2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga
| Season | 2007–08 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Partizan 1st SuperLiga title 20th domestic title |
| Relegated |
Bežanija Mladost Lučani Smederevo |
| Champions League | Partizan (second qualifying round) |
| UEFA Cup |
Red Star Vojvodina Borac Čačak |
| Matches played | 198 |
| Goals scored | 452 (2.28 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Nenad Jestrović (13) |
| Biggest home win |
Red Star 5–0 Napredak (2 April 2008) Vojvodina 5–0 Borac Čačak (30 April 2008) |
| Biggest away win | Banat 0–4 Napredak (3 May 2008) |
| Highest scoring | Bežanija 6–2 Banat (29 March 2008) |
|
← 2006–07 2008–09 → | |
The 2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga season (known as the Meridian SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons) was the second since its establishment in 2006. Red Star Belgrade were the defending SuperLiga champions, having won their twenty-fifth national title the season before.
The SuperLiga changed its format from this season. The League was no longer divided into a playoff and play-out group midway through the campaign. Instead the 12 teams played each other three times in a conventional league format. For the SuperLiga's unnagural season and this one the league had been named the Meridian SuperLiga. This however, was the last season that Meridian Bank had sponsorship rights to the SuperLiga. The rights to the Serbian SuperLiga were bought by Jelen and starting from the 2008–09 season the league would be known as the Jelen SuperLiga.
Participating clubs and their stadia
The following twelve clubs competed in the 2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga season.
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Crvena zvezda | Stadion Crvena Zvezda | 55,000 |
| Partizan | Partizan Stadium | 32,710 |
| Vojvodina | Karađorđe Stadium | 20,000 |
| Banat | Karađorđev Park Stadium | 18,700 |
| Smederevo | Fortress Stadium | 17,200 |
| OFK Beograd | Omladinski Stadion | 16,000 |
| Hajduk Kula | Stadion Hajduk | 12,000 |
| Napredak | Kruševac Stadium | 10,811 |
| Bežanija | Stadion Bežanije | 9,350 |
| Mladost Lučani | Stadion Mladost | 8,000 |
| Borac Čačak | Čačak Stadium | 7,600 |
| Čukarički | Čukarički Stadion | 6,600 |
League table
Final standings
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Partizan | 33 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 63 | 23 | +40 | 80 |
| 2 | Red Star | 33 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 22 | +43 | 75 |
| 3 | Vojvodina | 33 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 62 |
| 4 | Borac Čačak | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 33 | -4 | 46 |
| 5 | Napredak | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 41 |
| 6 | Čukarički | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 40 |
| 7 | Mladost Lučani | 33 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 32 | 41 | -9 | 38 |
| 8 | Hajduk Kula | 33 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 31 | -6 | 37 |
| 9 | OFK Beograd | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 31 | 45 | -14 | 36 |
| 10 | Smederevo | 33 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 36 |
| 11 | Banat (R) | 33 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 34 | 57 | -23 | 28 |
| 12 | Bežanija (R) | 33 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 31 | 58 | -27 | 19 |
| UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round | |
| UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round | |
| UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round | |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup Second Round | |
| Relegation Playoff | |
| Direct relegation to Serbian First League |
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
| SuperLiga 2007–08 Winners |
|---|
| Partizan 20th Title |
Champions: PARTIZAN BELGRADE (coach: Miroslav Đukić until 18 round, Slaviša Jokanović from 18 round)
Players(League matches/league goals)
Zoran Tošić (32/8)
Lamine Diarra (31/12)- Đorđe Lazić (30/6)
Almani Moreira (28/7)
Darko Maletić (28/0)
Stevan Jovetić (27/12)
Juca (25/5)- Nemanja Rnić (25/0)
- Darko Božović (24/0)
- Ivan Obradović (19/0)
Aleksandar Lazevski (16/2)- Žarko Lazetić (15/1)
- Nikola Mitrović (15/0)
- Nenad Đorđević (14/6)
- Ednilson (14/0)
- Mladen Božović (10/0)
- Srđa Knežević (10/0)
- Milan Vještica (9/0)
- Marko Jovanović (9/0)
- Dragan Čadikovski (7/2)
- Slaven Stjepanović (7/1)
- Marko Ćetković (6/0)
- Milovan Sikimić (5/0)
- Risto Lakić (2/0)
Like in many previous seasons, the allocation of European spots based on the final 2007–08 league and cup standings turned out to be messy.
According to the propositions, the second UEFA Cup spot is supposed to go to the Serbian Cup winner. However, since the Cup was won by FK Partizan, a club that also won the league, the second UEFA Cup spot went to the 2007–08 Serbian Cup finalist FK Zemun. This created problems, since FK Zemun couldn't obtain the UEFA licence for the year due to poor financial situation at the club, and their UEFA Cup spot went to the 4th placed league team - Borac Čačak. Now, since Borac Čačak earned a 2008 Intertoto Cup berth based on finishing 4th in the league, they now passed their Intertoto Cup spot down to 9th placed OFK Beograd because Napredak Kruševac, Čukarički, Mladost Lučani, and Hajduk Kula (5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th placed teams in the league, respectively) didn't want it.
This created a bizarre situation whereby a team that finished fourth from the bottom barely avoiding relegation playoff (OFK Beograd) still got to play in the 2008 Intertoto Cup.
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nenad Jestrović |
Red Star | |
| 2 | Lamine Diarra |
Partizan | |
| Stevan Jovetić |
Partizan | ||
| Predrag Ranđelović |
Bežanija | ||
| 5 | Gojko Kačar |
Vojvodina | |
Hat-tricks
| Hat-tricks | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | ||
| Nenad Jestrović | Smederevo | Red Star | 2-5 | 11 November 2007 | ||
 Misdongarde Betolngar | Red Star | Napredak | 5–0 | 2 April 2008 | ||
| Nenad Milijaš | Red Star | Bežanija | 4-1 | 12 April 2008 | ||
Relegation playoff
The third-placed team form the bottom in 2007–08 SuperLiga (FK Smederevo) plays the winner of the 4-team playoff consisting of 3rd to 6th placed teams from 2007–08 Serbian First League (FK Rad). The playoff has a home-and-away tie format
Promoted teams
The following teams were promoted to the Meridian SuperLiga at the end of the 2007–08 season:
- Javor Ivanjica - Serbian First League champion
- Jagodina - Serbian First League runner-up
- Rad - Winner of the playoffs against Smederevo
Relegated teams
The following teams were relegated to the Serbian First League at the end of the 2007–08 season based on their performance:
- Bežanija - Automatically relegated after finishing the season in the 12th position (last place).
- Banat Zrenjanin - Automatically relegated after finishing in the 11th position (second last place).
- Smederevo - As a result of finishing 10th (third place from the bottom) entered and lost relegation playoffs against FK Rad (a team that won the chance to compete for promotion from First League amongst the 4 teams that finisheg 3rd to 6th inclusive)
However, following speculation on June 29, 2008 that 7th placed SuperLiga team - Mladost from Lučani - might decline the opportunity to compete in 2008–09 SuperLiga season due to lacking the funds required to compete at the top level,[3] the official confirmation of their decision came on July 2, 2008.[4] The possibility of Mladost Lučani being relegated two levels down to Srpska Liga as punishment was initially talked about, nut the club was eventually moved only one level down to First League for the 2008–09 season.
By the decision of Serbian Football Association (FSS), the relegated team that ended up keeping its SuperLiga status as a result of Mladost's withdrawal became 11th placed Banat Zrenjanin, not the 10th placed FK Smederevo. The FA made the decision based on their opinion that Banat Zrenjanin has better support of the sponsors and its community (city of Zrenjanin) than does FK Smederevo.
The decision caused a lot of controversy and protest from FK Smederevo officials who claimed they should've been given the opportunity to retain the SuperLiga status after Mladost's withdrawal. They even launched an official appeal with UEFA, but it got rejected.[5]
So, in the end, the three 2007–08 SuperLiga teams that will not compete in the 2008–09 SuperLiga season are:
References
- ↑ Rad pobedio Smederevo 3:1 u prvoj utakmici baraža, Blic, June 7, 2008
- ↑ "Rad pobedio Smederevo u prvoj utakmici Baraža". Studio B. June 7, 2008.
- ↑ Lučanci istupaju iz MSL!?, MTS Mondo, June 29, 2008
- ↑ Mladost iz Lučana napustila Superligu, MTS Mondo, July 2, 2008
- ↑ UEFA odbila žalbu Smedereva, MTS Mondo, August 6, 2008
External links
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