Chindia Târgoviște and Farul Constanța meet in Târgoviște on Saturday at 17:30 in the first leg of the SuperLiga promotion/relegation playoff, a tie that will be decided over two playoff matches. The game will be shown on Digi Sport 1, on digisport.ro and in the Digi Sport app.

For Farul, the trip to Târgoviște comes after a 13th-place finish in the SuperLiga play-out, leaving the club in need of a playoff to remain in the top flight. Chindia arrive from the other side of the divide after finishing last in the Liga 2 play-off, yet still earned a place in this tie because FC Bihor and Steaua did not have the right to promote.

Flavius Stoican said the game demands full focus. “Trebuie să fim focusați și să fim conștienți de importanța partidei,” he said, adding that he hopes his side gets a good result from the opening match and wants Chindia to approach the contest for a win. He also said there is added calm in the camp because important players are coming back.

Stoican said Ionuț Vînă, who was missed in recent matches, will return, and Victor Dican is also back. George Ganea remains uncertain. He also pointed to the return leg at home as an advantage, while stressing that what Chindia do away from Târgoviște will matter just as much.

On paper, Farul are the favorite, but Stoican rejected any idea of going into the first leg passively. He said he wants his team to score from the chances it creates and not make life harder than it needs to be. “Farul este favorită pe hârtie,” he said, before adding that his side still comes from SuperLiga.

The stakes were already visible early in the match. In the 8th minute, Ivan Pesici tried from outside the box and Rafael Munteanu intervened. Four minutes later, Ișfan was sent through by Alibec but shot wide of an empty goal, a miss that underlined how thin the margin is in a playoff that can shape the end of the season for both clubs.

What comes next is simple and unforgiving: two legs, one place in the top division, and no room for the kind of waste that already showed up in the opening minutes. For Chindia, the chance is to turn an unusual route into survival. For Farul, the pressure is to avoid a season that ends with relegation fear still hanging over them.