“I’m psychologically devastated”: How Romania reacted to Ararat-Armenia’s historic success
- Author: Vahe Hakobyan
- Sportaran
Ararat-Armenia defeated Universitatea Craiova 1-0 in the second leg of the Europa League play-off and advanced to the league phase of the competition for the first time in the club’s history. After the dramatic ending in Yerevan, Romanian media, experts and club representatives reacted emotionally to Craiova’s elimination.
The first leg in Romania ended 1-1, meaning the victory in Yerevan gave Ararat-Armenia a 2-1 aggregate win.
Ararat-Armenia vs Universitatea Craiova: Dramatic 98th-minute goal
The only goal of the second leg was scored in the 90+8th minute.
Ararat-Armenia were awarded a penalty in stoppage time. Sandro Lima failed to beat Craiova goalkeeper Laurențiu Popescu, but after a VAR intervention the spot kick had to be retaken because one of the Romanian players had entered the penalty area too early.
Popescu saved the retaken penalty as well, but the ball rebounded to Sandro Lima, who converted the follow-up and sent Ararat-Armenia through to the Europa League in historic fashion.
It was this episode that became the main talking point in the Romanian press after the match in Yerevan.
Romanian media: Craiova dominated but were eliminated from the Europa League
In Romania, particular attention was paid to Universitatea’s statistical superiority.
According to Digi Sport, the visitors attempted 22 shots against Ararat-Armenia, seven of them on target. The Armenian side registered only two shots on target — both during the decisive penalty sequence.
At the same time, Romanian media acknowledged that Craiova failed to convert their numerous opportunities and were punished at the very end of the match.
Craiova coach Coelho: “Sometimes football is unfair”
Universitatea head coach Filipe Coelho said after the defeat to Ararat-Armenia that he believed his team had been the better side on the pitch.
“I think we were the better team. We had so many opportunities to score. We showed character and played well, but we lacked the most important thing in football — a goal. Sometimes football is unfair. I don’t like talking about luck or bad luck. We simply weren’t efficient enough in front of goal,” Coelho said at his post-match press conference in Yerevan.
The Portuguese coach also expressed regret that his team had been unable to reward their supporters with a place in the Europa League league phase.
“We tried everything, but it didn’t work out. We did a lot of things right on the pitch, but we missed too many chances,” the coach added.
Emil Săndoi after Ararat-Armenia vs Craiova: “An unbelievable ending”
Former Romania national team head coach Emil Săndoi also believes Universitatea did not deserve to lose in Yerevan.
“Disappointment. Such a dramatic ending... The team had chances. It’s incredible to suffer a blow like that in the final minutes. So much bad luck. Craiova played a very good match. Until the penalty, Popescu had virtually nothing to save,” Săndoi said on Digi Sport.
According to him, the Romanian side lacked accuracy in the final phase of their attacks.
Craioveanu criticises Craiova after defeat in Armenia
Former Universitatea player Gică Craioveanu was considerably more critical.
In his opinion, the Romanian club should have been expected to get past Ararat-Armenia.
“Ararat-Armenia are a very, very modest team, with all due respect. I don’t understand why they didn’t push forward more aggressively against them. They hardly created any chances and played with one striker. Ararat were an opponent you had to beat. They were significantly inferior to Craiova,” Craioveanu said.
Craiova president: “I’m psychologically devastated”
One of the most emotional reactions came from Universitatea president Pavel Badea. Immediately after the Ararat-Armenia vs Universitatea Craiova match, the club official admitted that he was struggling to come to terms with his team’s Europa League elimination.
“I can’t believe it. To play against a team that hardly got near your goal and lose to an opponent you consider significantly weaker... I don’t know what to say. I’m psychologically devastated. Craiova had clear chances, but these things happen in football. A team that barely got near your goal wins thanks to a retaken penalty in the 98th minute. After something like this, you feel like giving everything up,” Badea said.
At the same time, the club president stressed that the defeat could not be explained by bad luck alone.
“Obviously, we shouldn’t complain only about bad luck. Our players failed to convert the chances they created,” he added.
Mihai Stoica: Defeat to Ararat-Armenia is a major failure for Craiova
Prominent Romanian football executive Mihai Stoica also described Universitatea’s elimination as a serious failure.
“I have never seen anything like this in a match of such importance. It is clear that Universitatea were the obvious favourites and that this is a very big failure. The team lost the opportunity to play in a much more serious competition, where they could have faced some big names,” Stoica noted.
He nevertheless believes that the Romanian side’s main problem had already emerged in the first leg, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Ararat-Armenia reach the Europa League league phase for the first time
Despite Craiova’s advantage in shots and chances created, the decisive moment belonged to Ararat-Armenia.
The 1-0 victory allowed the Yerevan club to reach the Europa League league phase for the first time in their history.
Following their defeat in Armenia, Universitatea Craiova will continue their European campaign in the league phase of the Conference League. For Ararat-Armenia, Sandro Lima’s 98th-minute goal became one of the most important in the club’s history and delivered another historic achievement for Armenian football on the European stage.
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