Steaua Bucuresti v Dinamo Bucuresti
Football: Romanian Cup Final
Venue: "Tineretului", Brasov (neutral venue)
Wednesday 25th May – Kickoff time: 21:15 GMT+2

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Steaua Bucuresti

Steaua needed a win in the last stage of the championship to secure a Europa League spot and they managed to defeat CFR Cluj on the road with the score of 3-1. Steaua finished 5th, one point above Dinamo.

This could be Steaua’s 21th Romanian Cup success, but they’ll face their traditional rivals, Dinamo Bucuresti, the team that beat them twice this season.

We have to go back in 1989 to find another cup final against these two, back then Steaua won their 17th Romanian Cup after a 1-0 against Dinamo.

It can be said that in the previous years, Steaua has not set the Romanian cup as one of their main objectives, this is why their results were rather poor in this competition. However, having a bad season and not being sure of their European position, the cup seemed to be the shortest way to get a ticket for Europe.

Central defender Geraldo Alves has been ruled out due to an injury, while Nicolae Dica, the striker who scored the decisive goal in the semifinal against Brasov is also doubtful but he has some chances to play.

Dinamo Bucuresti

Dinamo has the second most Romanian Cups in their museum, winning 12 since their foundation in 1948.

The “red dogs” finished the season 6th, a position that comes as a disappointment for a club with this tradition, but it seems like the clubs from Bucharest are losing ground lately. It is now the 4th consecutive season in a row when a team from outside Bucharest wins the title. This hasn’t happened since 1947-1950.

Dinamo had an easy task in the semifinals, smashing Gloria Bistrita with 7-1 on aggregate. Steaua on the other hand won by away goals with a goal scored by Dica in the dying minutes.

Coach Ioan Andone has the full squad at his disposal and he’ll use the traditional 4-4-2 system with Ionel Danciulescu and Liviu Ganea in front. These two strikers scored 15 goals this season, which is not much considering the fact that Dinamo scored 68 goals.

The betting verdict

It should be an entertaining game between the clubs that have the most supporters in Romania. We have to go back to 1999 to find a match that ended without goals. However, from their previous 6 meetings, 5 ended with less than 3 goals scored.

Dinamo has the advantage of winning both league games this season, which should give them enough confidence to go out and control the possession. It is well known that Dinamo likes to play more offensive, they’ve scored 22 goals more than Steaua did in the league.

I think Dinamo has the best chance to lift the trophy but the question is if they can win it in 90 minutes or we'll see extra-time. Anyway, i'm backing the team that played the better football this season and that is Dinamo.

The Pick :

Steaua Bucuresti 1-2 Dinamo Bucuresti

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Dinamo Bucuresti to win at 2.60 Bet365
Confidence: 7/10