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Răzvan Lucescu

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Răzvan Lucescu (Romanian pronunciation: [rəzˈvan luˈt͡ʃesku]; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently managing Greek Super League club PAOK.

Răzvan Lucescu
Lucescu as PAOK manager in 2018
Personal information
Full name Răzvan Lucescu
Date of birth (1969-02-17) 17 February 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 PAOK (head coach)
Youth career
1981–1985 Dinamo București
1985–1987 Sportul Studențesc
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1992 Sportul Studențesc 24 (0)
1992–1993 Crema 3 (0)
1993–1996 Sportul Studențesc 81 (0)
1996–1997 Național București 31 (0)
1997–1998 Sportul Studențesc 31 (0)
1998–1999 Național București 23 (0)
2000 Brașov 13 (0)
2000–2001 Rapid București 26 (0)
2001–2002 FCM Bacău 10 (0)
2002–2003 Rapid București 1 (0)
Total 243 (0)
International career
1989 Romania U21[1] 2 (0)
1998 Romania B[1] 1 (0)
Managerial career
2004 Brașov
2004–2007 Rapid București
2007–2009 Brașov
2009–2011 Romania
2011–2012 Rapid București
2012–2014 El Jaish
2014 Petrolul Ploiești
2014–2017 Xanthi
2017–2019 PAOK
2019–2021 Al Hilal
2021– PAOK
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he operated as a goalkeeper and spent most years of his career at Sportul Studențesc during three stints. Lucescu also represented Național București, Brașov, Rapid București, and Bacău in his country, as well as Crema abroad. He won his only national title with Rapid București in the 2002–03 campaign.

Lucescu returned to Brașov in 2004 for his first role as a manager, before moving to Rapid where he guided the team to the Cupa României in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. Between 2009 and 2011, he was in charge of the Romania national team. His other managerial honours include nine domestic trophies with El Jaish, PAOK, and Al Hilal combined. With the latter side, he also won the AFC Champions League in 2019.

Playing career

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Born in Bucharest, Lucescu made 243 appearances in the Divizia A for Sportul Studențesc, Național București, Brașov, Rapid București and FCM Bacău.[2]

Managerial career

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Brașov

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He began his coaching career with Brașov in the 2003–04 season spanning 15 matches in the first league.[3]

Rapid București

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In June 2004, he was named coach of Rapid București.[4] In his first season, he qualified for the UEFA Cup, finishing third in the domestic league.

In the 2005–06 season, he had a dramatic start of the season, being dismissed for one night, before the owner of the club, George Copos, decided to take him back. Lucescu and his side managed to defeat teams such as Feyenoord, Shakhtar Donetsk (his father's team),[5][6] Hertha Berlin and Hamburger SV, reaching to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. Rapid was taken out by city rivals Steaua Bucharest after two draws. In the league, he finished as runners-up, after being sixth at the half of the season.

The 2006–07 season was not as good. Rapid got eliminated from the UEFA Cup group stages after four draws, finishing fourth. However, in 2007 Lucescu decided not to continue with Rapid, after a fallout with some of the supporters and several disagreements with the club owner. He opted to return to Braşov.

Răzvan won the Romanian Cup with Rapid in 2006 and 2007, both leading Rapid into the UEFA Cup.[7]

Return to Brașov

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Lucescu decided to start over and, instead of accepting to manage bigger clubs from abroad, he decided to coach Brașov, who relegated two years before and finished tenth in the last season of the second division. He didn't disappoint and won promotion from the first place, bringing Braşov back in the first league.[8]

Romania national team

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Lucescu in 2009

On 29 April 2009, he was appointed head coach and general manager of Romania, leaving Braşov after a ninth-place finish in the first division and replacing Victor Piţurcă in this position.[9] After two years in control he gave up the national team, following the 3–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving it with chances of qualifying to the UEFA Euro 2012.[10]

Return to Rapid București

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In June 2011, Lucescu returned to Rapid București for a second spell as coach. Lucescu's Rapid side defeated Polish champions Śląsk Wrocław 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off round to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage. The club finished fourth in Liga I and reached the finals of the 2011–12 Romanian Cup.[11]

El Jaish

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On 31 May 2012, he was appointed at the helm of Qatari side El Jaish on a two-year deal.[12] In his first season in charge Lucescu won the 2012–13 Qatari Stars Cup[13] and led his side into the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League.[14] His contract with El Jaish was terminated in January 2014 and he was replaced by coach Nabil Maâloul who led the club to the runner-up spot in the Qatar Stars League.

Petrolul Ploiești

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In March 2014, he was named the head coach of Liga I side Petrolul Ploiești replacing Cosmin Contra.[15] He was sacked six months later, Petrolul finished third in the domestic league and were knocked out in the semi-finals by Astra Giurgiu in the Romanian Cup and also eliminated in the play-offs of the Europa League.

Xanthi

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On 24 September 2014, Lucescu signed a one-year contract with Greek Super League club Xanthi.[16] He guided them to their first Greek Cup final in their history.[17] Lucescu went on to extend his contract with the Akrites for a further two seasons.

 
Lucescu during a press conference with PAOK in 2018.

PAOK

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On 11 August 2017, Lucescu would return to the benches of Superleague Greece as he signed a three-year contract with PAOK.[18] His tenure at the club started against Östersunds for the play-off round of 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. PAOK went to win the first leg in Thessaloniki, 3–1, but a 0–2 defeat in Sweden in the second leg eliminated them from the competition, as they failed to reach the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time in 5 years. Despite a bad start in the Super League, his team amassed an impressive winning streak to reach first place in the league table until the derby with AEK Athens on 11 March 2018, where in the 90th minute of the match a Fernando Varela goal was disallowed in a controversial fashion,[19] leading to incidents culminating in the club's president Ivan Savvidis storming the pitch. The game was forfeited 0–3 to AEK Athens, with PAOK suffering a three–point deduction, echoing a similar deduction imposed to the club following the abandonment of a league match against rivals Olympiacos in February 2018, which was reversed on appeal. PAOK finished second at the end of the season despite winning their remaining fixtures, with AEK Athens becoming champions.[20] On 12 May 2018, PAOK wins 0–2 at the home of AEK Athens and wins the Greek Cup.[21]

In the 2018–19 season, PAOK begin their European adventure in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, eliminating Basel and Spartak Moscow, before losing in the play-offs against Benfica and dropping to the UEFA Europa League group stages. PAOK finished fourth in a group with Chelsea, BATE Borisov and MOL Vidi, only winning 4–1 against BATE in Barysaw and losing all the other matches.

Despite the early European exit, the team enjoyed a great domestic season. On 21 April 2019, PAOK won their third league title and their first in 34 years after beating Levadiakos at home with 5–0. Lucescu received wide praise from PAOK fans and became a major figure in the club after leading it to its most successful season by that point.[22] Despite the departure of star player Aleksandar Prijović in January, Lucescu led his side to league triumph without a single defeat, a milestone last reached by Panathinaikos 65 years before, and finished the season with a record-breaking 80 points. On 11 May 2019, the club clinched its first ever double after winning in the Greek Cup final 1–0 against AEK Athens.[23]

Al-Hilal

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On 28 June 2019, Lucescu parted ways with PAOK after receiving an offer to manage Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.[24] The club reportedly paid PAOK the manager's €2M release clause. Răzvan had rejected the proposal from the specific team in May, however he changed his mind after a strong disagreement with the president of PAOK Ivan Savvidis and his son Giorgos Savvidis who had different plans for the team from them, that Lucescu had. As a result, he judged that he had no reason to stay in the team if his own plans for the team were not accepted, and so he left taking advantage of the fact that Al Hilal again proposed to him.[25][26] He brought the club to its third AFC Champions League-era title and first continental title in 17 years, after a 3–0 win on aggregate over Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2019 AFC Champions League Final.[27] He was dismissed after a 1–0 defeat against Damac in February 2021.[28]

Return to PAOK

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After two years in Saudi Arabia, Lucescu returned to PAOK for a second term, signing a three-year contract with a salary of €1.7 million without including the bonuses and became the highest paid coach in the history of PAOK.[29][30][31][32] In the Super League, PAOK finished second, 19 points behind the champion Olympiacos,[33] which they, however, eliminated in the semi-finals of the Greek Cup[34] to find PAOK for the fifth time in six years in a cup final, where they suffered a 1–0 defeat by Panathinaikos; there were many protests for refereeing against PAOK.[35][36] In the Europa Conference League, he managed to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, where he was eliminated by Marseille there were also protests against refereeing against PAOK.[37]

In the 2022–23 season, PAOK without the necessary transfer support charged to the team president Ivan Savvidis finished in fourth place in the league table, while in the cup, they reached the final, where they were defeated 2–0 by AEK Athens.[38][39] The only notable thing about the season was the emergence of Greek wonder kids such as Giannis Konstantelias and Kostas Koulierakis.[40]

In the 2023–24 season, PAOK eliminated Beitar Jerusalem, Hajduk Split and Heart of Midlothian in succession to reach the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage.[41] Then, in the group stage with Eintracht Frankfurt, Aberdeen and HJK, they finished first,[42] qualifying for the round of 16, where they eliminated Dinamo Zagreb and made it to the quarter-finals.[43] In the league, the double-header finished in first place in Super League however, they were forced to play in the play-offs with the six first teams of Super League.[44] In the cup, PAOK successively eliminated Volos and Panserraikos they then advanced to the semi-finals, where they played Panathinaikos, and were eliminated after several refereeing error sat the expense of PAOK. However, they managed to win the championship under his leadership, after a dramatic away win against Aris Thessaloniki which was necessary to seal the title.[45]

Personal life

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Lucescu's father, Mircea, also coached the Romania national team and is one of the most decorated managers of all time.[46]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 3 November 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref.
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Brașov   5 February 2004 10 June 2004 15 5 3 7 20 15 +5 033.33 [3]
Rapid București   10 June 2004 27 May 2007 133 74 37 22 227 110 +117 055.64 [47]
Brașov   14 June 2007 11 June 2009 73 40 21 12 121 52 +69 054.79 [48]
Romania   29 April 2009 4 June 2011 21 7 7 7 25 26 −1 033.33 [49]
Rapid București   4 June 2011 31 May 2012 48 25 11 12 78 47 +31 052.08 [50]
El Jaish   31 May 2012 15 January 2014 68 39 9 20 112 67 +45 057.35 [51]
Petrolul Ploiești   11 March 2014 16 September 2014 28 13 9 6 48 24 +24 046.43 [52]
Xanthi   24 September 2014 11 June 2017 109 38 37 34 123 109 +14 034.86 [53]
PAOK   11 August 2017 28 June 2019 92 68 12 12 194 61 +133 073.91 [54]
Al-Hilal   1 July 2019 14 February 2021 72 45 17 10 146 67 +79 062.50
PAOK   26 May 2021 present 183 104 39 40 329 178 +151 056.83
Total 844 458 202 184 1,423 752 +671 054.27

Honours

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Player

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Național București

Rapid București

Manager

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Rapid București

Brașov

El Jaish

Xanthi

PAOK

Al-Hilal

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Răzvan Lucescu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  2. ^ "The playing career of Răzvan Lucescu". RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Răzvan Lucescu in 2003–04 with FC Braşov". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Rapid appointment for Lucescu". UEFA. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Shakhtar Donetsk 0–1 Rapid București". UEFA. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  6. ^ "SAHTIOR – RAPID 0–1 Dulce si amar" [SAHTIOR – RAPID 0–1 Bitter and sweet] (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
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