Statements from today’s press conference:

Octavian Benga, coach of Politehnica: “We have a very difficult match ahead of us, against Dinamo, a historical rival of Poli Timisoara and Timisoara in general. Two teams with different objectives are meeting. Namely, Dinamo, trying to get promoted, and Poli, struggling in the basement of the standings. I hope that I managed first of all to make our players, and I’ve been trying since the beginning of the week, to understand what a Poli – Dinamo match means, what a match with Dinamo means for our supporters, Timisoara supporters, for all Timisoara people and to try to connect, to play a great match and in general what we have prepared to put into practice in order to manage to get a point or points in Bucharest. There are no players suspended, we have no serious injuries. One or two players who are doubtful, but they will probably recover. For the most part the squad is complete. There is a lot of pressure, first of all I think the biggest pressure is on Dinamo. Because it’s very important for Dinamo to get into the play-offs, it’s important for them to get promoted, they are also suffering with the financial side and they probably need this aspect. The money from television, sponsorships, etc, all the things that make the difference between Liga I and Liga 2. The bigger pressure is on them. We also have a pressure, because we want very much to, I repeat – first of all for our supporters, for our policemen, and secondly to make points. I hope the refereeing will be fair, of course I don’t know if it’s normal or not, but that’s what people decide, Dinamo is wanted in the play-offs and probably also in League I and I hope the match will be played only on the pitch, according to certain rules of fair play and common sense. That would be the fairest and most normal way. It would certainly improve it a lot, especially as it’s a match against Dinamo, perhaps the biggest rivalry for our team, and it’s possible, if this happens, that the team will also have a spark, mentally the players will progress a lot, and they will certainly have something to learn from this match. You don’t always come up against a Dinamo game and a full stadium and a chance to, I know, please your own fans to the max. Obviously it can’t be six points or three points a half, to make a joke, but we have to be serious. I haven’t talked to anyone, honestly, about that release. Neither have I asked nor has anyone said anything to me about it, and I say that in all sincerity. I repeat, I didn’t understand it, but I hope it wasn’t also a pressure on our players. There was no pressure on me because… I knew where I was coming, at what time. I expected there to be some pressure, from several sides. I also accepted the failure before, because I knew there would be failures. I accepted it and I repeat, I did it and I still do it, first of all because that should normally be the order: professional passion and love for Poli. Now I can say that things have been reversed, I still do it firstly for the passion for Poli and secondly, what’s left, for the professional passion. It’s just that the order has changed. Because of a lot of things I’ve encountered and felt…”.

Rareș Murariu, Politehnica player: “On Sunday we have a traditional derby waiting for us, I don’t think we need another motivation. Because we’ve basically taken up football for these matches. When the stadiums are full, with beautiful galleries in the stands. And we, on Sunday, have to live up to the expectations of the match. We’ll go with a lot of confidence, because it can also be a trigger for us. We haven’t had any scheduled talks (with the supporters)… other than after the game. In these matches they don’t have to send us any signals, we realise that, it’s a traditional derby, we have to give more than 100%… Nothing has changed, everyone sees his own side. I’m the player, he (n.r. Costel Pantilimon) is the leader… I have to do my job very well. Whether it was someone else or it’s him, there’s no extra pressure. As a player you have to be professional. He always gave me advice. I can’t say he’s stopped now, and if it was me or another goalkeeper, everyone would give advice if they felt the need. Not me in particular.”