It was not the end of story for Universitatea – they also reached the Cup final, which was to be a repeat of the previous year’s final: Universitatea (Craiova) against Politehnica (Timisoara). ‘Students’ clubs both. Politehnica won the cup in 1980, so… Univeristatea wanted revenge, Politehnica – a second trophy. But Politehnica run out of a steam and had weak – or rather normal for them – season: they finished 12th in the league. The final was not a contest at all – Universitatea annihilated the cup holders 6-0.
After such loss what is there to say? Politehnica was not a great squad. Handling European and domestic competitions was apparently too much for them. Still, they were brave to the end – reaching the Cup final for two consecutive years was heroic achievement.
As for Universitatea – a double. Their first! Three titles and three Cups, all won after 1973. This season Universitatea firmly established itself as the leading club at the time and the only worthy rival of the capital’s powers Steaua and Dinamo.