A great start in Divizia A, in a superb fall of ’87: 2-1 against Universitatea Craiova and the epic 2-1 against Dinamo. Dinamo, the great ‘enemy’ of Polish football, had one of the best club teams in Europe in those years and one of the best Romania has ever had. It was the high point of the Poli – Dinamo rivalry. In 1975, 1977 and 1982, Dinamo won the title after losing in Timișoara.

On November 8, 1987, in the 11th round, Dinamo landed on the Bega as a great team. With Mircea Lucescu as coach and a great team that in two and a half years would reach the semi-finals of the Cup Cup Winners’ Cup. In order to keep pace with Stele, with whom they were battling for the title, the red and whites were not allowed to make any mistakes. They needed to win or risk losing the championship even then, when there was still plenty still to play for from the second leg. (At that time, Steaua and Dinamo went head-to-head, with first place practically decided by their direct results. In fact, the second half of the ’80s was a wild battle between Steaua and Dinamo, a rivalry that signified the major political misunderstandings between the Army and the Securitate).

But Poli was on a day of grace. A cold sunny day. Mounted by coach Ion V. Ionescu, refusing to concede the match (he took a vote among the players before the match!), fighting against incredibly biased refereeing (awarding a penalty and validating a goal – the ball would not have crossed the goal line – extremely controversial for the guests) and supported by 50,000 supporters, the students gave a lesson in life and football. C. Varga scored an incredible goal from a long-range free-kick (35 m, a little to the left side, towards the goal towards Sala Olimpia, the ball hitting I. Andone, against the wall, and going into the net).

It would be the only defeat for the ‘Dogs’ that season. (Poli even received a bonus from Steaua). And with those two points lost in Timișoara, Dinamo would have been champions. It was, after all, a prologue to the 1989 Revolution. In the end, Lucescu promised relegation to relegation. And legend has it that the relegation of the Alb-violele will come from that game…

Technical box:Politehnica Timișoara – Dinamo Bucharest 2-1 (1-0)
Divizia A 1987/88, 8.11.1987, 2 p.m., Timișoara, 1 Mai stadium, 50.000 spectators.
Goals: Ilcu (28), C. Varga (84) – Ioan Varga (85). Penalty missed: Mateuț (77).
Referee: Gr. Macavei (Deva).
Politehnica: I. Almășan – Pascu, Crăciun, Oancea, C. Varga – C. Neagu, Oloșutean (38, Șunda), Ad. Manea – China (65, Ionuț), Ilcu, Bozeșan II. Coach: Ion V. Ionescu.
Dinamo: Moraru – Rednic, Al. Nicolae, I. Andone, Ioan Varga – D. Lupu (67, Damaschin I), I. Lupescu, M. Stoica (55, Orac), Mateuț – Mihăescu, Cămătaru. Coach: Mircea Lucescu.

Excerpt from the book “Politehnica Timișoara – Football and Handball”, by Octavian Stăncioiu and Viorel Jurcuț, published by Politehnica Publishing House, on December 4, 2021, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Politehnica Timișoara Sports Society