extra time at home to Ararat-Armenia (the first leg ended in a goalless draw). After the match, team captain Alexandru Chipciu and head coach Ioan Ovidiu Sabău shared their emotions and assessed the reasons for the failure.

Quotes via Golazo.ro.

Alexandru Chipciu: "The situation is catastrophic"
The Universitatea Cluj captain admitted the opponent’s superiority and noted that Ararat-Armenia showed a level that would allow them to compete for the Romanian league title:

"I think it all depends on the perspective. Maybe we had the impression that we were very strong, that we were at the top of football.

But reality sometimes hits you in the head. They were better than us, and I would even say — much better. We have to move forward, but now we are in a catastrophic situation: we have no central defenders, many injuries, and we finished the match with youngsters on the pitch.

We are in a very difficult position ahead of the next matches. We need time to recover, and a very tough league campaign lies ahead.

Even with the experience from the FCSB match, we were not relaxed, but Ararat-Armenia turned out to be even stronger. This is a team that would 100% fight for the title in the Romanian league."

Ioan Ovidiu Sabău: "I am responsible for this elimination"
The Romanian club’s head coach took the blame for the result, explaining that the team did not approach the European competitions in optimal shape:

"Anyone who understands football and looks at the details can see the huge difference in level, that is a fact.

I am to blame for not being convincing enough. I failed to insist that we needed reinforcements and that it was going to be a tough season. Last season the players overachieved, but they needed footballers with extra quality alongside them, and we did not do that.

We started preparations without 8-9 players, they joined one by one, unfit. We could see that by the 60th minute Lukacs could no longer run, his legs were cramping, the same with Silva, the others were lacking rhythm, while the opponent was faster, more dynamic, more confident on the ball.

We had chances, we could have made it 2-0 in the first half through Lukacs, but overall they dominated us. We simply could not cope with their tempo and pressing. That is the reality."

Ararat-Armenia defeated Universitatea Cluj after extra time (VIDEO)