Austria
BUNDESLIGA
Azerbaijan
PREMIERLEAGUE
Belgium
FIRSTDIVISIONA
Bosnia-Herzegovina
PREMIERLEAGUE
Bulgaria
FIRSTLEAGUE
Croatia
PRVAHNL
Cyprus
FIRSTDIVISION
LEAGUE
CHAMPIONS
TOP
SCORER
BESTOF
THEREST
Unsurprisingly,RedBull
Salzburgwontheirninth
consecutive leaguetitle,
losingjust once all
season.Thechampions
seamlesslytransitionedto
newmanagerMatthias
Jaissleafter thedeparture
ofJesseMarschlast year.
Inhisfinal yearinAustria,
Germanwunderkind
KarimAdeyemitopped
thescoringchartswith
19 goals,levelwith
WSGTirol’sGiacomo
Vrioni. Adeyemi’sform
earnedhima moveto
BorussiaDortmund.
Salzburg’s dominance
overtherestofAustria
isnot restrictedtothe
league,astheydefeated
Ried3-0in theAustrian
Cupfinaltosealtheir
fourthLeague-Cup
doubleina row, and
eighthin nine years.
After finishingsecondto
NetchiBakulast season,
Qarabagreclaimedtop
spottomakeit eighttitles
innineyears,conceding
13 goalsandlosingjust
oneoftheir 28 matches-
a shock3-1 defeatto
bottom clubSebail.
Goals were splitevenly
amongthe champions’
squad,withthreeoftheir
playersnotchingdouble
figures.BrazilianKady
cameouton topwith
12 , justonemore than
team-matesFilip Ozobic
andIbrahimaWadji.
Qarabagwon theirfirst
League-Cupdoublesince
2016 -17,overcomingZira
- whowerechasingtheir
first trophysincebeing
formedin 2014 - on
penaltiesaftera1-1
drawafter extra-time
inthe Cupfinal.
ClubBruggereacted
welltoPhilippeClement’s
departure,losing just once
after thecoachjoined
MonacoinJanuary.Atthe
time,the leagueholders
wereseven points offtop
spot,but wentontoseal
theirthird titleina row.
DenizUndav’sform
inthe first half of the
seasonconvinced
Brighton& HoveAlbion
topay€6 millionfor him
inJanuary,beforeloaning
himstraightbackto
UnionSaint-Gilloise.He
endedwith 26 goals.
UnionSGlookedonfora
fairytalereturntothetop
flight,toppingthetableat
thestartofthe play-offs.
Butjustonewinintheir
lastfivegames- which
alsoincludeda1-0defeat
toBrugge- costthe
historicclubdearly.
Zrinjski, themost
successfulclubinthe
league’shistory,returned
tothe topofthe pile
forthefirsttimesince
2017 -18,finishing 27
pointsclearofsecond
placetoclaimtheir
seventhleaguetitle.
NemanjaBilbija
producedthebestseason
ofhiscareerbyfar to
ensurethechampions
dominated.Histally of 3 3
goalsin 32 matches was
eightgoalsmore thanthe
league’snexttwohighest
scorerscombined.
CupwinnersVelezwere
deductedthree points
after a pitchinvasion
duringtheirleague
defeattoBoracaBanja.
Accordingtoreports,
therefereewas attacked
byfansafterthematch,
withhiscarsetonfire.
Ludogoretscontinued
theirrecord as oneofthe
mostdominantdomestic
clubsinEuropeby
winningtheir 11 th
consecutive leaguetitle.
Theirnearestrivals,Alan
Pardew’sCSKA Sofia,
finished 22 pointsbehind.
CypriotstrikerPieros
Sotirioutoppedthe
chartswith17 goalsfor
Ludogorets,pipping
CSKA Sofia’sEcuadorian
forwardJordyCaicedo
tothe GoldenBootby
a singlegoal.
A disastrousendtothe
seasonfor CSKASofia
sawthemthumped5-0
byLudogoretsandloseto
arch-rivalsLevskiSofia in
theBulgarianCupfinal.
Pardewonlytookcharge
inApril,butisalready
undersignificantpressure.
DinamoZagrebwon
theirfifth titleina rowand
23rdintotal,butitwas
noteasy. Thecapitalcity
clubwoneightoftheir
lasttenmatchesto hold
offHajdukSplit,who were
chasingtheirfirst league
titlesince 2005.
Inthe EuropeanGolden
Shoerankings,Hajduk’s
Marko Livajawasoneof
thetop-rankedplayers
fromoutsideEurope’stop
fiveleaguesafterscoring
28 goals.Rijeka’s Swiss
internationalJosipDrmic
wasnextwith 21 strikes.
HajdukSplitmadeupfor
theirdisappointmentin
theleaguebywinningthe
CroatianCup,theirfirst
trophy since 2013. In the
final,theyrecoveredfrom
goinga goaldownto
defeatRijeka 3-1inside
theirhomestadium.
ApollonLimassolvery
muchstumbledoverthe
linetoclaimtheirfirst title
since 20 06.InFebruary
theywereeightpoints
clearatthe top,before a
runof eightdrawsin nine
games.Fortunatelyfor
them,nobodycapitalised.
AEKLarnika’s 3 5-year-
oldcaptainIvan
Trichovskitoppedthe
league’sscoringcharts
with 1 5 goals,just
twomorethanDoxa
Katokopias’Finnish
strikerBeratSadik.
APOELgotbackontrack
byfinishingthird,witha
shotatqualifyingfor
theEuropaConference
League. The28-time
championsfinisheda
disastrouseighth in 2 02 1,
havingwonsevenleagues
ina rowfrom 2013 -2 019.
52 WORLDSOCCER
EUROSEASONREVIEW
