Răzvan Lucescu

Răzvan Lucescu (Romanian pronunciation: [rəzˈvan luˈt͡ʃesku]; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.

Răzvan Lucescu
Lucescu with PAOK in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-02-17) 17 February 1969
Place of birth Bucharest, SR Romania
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Al-Hilal (manager)
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 Calcio 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)
1999–2000 Brașov 13 (0)
2000–2001 Rapid București 26 (0)
2001–2002 Bacău 10 (0)
2002–2003 Rapid București 1 (0)
Total 243 (0)
Teams managed
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– Al-Hilal
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Born in Bucharest, Lucescu made 240 appearances in the Divizia A for Sportul Studențesc, Național București, Brașov, Rapid București and FCM Bacău.[1]

Coaching career

Brașov

He began his coaching career with FC Braşov in the 2003–04 season spanning 15 matches in the first league.[2]

Rapid București

In June 2004, he was named coach of Rapid București.[3] 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 Rotterdam, Shakhtar Donetsk (his father's team),[4][5] 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 4 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.[6]

Return to Brașov

Lucescu decided to start all over and, instead of accepting to manage bigger clubs from abroad, he decided to coach FC Braşov, who relegated two years before and finished 10th 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.[7]

Romania national team
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.[8] 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.[9]

Return to Rapid București

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.[10]

El Jaish

On 31 May 2012, he was appointed at the helm of Qatari side El Jaish on a two-year deal.[11] In his first season in charge Lucescu won the 2012–13 Qatari Stars Cup[12] and led his side into the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League.[13] 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

In March 2014, he was named the head coach of Liga I side Petrolul Ploiești replacing Cosmin Contra.[14] 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

On 24 September 2014, Lucescu signed a one-year contract with Greek Super League club Skoda Xanthi.[15] He guided them to their first Greek Cup final in their history.[16] 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

On 11 August 2017, Lucescu would return to the benches of Superleague Greece as he signed a three year contract with PAOK.[17] His tenure at the club started against Ostersund 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 Europa League group stages for the first time in 5 years. At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as they found themselves fighting for the league title with real chances. However, the derbies came to disastrous outcomes, with PAOK losing to Olympiacos due to an awarded 3–0 win, as the match was suspended for fan behavior. Against rivals AEK Athens, the president of the team, Ivan Savvidis, stormed onto the pitch with a pistol in his holster after a late PAOK goal was overturned after protests from AEK, causing the league to be suspended.[18] PAOK was later punished with a reduction of 3 points and the awarding of the game to AEK by 0–3. The awarded derbies, as well as the court deduction, played a big role in PAOK losing the league title to AEK, as they finished the championship 2nd, 6 points behind their double-headed eagle rivals. Afterwards, PAOK won the Greek Cup after defeating AEK 2–0 in the Cup final in OAKA, Athens, which was viewed as a consolation prize for the lost championship.

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 Videoton, 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 April 21, 2019, PAOK won their third league title and their first in 34 years after beating Levadiakos at home with 5-0.[19] Lucescu led his side to league triumph without a single defeat, a milestone last reached by Panathinaikos 55 years before, and finished the season with a record-breaking 80 points.[20]

Al-Hilal

On 28 June 2019, Lucescu parted ways with PAOK after receiving an offer to manage Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.[21] The club reportedly paid PAOK the manager's €2M release clause, while both Lucescu and PAOK chairman Ivan Savvidis agreed that the contract offer was too good to refuse.[22] He brought the club to its third AFC Champions League-era title and first continental title in 17 years on 24 November 2019.[23]

Personal life

He is the son of former football player and manager Mircea Lucescu.[24]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 11 March 2020
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 [25]
Rapid București 10 June 2004 27 May 2007 132 74 37 21 227 109 +118 056.06 [26]
Brașov 14 June 2007 11 June 2009 73 40 21 12 121 52 +69 054.79 [27]
Romania 29 April 2009 4 June 2011 21 7 7 7 25 26 −1 033.33 [28]
Rapid București 4 June 2011 31 May 2012 48 25 11 12 78 47 +31 052.08 [29]
El Jaish 31 May 2012 15 January 2014 68 39 9 20 112 67 +45 057.35 [30]
Petrolul Ploiești 11 March 2014 16 September 2014 28 13 9 6 48 24 +24 046.43 [31]
Xanthi 24 September 2014 11 June 2017 109 38 37 34 123 109 +14 034.86 [32]
PAOK 11 August 2017 28 June 2019 94 68 12 14 194 70 +124 072.34 [33]
Al-Hilal 30 June 2019 Present 39 26 9 4 88 40 +48 066.67
Total 627 335 155 137 1,036 559 +477 053.43 —

Honours

Player

Național București

Rapid București

Manager

Rapid București

Brașov

El Jaish

Skoda Xanthi

PAOK

Al-Hilal

Individual

References
  1. "The playing career of Răzvan Lucescu". RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  2. "Razvan Lucescu in 2003–04 with FC Braşov". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  3. "Rapid appointment for Lucescu". UEFA. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  4. "Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Rapid București". UEFA. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. "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.
  6. "Lucescu makes Rapid exit". UEFA. 28 May 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  7. "Coaching profile Răzvan Lucescu". UEFA. 31 May 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. "Romania appoint Lucescu". Worldsoccer.com. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  9. "Lucescu leaves Romania post". UEFA. 5 June 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  10. "Dinamo a învins Rapid scor 1–0 si a câstigat Cupa României". Mediafax (in Romanian). 23 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  11. "El Jaish signs deal with new coach Lucescu". Qatar Stars League. 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  12. "El Jaish clinch Qatar Stars Cup". The Peninsula Qatar. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  13. "El Jaish 3–1 Al Jazira". The AFC. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  14. "Lucescu takes charge at Petrolul". Eurosport. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  15. "Lucescu, Sa Pinto take Greek club coaching jobs". Sports.Yahoo.com. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  16. Λουτσέσκου: "Ο Ολυμπιακός άξιζε το Κύπελλο". Sport24.gr (in Greek). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  17. "Greece's PAOK names Razvan Lucescu as new coach". Daily Mail. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  18. "Greek Super League: Angry PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis storms pitch with gun - Goal.com". goal.com.
  19. "PAOK fans celebrate their 1st Greek league title in 34 years". The Washington Post. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  20. "PAOK 1st undefeated team in Greek league season for 55 years". Yahoo! News. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  21. "Al Hilal name Romanian Lucescu as head coach". Asian Football Confederation. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  22. Σάββας Τζιομπάνογλου. "ΠΑΟΚ: Τέλος ο Λουτσέσκου, πάει στην Αλ Χιλάλ". sport24.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  23. "Final - 2nd Leg: Al Dawsari, Gomis strikes seal Al Hilal title". Asian Football Confederation. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  24. "Europe's ultimate footballing families". UEFA. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  25. "Razvan Lucescu in 2003–04 with FC Braşov". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  26. "FC Rapid București: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  27. "FC Brașov: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  28. "Romania: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  29. "FC Rapid București: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  30. "El Jaish: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  31. "Petrolul Ploiești: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  32. "Xanthi: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  33. "PAOK FC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  34. "Final - 2nd Leg: Al Dawsari, Gomis strikes seal Al Hilal title". Asian Football Confederation. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
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