2017–18 Liga Națională (men's handball)

The 2017–18 Liga Națională was the 60th season of Romanian Handball League, the top-level men's professional handball league. The league comprises 14 teams.[1] Dinamo București were the defending champions, for the second season in a row.

2017–18 Liga Națională
Seasons

Team changes

Teams

ClubGround(s)Capacity
CSM BucureștiSala Sporturilor "Rapid"1,500
CSM FăgărașSala Colegiul National "Radu Negru"150
CSM FocșaniSala Sporturilor "Vrancea"1,400
CSU SuceavaSala Sporturilor500
Dinamo BucureștiSala Dinamo2,538
Dobrogea Sud ConstanțaSala Sporturilor2,100
Dunărea CălăraşiSala Polivalentă1,500
Minaur Baia MareSala Sporturilor "Lascăr Pană"2,048
HC Odorheiu SecuiescSala Sporturilor1,250
HC VasluiSala Sporturilor1,500
Politehnica IașiSala Polivalentă1,500
Politehnica TimișoaraSala Constantin Jude1,540
Potaissa TurdaSala de sport "Gheorghe Bariţiu"600
Steaua BucureștiSala Sporturilor "Concordia"600

League table

Standings

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Steaua București262015696609+8761Qualification to Play-Off
2Potaissa Turda261907726648+7857
3Dinamo București261826736649+8756
4CSM București261817735636+9955
5Politehnica Timișoara261727683607+7653
6Dobrogea Constanța261547701636+6549
7Dunărea Călărași261349648648043
8Odorheiu Secuiesc (R)2610214427482−5532[a]Relegation to Divizia A
9Minaur Baia Mare2610115642674−3231Qualification to Play-Off
10CSU Suceava267415654676−2225Qualification to Play-Out
11CSM Focșani267316601650−4924
12HC Vaslui267118637730−9322
13CSM Făgăraș265120585676−9116
14Politehnica Iași (R)262222573723−1508[b]Relegation to Divizia A
Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2018. Source: FRH (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th number of goals scored
(R) Relegated
Notes:

Play-Off

Knockout phase

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
Steaua București 2
 
 
 
Minaur Baia Mare 0
 
Steaua București 2
 
 
 
CSM București 1
 
CSM București 2
 
 
 
Politehnica Timișoara 1
 
Steaua București 1
 
 
 
Dinamo București 2
 
Potaissa Turda 2
 
 
 
Dunărea Călărași 0
 
Potaissa Turda 0
 
 
 
Dinamo București 2Third place
 
Dinamo București 2
 
 
 
Dobrogea Constanța 1
 
CSM București 1
 
 
Potaissa Turda 2
 

League table – positions 1–4

TeamQualification or relegation
1Dinamo București (C, Q)2018–19 EHF Champions League
2Steaua București (Q)2018–19 EHF Cup
3Potaissa Turda (Q)
4CSM București (Q)2018–19 EHF Challenge Cup

League table – positions 5–8

Team
5Dobrogea Constanța
6Politehnica Timișoara
7Dunărea Călărași
8Minaur Baia Mare

Play-Out

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
9Universitatea Suceava12723309299+1023
10CSM Focșani12624293279+1420
11CSM Făgăraș (O)12507296309−1315Relegation play-offs
12HC Vaslui (O)12408297309−1212
13Politehnica Iași (R)00000000[a]Relegation to Divizia A
14Odorheiu Secuiesc (R)00000000[b]
Updated to match(es) played on 19 May 2018. Source: FRH (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th number of goals scored
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Relegation play-offs

The 11th and 12th-placed teams of the Liga Națională faced the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams of the Divizia A, from both Seria A and Seria B. The first place from each play-off group promoted to Liga Națională.

Serie I

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or qualification
1CSM Făgăraș (P)22006542+236Promotion to Liga Națională
2HC Buzău (Q)21014655−93Qualification to Third place
3Universitatea Cluj20024963−140
Updated to match(es) played on 2 June 2018. Source: FRH (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th number of goals scored
(P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Serie II

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or qualification
1HC Vaslui (P)11004427+173Promotion to Liga Națională
2Atletico Alexandria (Q)10012744−170Qualification to Third place
3CSU Târgu Jiu00000000[a]
Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2018. Source: FRH (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th number of goals scored
(P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

Third place

Because the winner of Divizia A, Seria B, CSM Oradea declined the participation in the 2018–19 Liga Națională, another play-off match was organised to establish the third place and implicitly the last team promoted. The match was played between the 2nd places from the two Relegation play-offs series.

Team 1 Score Team 2
HC Buzău30–27Atletico Alexandria

Notes:

Season statistics

Number of teams by counties

Pos.County (județ)No. of teamsTeam(s)
1 Bucharest (capital)3CSM București, Dinamo and Steaua
2 Brașov1CSM Făgăraș
Călărași1Dunărea Călăraşi
Cluj1Potaissa Turda
Constanța1Dobrogea Constanța
Harghita1Odorheiu Secuiesc
Iași1Politehnica Iași
Maramureș1Minaur Baia Mare
Suceava1CSU Suceava
Timiș1Politehnica Timișoara
Vaslui1HC Vaslui
Vrancea1CSM Focșani

References