FC Astra Giurgiu in European football
Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu is a Romanian professional football club based in Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. The club have participated in 4 editions of the club competitions governed by UEFA, three in Europa League and one in Champions League. In 2013–14 season, they managed to qualify for the group stages of Europa League for the first time, after defeating French giants Lyon; they finished fourth in a group against Red Bull Salzburg, Celtic, and Dinamo Zagreb. In 2014–15, they knocked out English side West Ham United, after 2–2 at London and 2–1 at Giurgiu.
| Club | Astra Giurgiu |
|---|---|
| First entry | 2013–14 UEFA Europa League |
| Latest entry | 2017–18 UEFA Europa League |
In 2015–16 Liga I the club managed to win the title for the first time in their history; that meant qualification to the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The club drew FC København, and couldn't manage to win the tie after drawing 1–1 in Giurgiu and losing 0–3 in Copenhagen against the Danish team.
In the Europa League play-off Astra was drawn against English side West Ham United and managed to eliminate them for the second successive season, by winning 1–0 at the Olympic Stadium after having drawn 1–1 at home.
After qualifying, the club was seeded in Group E against AS Roma, Viktoria Plzen, and Austria Wien. Astra managed to come second after a tight group and qualified for the round of 32 where they played against Belgian side KRC Genk.
All-time statistics
- As of 3 August 2017
| Competition | S | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | –3 |
| UEFA Europa League | 5 | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 48 | 50 | –2 |
| Total | 6 | 40 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 49 | 54 | –5 |
Opponents
| Country | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
Austria Wien | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | –5 | |
| Subtotal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | –5 | |
 Azerbaijan |
Zira | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium |
Genk | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | |
 Croatia |
Dinamo Zagreb | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | –3 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | –3 | |
 Cyprus |
Omonia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | |
 Czech Republic |
Slovan Liberec | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
| Viktoria Plzeň | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | |
| Subtotal | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | |
 Denmark |
Copenhagen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | –3 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | –3 | |
 England |
West Ham United | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 |
| Subtotal | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | |
 France |
Lyon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
 [Israel |
Maccabi Haifa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | –2 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | –2 | |
 Italy |
Roma | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | –4 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | –4 | |
 Netherlands |
AZ Alkmaar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –1 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –1 | |
 Scotland |
Celtic | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 |
| Inverness | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | |
| Subtotal | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
 Slovenia |
Domžale | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | |
 Slovakia |
Trenčín | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | |
 Ukraine |
Oleksandriya | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Subtotal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | |
| Total | 40 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 49 | 54 | –5 | |
History of matches
Notes for the abbreviations in the tables below:
- 1QR: First qualifying round
- 2QR: Second qualifying round
- 3QR: Third qualifying round
- PO: Play-off round
- R32: Round of 32
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Domžale |
2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |  |
| 2Q | Omonia |
1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | ||
| 3Q | AS Trenčín |
2–2 | 3–1 | 5–3 | | ||
| PO | Maccabi Haifa |
1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 |  | ||
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Slovan Liberec |
3–0 | 3–2 | 6–2 | |
| PO | Lyon |
0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 (a) | | ||
| Group D | Red Bull Salzburg |
1–2 | 1–5 | 4th | | ||
| Celtic |
1–1 | 1–2 | |||||
| Dinamo Zagreb |
1–0 | 1–5 | |||||
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Inverness CT |
0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| 3Q | West Ham United |
2–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 | | ||
| PO | AZ |
3–2 | 0–2 | 3–4 | | ||
| 2016–17 | UEFA Champions League | 3Q | Copenhagen |
1–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | |
| UEFA Europa League | PO | West Ham United |
1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | |
| Group E | Viktoria Plzeň |
1–1 | 2–1 | 2nd | | ||
| Roma |
0–0 | 0–4 | |||||
| Austria Wien |
2–3 | 2–1 | |||||
| R32 | Genk |
2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | | ||
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Zira |
3–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | |
| 3Q | Oleksandriya |
0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | ||
Top scorers
| P | Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Constantin Budescu |  Romania |
9 |
| 2 | Kehinde Fatai |  Nigeria |
5 |
| 3 | Denis Alibec | Romania |
4 |
| 4 | Fwayo Tembo |  Zambia |
3 |
| 5 | Sadat Bukari |  Ghana | |
| 6 | Takayuki Seto |  Japan |
2 |
| 7 | Alexandru Dandea | Romania | |
| 8 | Gabriel Enache | Romania | |
| 9 | Filipe Teixeira |  Portugal | |
| 10 | Fernando Boldrin |  Brazil | |
| 11 | Mirko Ivanovski |  Macedonia |
1 |
| 12 | Valerică Găman | Romania | |
| 13 | Cristian Săpunaru | Romania | |
| 14 | William De Amorim | Brazil | |
| 15 | Laurențiu Rus | Romania | |
| 16 | Alexandru Stan | Romania | |
| 17 | Alexandru Ioniță | Romania | |
| 18 | George Florescu | Romania | |
| 19 | Aurelian Chițu | Romania | |
| 20 | Daniel Florea | Romania | |
| 21 | Anthony Le Tallec | France | |