FCSB and UTA Arad were scheduled to meet on 30 August 2026 at 21:00 in etapa a 7-a of the Superligă, with the match moved to Eugen Popescu in Târgoviște after Arena Națională was unavailable. Before kickoff, FCSB announced that all tickets had been sold and that spectators were already entering the stadium.
The move gave the game a different feel from a normal home fixture in București. Officials did not choose Ghencea because of the pitch, so Târgoviște became the temporary venue for a match that drew more than one thousand spectators even before the teams took the field. It was also the latest chapter in a busy spell around FCSB, where the club was dealing with a public dispute involving Florin Tănase and Valentin Crețu.
FCSB lineup and absences
Marius Baciu oversaw the team and named the starting lineup for FCSB. The club also played without Florin Tănase and Valentin Crețu, two absences that framed the discussion around the match. The situation was especially notable because the broader dispute had already placed the squad under extra attention in the buildup.
The comments tied to the situation were sharp. Gigi Becali said of Crețu, in part, that if Garita had hit him, it would have been different, and that after Crețu called him back, it was “gata, la revedere.” Maria Crețu also said that various attempts had been made to remove Vali from the team, including a six-month contract, and added that being threatened with violence by the team’s manager would make a player want to give up everything that FCSB had meant.
What the venue change meant
For FCSB and UTA Arad, the main practical detail was simple: the match was not played in București, but in Târgoviște at Eugen Popescu. That mattered because home-field logistics changed, supporters traveled to a different city, and the game arrived with immediate attention on the stadium decision as well as the football itself.
By the time the 21:00 kickoff approached, the key story was already set. The tickets were gone, the crowd was gathering, and FCSB’s temporary home in Târgoviște had become the center of the evening.
