One way to settle a title

On Friday Moldova's top two Dacia and Sherrif Tiraspol both met in the final game of the league season. A win for either would secure the title and champions league football in July while a draw would force the tie-breaker. Both sides came into the game locked on sixty-four points each after twenty-six games. A defeat for Dacia two weeks ago at Milsami Orhei coupled with Sheriff's narrow 1-0 success away at Dinamo-Auto meant both sides would be going into the head-to-head level on points after they both registered victories last weekend.

In Moldova's Divizia Națională the tie-breaker for teams going for the title when level on points in a play-off. At the other end of the table both Academica Chișinău and Petroclub both finished level on points but it was the head-to-head tie breaker that ultimately saw Academica relegated. An so after Friday's 1-1 stalemate between the two sides, a play-off will be required to determine to champions. This is the only league in Europe in 2015-16 that will be going to a play-off to decide the winners. All other leagues use goal difference, goals scored or head-to-head results to separate teams level on points but in Moldova the play-off is the tie-breaker after points. 

The play-off will take place at a neutral venue, Zimbru's home ground has been chosen and will be played next Sunday. 

Dacia are aiming for only their second ever league title after first winning it in 2010-11 which ended the utter dominance of their opponents in the play-off Sheriff who were in that season aiming for their eleventh straight league title. For Sheriff they are looking to add to their haul of thirteen league titles since independence in 1992. 
Only five different sides have claimed the title in Moldova. The other three are Zimbru based in the capital Chișinău who have eight titles, Milsami Orhei who won their first title last season and Constructorul Chișinău who later became FC Tiraspol and are now no longer in existence after dissolving last year, they won the title once in 1996-97. 

Adíos Don Valerón

The weekend just gone was unusual in La Liga. All ten fixtures were scheduled for the same time which was to provide more suspense at the bottom and top ends of the league. As you may have heard Atlético bailed out of the title race by going down away to already relegated Levante, Barcelona put five past Espanyol and the less said about the Real Madrid game the better. Getafe and Sporting drew in a key six-pointer near the bottom and Granada assured safety with an impressive 4-1 success away to Europa league finalists Seville. However it was also a sad day.

Down in the Canary islands, Las Palmas faced Athletic Bilbao with the home side safe and Bilbao assured of Europe. The build up to the game was dominated by the news from a press conference the previous day. The best player to come from the Canary Islands, the player Andrés Iniesta would pay to watch, the player responsible for David Silva wearing number 21 and the player that would've won the Balon D'or had he played for a more fashionable club according Deportivo coach Víctor Sánchez, announced he was retiring at the end of the season. Juan Carlos Valerón on Sunday played his final home game in his career. In what was only his third start in the league he bowed out in the 73rd minute to a chorus of cheers and handshakes from not only Las Palmas players but Athletic Bilbao players as well.

Personally he is my all-time favorite player. A terrific player to watch for his passing and technical qualities. Even this season at the age of 40 he hadn't lost any of that accurate passing and vision. I remember watching a Copa del Rey game Las Palmas v Eibar earlier in the season, in which he started and he controlled the game. Finding teammates and space and always looking for the ball. In a league game against Getafe where he made his 400th appearance in La Liga he came on for the last ten minutes and right at the end of stoppage time was played in through on goal, unfortunately it was just a tad ahead of him and the chance to cap the occasion with a goal went.

Valerón emerged with Las Palmas when the Islanders were languishing between the 3rd tier Segunda B and Segunda división in the late nineties. His performances impressed Real Mallorca and he signed for the Balearic Islanders in 1997. His stay there would only last a season as three goals helped Mallorca finish 5th.
Atlético Madrid would bring him to the mainland and for the next two seasons Valerón would be an undisputed first choice playmaker. However in 1999-00 Valerón suffered his first relegation in his career as Atlético sunk to 19th. It was that summer that he signed for Deportivo, the new champions of Spain. From 2000 to 2004 Valerón would play his part in the emergence of the famed Super Depor side that would win the 2002 Copa del Rey title and agonizingly fall at the semi-final stage in the 2003-04 champions league to Mourinho's Porto.
Super Depor faded after that semi-final and it would be a slow decline over the next few years for the A Coruna club. Valerón effecively lost two seasons to persistant knee injuries from 2006 until midway through 2007-08. He won back his place in the team but Depor couldn't muster anything higher than 7th place finish in 2008-09. 2010-11 saw Deportivo fall through the relegation trap door. A final day defeat at home to Valencia meant Valerón had suffered his second relegation and it sealed the slow decline from force in Europe to a Segunda side. Valerón stayed with Deportivo to help them bounce back up to the top flight. He was successful as Depor finished 2nd to seal a swift return. However the return wasn't long term and in a dramatic final day in 2012-13 Depor were victims of Celta Vigo's escape on the final day and Depor were down again. This time Valerón did leave, signing for his hometown club of Las Palmas.
With Las Palmas he was part of the team that suffered a last gasp goal to Córdoba which meant Las Palmas missed out on a return to La Liga. The following season however they made amends for that narrow miss. They were involved in the play-offs and a late Sergio Araújo goal against Zaragoza sealed a return to La Liga for both Las Palmas and Valerón. A one year deal was signed last summer as Valerón finally had the opportunity to play in La Liga with his hometown club. Limited to mainly cameo appearances and starts in cup games, Valerón played his part as Las Palmas stayed in the top division.

What happens next for "El Flaco" as he is nicknamed remains to be seen. A possible coaching role with Las Palmas guiding the youngsters could be an option. The Canary islands remains a very productive region in talented footballers with the likes of David Silva and Jesé Rodríguez from the islands and the majority of the first team at Las Palmas are homegrown. The future remains bright for Los Amarillos.
So Don Valerón thank you for showcasing your sublime passing and technical qualities !

Kosovo accepted into UEFA

Yesterday Tuesday May 5th Kosovo was elected to become the 55th member of UEFA. Their election has ended an eight year battle to finally get accepted into European football's governing body. Next week they will find out if their FIFA application is accepted or not and many reports online suggest that should they obtain FIFA membership they'll be fast tracked in the world cup qualifiers that commence in September.

Their acceptance into UEFA and their pending FIFA application has been met with obvious joy and relief in Kosovo. However in the build up to the congress in which they were accepted the Serbian football association were crystal clear in their views of it all. No Kosovo in UEFA. In fact the election of Kosovo was very tight with the final result being 28-24 in favor. One vote less and Kosovo will have failed to get the majority of votes needed to be accepted into UEFA.

The City Stadium in Prishtina, home of FC Prishtina
source: wikipedia

Kosovo's election means they'll be involved in the Euro 2020 qualifiers and their club teams will now be eligible to participate in both champions and Europa leagues. No details have yet been released in terms of when the club teams will take part in European competition but I am assuming it will be in time for the 2017-18 season.

With Kosovar clubs entering European competition it'll force a change in which teams will enter at certain rounds of the competition. Presently in the champions league qualifiers the first qualifying round features the bottom eight leagues in Europe. With Kosovo starting at the bottom of the coefficient table this will bump up Estonia into the second qualifying round as it stands.
When Gibraltar entered UEFA in 2013 it wasn't until the 2014-15 season that they entered clubs into European competition. However UEFA only allowed them two teams to compete in both competitions. The current bottom two of the coefficient table Andorra and San Marino are only allowed two sides in the Europa league with one each in the champions league. Kosovo could be only allowed to enter two sides when they eventually take part in European competition.

The local league has been going since 1945 and the traditional power has been FC Prishtina who have seventeen titles to date. Other sides who have had their hands on the title on multiple occasions are KF Vëllaznimi, KF Besa and FK Trepca. This season the league is being led by Feronikeli with five rounds left to play. They are seven points clear of Hajvalia. FC Prishtina are struggling in 8th in the twelve team Superliga.
Next season will see the league take on a different challenge with the expected European places on offer for the top ranking sides.

Kosovo National team 
source: Berta/Ap

Another agenda of their membership is the personnel who will line out for the national team. The likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Lorik Cana, Adnan Januzaj and Valon Behrami are all Kosovo born and eligible to play for the national team.

However all of them are established internationals with the likes of Switzerland and Belgium. The Albanian national side is made up of a few Kosovar players also.
The success of their national side will depend on how many of the high profile players switch their international careers to Kosovo. On paper at least it has the makings of a decent side that would see them on possibly the same level as neighbors Albania.

Kosovo's acceptance into UEFA could in theory at least set the wheels in motion for other potential applications from other unrecognized nations. I have seen one report already suggesting that Crimea could possibly make an application despite not being recognized as an independent nation. A line really does need to be drawn because this has potential to get messy down the line. We haven't heard the last of Kosovo's election either with Serbia likely to take the decision to the court of arbitration of sport to reverse the decision.

Unbeaten no more

Last week on different sides of the continent saw the final two unbeaten records ended.

On Wednesday Crvena Zvezda were beaten by closest challengers Čukarički 2-1 at home. The result no only ended Crvena Zvezda's unbeaten run this season it also closed the gap at the top of the Serbian Superliga to six points with four rounds to play.

Yes the gap is now six points. The Serbian Superliga split after the regular thirty league game concluded which saw Crvena Zvezda finish twenty-eight points clear. However the split sees the teams half their point tallies up to "the nearest integer", you can thank wikipedia for that explanation. Crvena Zvezda have started the split sluggishly with a draw and now a defeat but do have a game in hand against Borac Čačak.  

The other only remaining unbeaten record to fall this week was on Saturday over in Luxembourg. Leaders F91 Dudelange lost 3-1 away to second placed Fola Esch and its also a result that opens an element of doubt to the formerly unbeaten team's title hopes. F91 Dudelange are now five points clear of Fola Esch after this result with three games to play. Still very much favorites it's how F91 Dudelange are going to react will be key to them remaining on course for winning back the title they lost last season. They host third placed Differdange 03 next weekend. 

So the final two unbeaten records for the 2015-16 campaign are gone. Gone within three days of each other just before the final month of the season. 

2015-16 the missed opportunity

In 2014-15 Aberdeen had got relatively close to Celtic in the title race. However in a meeting between the top two in March 2015 the dons were beaten heavily at Parkhead 4-0. After that Celtic would sail comfortably ahead and end up champions seventeen points ahead. For Aberdeen to actually get close enough as late as early March in the season was seen as an achievement in itself. Not since Hearts 2005-06 season had a non old-firm team put up such a challenge.

The question after that season was can they build on it. They had a bit of experience of pushing Celtic well into the new year, they needed more depth. That summer they signed Graeme Shinnie from Inverness who had finished 3rd and ten points behind Aberdeen. Keeper, Daniel Ward was loaned from Liverpool and Kenny McClean was added to the squad for more midfield depth. Could they push Celtic longer in 2015-16?

The answer was yes as it turned out. They started perfectly with seven wins from seven and optimism was as high as ever. Then came the sudden lose of form with no win in the next five including a trashing at home by St Johnstone and a defeat at Celtic. What followed was a sudden return to form. That defeat at Celtic was October 31st, it would be February 15th when they would lose again in the league. February 3rd was the home clash with Celtic. A game that was won 2-1 and a game that got many to believe the dons could in fact challenge them between now and the end of the season. 

That February 15th defeat was away to Inverness CT, a game that featured some atrocious refereeing and a horrible mistake from defender Ash Taylor. A 3-1 defeat where a victory would've put them level with Celtic. Opportunity missed. 

More points were dropped in the next game when they conceded a late penalty to draw at home to St Johnstone. Celtic were now six points in front. However, three wins on the bounce against Dundee United, Patrick Thistle and Kilmarnock saw them cut the gap to a solitary point albeit with an extra game played on March 12th. They were within touching distance again but they slipped once more. Away to Motherwell they fell to a 2-1 defeat despite taking the lead and the gap was extended to four points with Celtic having a game in hand. 

That Celtic game in hand would be drawn as they failed to break down Dundee at Parkhead. The title door was opened slightly . Thirty two games played, the gap was five points and Aberdeen faced a tricky assignment away to Hearts while Celtic were away at Motherwell later in the weekend on April 8th-10th. 

A perfect start saw Aberdeen take the lead at Tyncastle and they were going to be just two points behind before Celtic played their game. Niall McGinn had a glorious chance to make it 2-0, it wasn't taken and it turned out to be the turning point. Hearts got back into the game and leveled before going on to add one more goal to secure a 2-1 win. Celtic took their opportunity and won at Motherwell. Eight point gap after thirty-three games, the regular season over and now onto the split. 

Last week's 3-0 defeat effecively ended Aberdeen's title hopes
source: sns bbc.co.uk

Aberdeen were playing before Celtic in the first game of the split, away to St Johnstone. Celtic at home to Ross County. Aberdeen were beaten 3-0. A massive defeat that effectively ended their challenge as it presented Celtic to opportunity to go eleven points clear with victory over Ross County. However a twist happened! Celtic sluggishly drew with Ross County but extended their lead to nine points over Aberdeen with four to play. 

That brings us up to the current situation at the top of the Scottish Premiership going into this weekend. Celtic face a tricky game away to Hearts tomorrow before Aberdeen host Motherwell. Celtic have a significantly better goal difference and victory for them tomorrow effectively gives them their fifth title in a row. Defeat at Hearts for the Celts plus an Aberdeen victory sets-up a deciding head-to-head next weekend. 

With Celtic almost home and hosed the 2015-16 season for Aberdeen is a missed opportunity. Key defeats at key times have kept Celtic just about ahead and the form of Aberdeen in recent weeks has given Celtic enough of a buffer to seal the title this weekend. It's well known that no other Scottish side outside of Celtic and Rangers have got their hands on the title since 1985 when Aberdeen were the kings. This season presented possibly the best opportunity to break that stranglehold in quite some time. Manager Derek McInnes has done a fabulous job nonetheless. Prior to these two recent seasons, Aberdeen had been absent from the top table in Scotland since the 90s.

Will they be challenging next season? Surely Celtic can't be as bad as they have been this season again. The promotion of Rangers presents it's own challenge as many will be expecting them to be building towards a title tilt. Their promotion does mean that the old firm derby is back on the league agenda and thus at least three clashes that will see the two of them take points off each other.
Next season has the potential to be a fascinating title race if Aberdeen can keep hold of their players, and they started well in that department with Shay Logan signing an extension. Rangers could also be challenging next season if they recruit well and we could see a three-way tussle for the title. 

A little bit of trivia

As you might have heard last week, Rangers beat Celtic on penalties to book their spot in the Scottish cup final. They will be meeting Hibernian after they also emerged victorious in a spot kick shootout the previous day. The amazing thing is that both Rangers and Hibernian are first division teams. In the next few weeks Hibernian could be joining Rangers in getting promotion but on that particular road it remains to be seen. A non top flight cup final and it did get me thinking, when was the last time we had a non top flight cup final in Europe first of all and then elsewhere. This is what I found.

Europe:
1994 Norwegian Cup
When Rangers and Hibernian play on May 21st it will be the first non-top division national cup final in Europe since 1994 in Norway. This one also featured two 2nd tier sides in Molde and Lyn Oslo. It was Molde who emerged victorious and it capped a pretty good season for them as they also got promoted. This was the era in which winning the national cup earned Cup winners cup qualification and the following season Molde overcame Dinamo 93 Minsk in the qualifying round before succumbing to Paris Saint-Germain in the first round proper 6-2 on aggregate.

1989-90 FAI Cup
Until Molde and Lyn Oslo met in 1994, the 1989-90 FAI Cup final was the last time a national cup final was contested between sides not in the top tier. Bray Wanderers were a first division side while St Francis were non-league (Leinster senior league which is completely amateur). Bray would end up running out 3-0 winners and qualify for the following season's cup winner cup. They fell at the first hurdle which was the qualifying round against Trabzonspor of Turkey. However this cup final remains to date the last time a non-league side has reached the FAI cup final.

Other occasions
The 1980s featured two other non top flight cup finals in Sweden and Poland. The Swedish final in 1986-87 saw Kalmar beat GAIS 2-0 while in 1982-83 Lechia Gdansk, then a 3rd tier team overcame Piast Gliwice 2-1.
The 70s saw four non top flight cup finals in Norway, Poland, Denmark and Romania.

Rest of the World:
2015 Mayotte Cup
Mayotte are not members of FIFA or CAF but this 2015 cup final deserves a mention as it features two sides not even in the top two tiers in the league. It was won by fourth tier side Olympique Miréréni as they beat third tier side FC Labattoir 5-4 on penalties.

Other occasions
In 2013 the Guinea-Bissau cup final was played between two 3rd tier sides, Mexico's 2012 showpiece was an all 2nd tier affair. In the past twelve years there have been non-top flight cup finals in Japan, Senegal, DR Congo, Peru, Chile and Surinam.

Champions & Europa League draws - Semi finals

After all the four quarter-finals ended 3-2 on aggregate last week the draw for the final four was made on Friday. One German team, one English team and two Spanish teams remain. The two Spanish sides were kept apart.

Manchester City v Real Madrid
Manchester City have finally made the final four after lots of cash was thrown around to build a team capable getting here. They beat another side with such ambitions in PSG and have been given the task of getting past Real Madrid to reach the final. Real Madrid predictably overcame Wolfsburg after an initial scare. As for the tie well I think the order of the legs will be the deciding factor. Real Madrid being at home in the second leg sways this one for me in favor of Los Blancos. Yes their defense isn't exactly excellent but they do possess a free-scoring attack.  For city the key will be not conceding an away goal in the first leg. A 0-0 or scrapping a victory before the visit to Madrid will be the aim. Real Madrid to get through.

Atlético Madrid v Bayern Munich
As soon as Atlético had just about seen off Barcelona, I wanted them to face Bayern. The best defense in the major European leagues (sorry Dynamo Kyiv) will be a stern test for Bayern. The Bavarians were made to work for their semi-final place by an impressive Benfica in the last 8 and having also scrapped through against Juventus, they haven't been too convincing thus far. Atlético themselves did also scrap through by fingertips against PSV before overcoming Barcelona. It will be a fascinating tie of contrasting styles and one that I'm going to back Atlético in.

Europa League

A night of drama on Thursday saw eight reduced to four and what a line up we have. Liverpool, Sevilla, Shakhtar and Villarreal.

Shakhtar Donetsk v Sevilla
Sevilla are gunning for a third successive Europa league title and they face Ukrainian opposition for the first time since last seasons' finale. For Shakhtar this run has been a shock considering they haven't been their usual dominant selves domestically. They haven't been able to play at home for two years and their form at their adopted home of Lviv has been the base of this run. They've been beaten twice at home this season in Europe by PSG and Real Madrid so no shame there. However the pedigree that Sevilla have will make a difference here.

Villarreal v Liverpool
Liverpool shocked tournament favorites Borussia Dortmund in the last round with a stunning comeback in the second leg to book their semi-final place while Villarreal in the end were comfortable against Sparta Praha. This is a tie that will be fascinating to see. Liverpool haven't set the world alight with their current standing of 8th domestically but Villarreal on the other hand have been superb finding themselves 4th and almost certain of a champions league qualifying berth.
Liverpool at home in the second leg might make a difference if they get a favorable result in the first leg but I can see Villarreal getting through this. Villarreal away goals.