Other Domestic Leagues 2019/20

[HajdukSplit]

Only chance for Spartak to salvage our season is the Russian Cup. Having to face champions Zenit in the semi isn't optimal. Since I'm new to the RPL does winning the cup earn you a slot in the Europa League (I would assume so but not 100% sure)?

Russian cup winners go straight to the EL group stage

In league play, Krasnodar threw away their games in hand and are currently third, two points back of Loko for 2nd place which is an auto CL spot (third place = playoffs). CSKA are still alive for CL spots but must rely on Krasnodar or Loko to drop points, Rostov secured an EL qualifying spot; Orenburg relegated, final relegation spot down to three teams (Krylia Sovetov, Tambov and Grozny), Russia got rid of the relegation playoffs for this season

 

[Savi]

Porto beat Sporting 2-0 last night to win the Portuguese League. At the start of the lockdown, Benfica were still in first place but they've had a terrible run, only winning 3 out of their last 10 games. Porto have won 6 of their last 7 and have an eight point lead with only two games left.
It's actually too bad it's already over. The final matchday would have seen Benfica play Sporting, and Porto play Braga (top 4 teams against eachother) which would have made for a fantastic finale.
Benfica and Porto do still play the Cup Final against eachother, on August 1

- Still six rounds to go in Switzerland but the surprise leaders are St. Gallen, who won the Swiss title twice, almost centuries apart (1904 and 2000). They have a one point lead over Young Boys who have won back to back titles. Basel, who recently dominated the league look like they won't win the title for the third season running but kept their slim hopes alive beating YB today

Also good to see Servette Geneve having a good season and getting (somewhat) back to relevance after a very chaotic millennium for them so far. They were still in the 2nd division as of two years ago.

- In Slovenia we could see a first time champion, Celje are one point behind Olimpija Ljubljana with three rounds to go. Olimpija are the new force in Slovenia with the backing of Milan Mandaric (former chairman of Pompey, Leicester and Sheffield Wed) but have been inconsistent this season and firing coaches left and right. Celje are certainly a major surprise, mostly a mid-table club in their history and winning only 3 matches out of 12 (not counting Intertoto Cup) in their Euro history. Their one trophy since the breakup of Yugoslavia was a cup in the mid-2000s, in the 60s they won the 'Slovenian Republic League' which was essentially the 3rd division in the old Yugo football pyramid

Now that you mention new forces, and with Dinamo Kiev in danger of missing out on a CL ticket in Ukraine, a new team has stepped up: FC Desna Chernihiv. They actually held 2nd place but lost against Shakhtar and have now been leapfrogged by both Zorya Lugansk and Kiev but there's still two games to go. It's only their second season in Ukraine's top flight.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Istanbul Basaksehir are the first time champions of Turkey, there are rumors they might sign Ozil

 

[Savi]

Istanbul Basaksehir are the first time champions of Turkey, there are rumors they might sign Ozil

None of the Istanbul big three even finished Top 3, must have been ages since that last happened

 

[Bures Elbow]

Jorge Jesus back managing Benfica after winning every trophy bar the CWC with Flamengo...I'm wary simply because Benfica has a great crop of youth players coming up and Jesus is notorious for not using any young players. The rumours have already started with half of Europe and Brazil/Argentina associated with Benfica...he infamously played Bernardo Silva leftback and didnt play Cancelo at all, causing both to leave without even getting a chance in the main squad.

On the other hand he undeniably plays good footy, and CAN create a solid team...something Benfica hasn't had in a long time.

 

[YNWA14]

Istanbul Basaksehir are the first time champions of Turkey, there are rumors they might sign Ozil

Not really related but one of my teammates got signed by them last year and played for their reserve team before coming back because he wasn’t going to make the first team and was homesick. Was pretty impressed at how he was treated though.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Jorge Jesus back managing Benfica after winning every trophy bar the CWC with Flamengo...I'm wary simply because Benfica has a great crop of youth players coming up and Jesus is notorious for not using any young players. The rumours have already started with half of Europe and Brazil/Argentina associated with Benfica...he infamously played Bernardo Silva leftback and didnt play Cancelo at all, causing both to leave without even getting a chance in the main squad.

On the other hand he undeniably plays good footy, and CAN create a solid team...something Benfica hasn't had in a long time.

Bure, I come from a family of Benfica fans and their opinion is split. I could go on and on!

Jesus only plays young players if they fit into his tactics. Benfica's current crop of youngsters besides Ruben Dias and Vlachodimos isn't anything to scream and shout about. Nuno and Tomas Tavares are still very green and not experienced in the back. Ferro needs a loan somewhere else in the Liga to grow. I've been hearing about Jota for years coming up through the system, and how dominant he will be, but he will most likely end up like a Ze Gomes than a Guedes. Goncalo Ramos scored twice yesterday but we'll see.

My thing with Benfica is exactly that. I get playing youngsters, but it seems like they are just pressured to play them because of the high fees other teams are/were paying for their young guns (Joao Felix, Nelson Semedo, Lindelof, etc..). They need experienced players to help balance the young-in's and help them develop more. Once you bring that up though, Benfica fans are suddenly against having South Americans come in again.

'A Bola' and 'Record' are turning the rumor mill that Cavani may swing over to Portugal, but we'll see. Cavani would be an immense upgrade over Dyego Sousa, and Seferovic

 

[HajdukSplit]

First time champion in Slovenia, Celje's 2:2 draw with Olimpija was enough, 7th title winner in independent Slovenia, first one to break the Olimpija-Maribor dominance in 10 years

In Switzerland, St. Gallen were hammered at home by Basel, Young Boys now heavy favorites for the title

 

[HajdukSplit]

Turkish league complete, Basaksehir were already champions but the question was the 2nd CL spot (qualifying), since runners-up Trabzonspor are banned from Europe it went to the 3rd place team and Besiktas managed to grab it ahead of Sivasspor; Sivasspor do get a consolation prize of automatic EL group stage, their first time ever competing in any UEFA group competition (they only qualified for Europe once before). Galatasaray get the last EL spot, Fener completely miss out on Europe. All three promoted sides managed to stay up

Croatia ended today, big drama for 2nd place which is a CL qualifying spot (only for this upcoming season though, they immediately lost it for 2021 onwards); Dinamo already won the title despite a poor post-Covid form and going through 3 managers. Lokomotiva, Osijek and Rijeka all had chances of 2nd place with Osijek hosting Loko, Rijeka needed them two to draw with them winning. Well Loko, defacto Dinamo farm team, finished 2nd beating Osijek 2:1 Already three Loko players are heading to Dinamo this summer, though I;m sure Dinamo will ship them more youngsters to compensate

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Turkish league complete, Basaksehir were already champions but the question was the 2nd CL spot (qualifying), since runners-up Trabzonspor are banned from Europe it went to the 3rd place team and Besiktas managed to grab it ahead of Sivasspor; Sivasspor do get a consolation prize of automatic EL group stage, their first time ever competing in any UEFA group competition (they only qualified for Europe once before). Galatasaray get the last EL spot, Fener completely miss out on Europe. All three promoted sides managed to stay up

Insane, really.

But Istanbul club dominance continues.

 

[PanniniClaus]

Turkish league complete, Basaksehir were already champions but the question was the 2nd CL spot (qualifying), since runners-up Trabzonspor are banned from Europe it went to the 3rd place team and Besiktas managed to grab it ahead of Sivasspor; Sivasspor do get a consolation prize of automatic EL group stage, their first time ever competing in any UEFA group competition (they only qualified for Europe once before). Galatasaray get the last EL spot, Fener completely miss out on Europe. All three promoted sides managed to stay up

Croatia ended today, big drama for 2nd place which is a CL qualifying spot (only for this upcoming season though, they immediately lost it for 2021 onwards); Dinamo already won the title despite a poor post-Covid form and going through 3 managers. Lokomotiva, Osijek and Rijeka all had chances of 2nd place with Osijek hosting Loko, Rijeka needed them two to draw with them winning. Well Loko, defacto Dinamo farm team, finished 2nd beating Osijek 2:1 Already three Loko players are heading to Dinamo this summer, though I;m sure Dinamo will ship them more youngsters to compensate

Great to see Besiktas get in there for that spot.

 

[Prntscrn]

Djurgården just beat AIK in the Stockholm "twin derby" for the first time since 2011. Unreal streak and thank god it's finally over, life can now go back to normal after a miserable decade.. Well we won the league last year so there's that lost all four derbies though, which were the only games we lost..

 

[HajdukSplit]

Turkey suspended relegation this season so next season will involve 21 clubs, the 2021-22 season will return to 18 clubs

 

[Savi]

Belgian football is such a shit show right now

The new season was supposed to kickoff on August 7. But first we'd have last season's Cup Final between Club Brugge and Antwerp (August 1) and the 2nd division playoff promotion final between Beerschot and OH Leuven (August 2). All good so far.

Now, corona cases have been on the rise again for about 2 weeks, especially in and around Antwerp. First, our minister-president said "no problem, professional football will still be allowed" then a couple of hours later our Minister of Health said "sports with physical contact will not be allowed unless with 5 people or less from your own personal bubble" and then a couple of hours after that our Prime Minister gave a press conference in which she didn't even mention sports or football at all.

To top it off, one day later the governor of Antwerp prohibited all team sports (pro or amateur) within the Antwerp province for the next 4 weeks. There are 3 pro teams: Antwerp - having to play the Cup Final on Saturday), KV Mechelen, and Beerschot - having to play the playoff promotion final on Sunday. So for the next month they can't practice on their grounds, they can't play any home games.. They are however allowed to practice or play if they cross province borders

And today, Waasland-Beveren, the team who finished in last place (remember, our league was ended with 1 matchday to go, and Beveren still had a chance to avoid relegation) won their court case against the Belgian FA regarding their forced relegation. So they can't go down

So the entire start of the new football season is in shambles right now. To be continued because I have no f***ing clue what's going to happen next. An August 7 start seems very, very unlikely at the moment.

 

[robertmac43]

I was selfishly hoping with the situation in Belgium that Borges would find his way back to Forge for the CPL return to play. Pipe-dream I know... Still wishing though.

 

[Savi]

I was selfishly hoping with the situation in Belgium that Borges would find his way back to Forge for the CPL return to play. Pipe-dream I know... Still wishing though.

There's a special assembly today at Belgian FA HQ, I think the most likely scenario is that instead of a 16-team First Division, we're going back to 18 teams (for at least the next 1-2 years). Waasland-Beveren then doesn't have to be relegated and both Beerschot and OH Leuven (with Borges) will get promoted instead of having to play the promotion final.

However there's the matter of the TV deal that's already been signed (for a 16-team league, with playoffs), and also some teams (such as Gent and Genk) are so incredibly stubborn and don't even want to entertain the thought of another league format, other than the one we have now. The selfishness in Belgian football is so blatant, it's the same story every year, nothing ever gets done because every club is only looking out for themselves.

 

[Savi]

They actually reached an agreement

For the next 2 seasons the Belgian League will have 18 teams, with the top 4 teams after the regular season qualifying for a champions playoff. In two years, 3 teams will have to get relegated and we're going back to a 16-team league.

 

[robertmac43]

Good to know! Thanks for the update as always @Savi

 

[les Habs]

They actually reached an agreement

For the next 2 seasons the Belgian League will have 18 teams, with the top 4 teams after the regular season qualifying for a champions playoff. In two years, 3 teams will have to get relegated and we're going back to a 16-team league.

Wait, there's really a Belgian league?

 

[YNWA14]

They actually reached an agreement

For the next 2 seasons the Belgian League will have 18 teams, with the top 4 teams after the regular season qualifying for a champions playoff. In two years, 3 teams will have to get relegated and we're going back to a 16-team league.

If they aren't absorbed into the BeNeLeague first.

 

[koyvoo]

Porto is down to ten men in the 38th minute of the Portuguese Cup final vs Benfica and then have manager Conceicao tossed for his second yellow 3 minutes later. Goalless draw after the first half.

 

[koyvoo]

And yet, Porto goes up 2-0 in the 57th minute

 

[koyvoo]

Benfica down 2-1 hit the post in time added on. 3 minutes left.

 

[Cassano]

New Scottish League season started.

 

[Cassano]

Two rising Arsenal stars overtake Aubameyang and Lacazette in new shirt sales

Tierney has left quite a big impression on the team and fanbase. I would say he is probably next in line for captaincy.